Whose Story?

How do you develop a research project out of reading (and/ or watching, or even performing in) a play?

If you're ever curious about examples of these kinds of projects, a great place to look would be in scholarly journals that cover areas like:

• performance studies
• theater history
• literary history and criticism

Here are a few examples of these journals, in case you want to browse through articles published in them. The links will take you to the page where the journal is listed in the CLIO Catalog (which lists all the materials we have available through Barnard and Columbia), along with links to access articles from each issue of the journal.

• Performance matters
• Performance research: a journal of the performing arts
• Studies in theatre and performance
• The dramatist: the journal of the Dramatists Guild, Inc.
• TDR

• To start your own research project, identify the text (in this case, the one-act play) you want to write about. 
• Write out the title of the play as well as the author(s). If you know of variations in ways these have been spelled, add those to your list as well. 
• Think about the themes and questions that excite you and interest you, as they relate to this text. Add these to your list.
• If specific characters, places, and other details in the text feel important to you, add these to your list as well. 
• Keep the list open to additions and deletions. 
• The words and phrases in your list can be used in searches for sources you can engage in your research.