ProQuest Completes Seminal Literary Project with Final Installment of Twentieth-Century Drama
ProQuest marks the culmination of one of its most important literary resources this month with the completion of Twentieth-Century Drama. The final instalment in what has become the pre-eminent resource for the study of drama in English from the 1890s to the present day includes works by some of the most influential playwrights of the late twentieth century, such as Neil Simon, author of the 1965 comedy The Odd Couple, and Simon Gray , author of 1984’s The Common Pursuit. Twentieth-Century Drama now provides access to works by hundreds of authors, making it one of the world’s largest online resources for students and scholars.
“Twentieth-Century Drama represents many years’ work in researching and compiling this unique collection,” said Jeff Wilensky, ProQuest Vice-President of Publishing. “We are delighted to mark this final release with noted works whose presence alongside those by Pinter, Coward, Bagnold, Stoppard, Friel and Wilder creates a prestigious body of material for study and research unrivalled in any other resource. Twentieth-Century Drama embodies ProQuest’s commitment to publish collections which contain the most useful texts to support study and research in their fields.”
Twentieth-Century Drama has set the standard for access to the works of the most significant playwrights of the period from across the English-speaking world. The resource is unique, capturing many works still in copyright, providing the first digital access to their full text. Other highlights include rare, out of print or hard to find works that aren’t available in full text in any other digital sources. While users of Twentieth-Century Drama have benefitted from multiple access points, full-text searching and in-depth indexing, discovery and working with the text will be taken to an entirely new level when the resource becomes available on the new ProQuest platform.
The entire collection of important plays includes George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House (1919), Thornton Wilder's Our Town (1938) and Blithe Spirit (1941) by Noel Coward. More modern offerings include the most influential works of post-War theatre; David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow (1987), Harold Pinter's The Homecoming (1965) and Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa (1990).
For more information about Twentieth-Century Drama or any ProQuest resource visit www.proquest.com.
About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that provide the most successful ways for people to search, find, use, and share information.
A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.
More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any level and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others.
The company is nearing launch of an all-new platform that will transform delivery of several highly-regarded individual platforms into a consolidated research experience that will encompass all ProQuest family products over time. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment. For more information, please visit www.proquest.com.