The Oxford Dictionary of Plays
Grade 8 Up–Filled with plot descriptions and brief analyses and jam-packed with delightfully obscure plays, this concise collection of 1000 important works of the world stage is a wonderful ready-reference tool. The writing is clear, the summaries are easy to follow, and the information on performance dates, genre, setting, etc., is presented in a lucid manner at the head of each article. The works covered range from ancient Greek dramas (AeschylussSeven Against Thebes, SophoclessElectra) to worldwide treasures (Leo TolstoysThe Power of Darkness, Jean-Claude CarrièresLe Mahabharata) to contemporary social commentaries such as Marsha NormansNight, Motherand Paula VogelsHow I Learned to Drive. The volume includes helpful indexes of characters and playwrights, and a list of plays by country of origin and period. Frank N. MagillsMasterplots II: Drama Series(1990) and Critical Survey of Drama series (both Salem), or the Drama for Students series (Gale), are multivolume sets that offer more in-depth analyses. Pattersons resource offers the advantages of succinct description and easy access in a single volume. However, readers may question why some plays were included and others were omitted. For example, John Guares legendaryHouse of Blue Leavesand Athol FugardsBoesman and Lenaarent here, but Maria FornéssFefu and Her Friendsand John Daly BurksBunker-Hilleach earn an entry. Still, when readers can find descriptions of works by Dario Fo, Caryl Churchill, and Aeschylus in the same book–well, to paraphrase John Guare, I may not know much about signs…but this looks like a good one.–Herman Sutter, Saint Agnes Academy, Houston, TXCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.