InfoGuides: Global Theater History: Find Video Recordings

Find Streaming Performance Recordings

Discover theater and dance media collections that offer opportunities to research world theater traditions by themes or geographic regions. Some platforms host curated global theater-specific resources, featuring performances, documentaries, and analyses that delve into diverse cultural expressions.

Spotlight on: World Theatre (Digital Theatre+)
Provides e-learning videos that provide an engaging introduction to various theater styles and traditions from across the globe.
Theatre from around the World (Drama Online)
Within the “Explore by Genres and Forms” section of Drama Online, the “Theatre from around the World” category provides a comprehensive collection of over 7,000 resources showcasing theatrical traditions from 27 countries or regions across the globe.
Theatre by Themes (Drama Online)
Provides researchers with a powerful tool to explore theatrical works through a thematic lens. With 112 themes to choose from, including class, identity, aging, family, gender, death, and many others, this feature enables a nuanced and interdisciplinary examination of world theatre.
Intercultural Theatre & Performance (Routledge Performance Archive)
Provides intercultural theater and performance media resources, offering insights into cultural interaction, exchange, and diverse global perspectives.
Theatre in Video
Provides access to over 600 recordings of live theatrical performances, including the making and staging processes, along with video reviews and analyses.
Literature & Language Video Collection
Provides access to a diverse array of linguistic, cultural, and literary traditions from around the world, enabling users to explore and analyze themes and trends across different regions and communities. Its collections encompass Asian American drama, Black drama, Latin American drama, and North American Indian drama, among others.

Other media collections provide broader theater content.

Academic Video Online This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to over 70,000 video titles from numerous unique content partners including Sony Pictures Classics, Film Platform, Filmakers Library, Milestone Films, Microtraining Associates, PBS, and many more. Subject coverage is broad. Interactive transcripts and closed captions are available.
Digital Theatre Plus This link opens in a new window
Collection of streaming videos featuring unique films of current, leading British theatre productions including Digital Theater's own recordings alongside collections such as BBC, Royal Shakespeare Company, Broadway Digital Archive, Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra, Shakespeare's Globe etc. Includes behind-the-scenes documentaries as well as teaching and learning resources.
Drama Online This link opens in a new window
Collection provides full text access to dramatic works from the early Greek period to the present day, as well as some works of criticism and information on theatre craft. Contains scholarly notes, annotated texts, contextual information, synopsis, biographical entries, and material on acting, directing, and lighting. Features drama titles from the Oberon Books Collection and the TCG Books Play Collection. Includes epics, monologues, and one-person plays in all time periods, as well as translations of major foreign works. Features play tools with character grids, words and speech graphs, and images.
Literature & Language Video Collection This link opens in a new window
Presents an extensive array of content in video, audio and text-based formats. It includes content in the subjects of drama, film, language and literature.
OntheBoards This link opens in a new window
A website that delivers full-length, high quality contemporary performance films to your TV, desktop or mobile device.
Routledge Performance Archive This link opens in a new window
Provides access to a range of audio-visual material from past and present practitioners of performance. Consists of streamed video and audio footage with relevant critical commentary, including: interviews with key figures in theater history and contemporary practice; masterclasses with specialist actor trainers from around the world; footage of legendary practitioners; excerpted and full-length contemporary productions; and documentaries. Spans more than fifty years of documented work direct from renowned practitioners and specialists, and ranges across the entire spectrum of theater topics.

External Media Resources

Explore the following external media resources focused on world theater and dance traditions from across the globe.

PBS Dance in World Cultures
Offers access to approximately 170 video recordings showcasing a diverse array of dance traditions from cultures across the world as a learning resource. Originally designed as a learning resource for K-12 education, this collection can also serve as a valuable starting point for exploring the field of world dance.
PBS Theater in World Cultures
Offers access to approximately 60 video recordings of world theatre, primarily showcasing Japanese theatre traditions such as Kabuki and Noh, along with selected examples of other world theatre forms. Originally designed as a learning resource for K-12 education, this collection can serve as a valuable starting point for researchers exploring the field of world theater.

Find Physical Recordings

There are a several thousand DVDs and VHS tapes available through Mason Libraries that show theatrical productions and plays adapted for film.

Simply search for a title, director, genre, or other keyterm in the Library Search and click "submit". After that, limit by Resource Type: Videos in the left column. This will yield films that the library owns and streaming films from a few of our major databases (but not all!)

Our DVDS and VHS tapes are currently housed on the first floor of the Fenwick Library, along with viewing stations.

Use Mason Library's Media Services page to help with your search.

Fenwick Library also has a limited collection of audio recordings of plays. You can discover them in the Media Library on the first floor. Search for specific titles and authors in the catalog by limiting your search by Material Type: Sound Recording.