The library owns print and online copies of playscripts.
You'll need to use different tools (and different links on the website) to find print and online playscripts.
For print plays, use the library catalog.
If you can't find a print play, you can try searching in a play index to find plays in anthologies. (see the next tab for more info)
Online copies of plays will appear in the library catalog.
Also use online play text databases like Drama Online to find online texts of plays.
****You can also use the Playscripts 'genre' link to see a list of all Playscripts in the library catalog
Online playscript databases allow you to search plays more precisely according to theme, cast composition, roles for men and women, and other attributes.
The following list of databases contain complete online playscript texts:
Hundreds of plays from African and African diaspora playwrights including rare and previously unpublished plays by Langston Hughes, Ed Bullins, Willis Richardson, Amiri Baraka, and many others. Mid-1800s to present.
A very large collection of current and historical poems, short stories, essays, speeches, plays and author biographies.
Plays from the English-speaking world, including under-represented theater traditions such as radical theater, women's theater, regional, national & ethnic theatrical traditions. 1890s to present.
Online playscript texts in the Library Catalog
Some online playscript texts are found in the Library Catalog.
Search by play title or author, or enter the keyword "playscripts."
Use the "ebooks" setting to find online content.
Click here to browse a list of Playscripts in Alkek Library.
Search the library catalog here for print and ebook copies of plays.
Search by play title or author, or enter the keyword "playscripts."
For opera/musical librettos: enter the title of the opera/musical in the online Library Catalog.
Librettos in our collection reside at the Alkek Library location. You might also try entering the keyword "libretto."
Some plays are published in collections or magazines, and not in single volumes. These indexes indicate the collection or magazine where the text of a certain play is published. Click on the links below to access databases or check for location information.
Print Indexes:
Online Databases & eBooks:
See also the entire Theater & Performing Arts database list, the Newspaper databases, and possibly the Literature and Language databases for more search options.
NUMBER OF ITEMS ALLOWED: All Texas State University borrowers are allowed to check out a maximum of 100 items.
Within that limit only 10 audio/visual materials, such as DVDs and CDs, may be borrowed at any one time.
Undergraduate Students have a 28 day checkout period with 3 renewals.
Renewals can be done online using or in person at the Circulation/Reserves Desk on the 2nd floor of Alkek Library. Call 512.245.3681 to renew by phone.
Where are the print plays, playscripts, and screenplays located in the library building?
Currently print plays, playscripts, and screenplays are shelved in the library's general collection on the 6th floor and are available for check-out. Occasionally rare or special copies will be in the 7th floor Wittliff Collections Reading Room.
How do I figure out where they are on the shelves?
Be sure to check the Library Catalog for exact call numbers and locations for printed plays, playscripts, and screenplays. The catalog is like an inventory of what the library owns in print and online.
Do you have online copies?
Alkek Library has online copies of plays and playscripts in several databases. See the list on this page for links to these databases. The library also has online copies linked from the library catalog.
I can't find a play when I search by the title! Does that mean we don't have it?
Sometimes plays are published in a magazine or in a book collection. Use an index (either print or online) to locate these plays (See the I still can't find it tab in the box above this one). If you still can't find it, you can use Interlibrary Loan or your TexShare card to get a copy from a different library.
WorldCat is your go-to resource for locating materials in other libraries!
So What's WorldCat?
Indexes items owned by libraries throughout the U.S. and parts of the world. Useful if you want to see "what's out there" or if you want to see where you can find an item in another Texas Library.