The Play Index is a tool that allows you to search for plays by criteria such as subject, # of characters, length, etc.
It then displays a MasonLink button at the bottom to either take you to our physical or digital copy*, or give you the option to get it through Interlibrary Loan through one of our partnering institutions.
* Please note that while the search features are very useful, it does have some disadvantages. It does not interface with all of our play databases, only retrieves plays in its index and not plays excluded from its index, and it sometimes glitches when connecting with our records. Please let me know what specific issues you have with it and I can either try to resolve them or pass on the feedback to the vendor.
Because the system is a bit rough, please also use the methods below to find plays!
You can find thousands of digital scripts through the Mason Search bar on the main page, if you search for the title of the script or the playwright and then filter by "Available Online" and by "Resource Type: Book."
TIPS
If you wish to search in individual databases, which are created with theater artists in mind, and often do not integrate with our catalog search, these are great places to start:
We also have some excellent collections of female and BIPOC playwrights:
George Mason's plays are currently integrated with the literature collection, so it is difficult to browse the scripts we have by looking on the library shelves. Therefore, we have labeled the physical plays "playscripts" in the catalog so you can find them more easily.
Go to the Advanced Search, change the drop down menus to "Genre" and "is (exact)" and type in Playscripts. This will give you a comprehensive list of all the physical plays in our collection so far.
See the tutorial below for more details:
Within the Library of Congress Classification System, plays are mixed in with all of literature. Literature is divided first into countries, where you will find play collections, and then by individual authors by era of time. If you know the author's country and era, their plays will be easier to find on the shelves. The plays are located in the compact shelving on the 4th Floor.
To find specific scripts, search Mason Library's collection by title, author, keyword, or subject heading.
Ask a Librarian | Hours & Directions | Mason Libraries Home
Copyright © George Mason University