The "Theaterencyclopedie" is a wiki based platform covering information about contemporary theatre as well as the Dutch theatre history. A History that begins with the performance that takes place today. Here you can find opening performances since the year 1900, biographies of actors, dancers and performers, historical theatre songs and unique images.
This collection theme covers the history of all performing arts. Music, drama and dance are particularly well represented, with a smaller part of the collection dedicated to circus, cabaret, opera, operetta, mime and puppet theatre. The collections in these areas were greatly expanded in 2012 with the addition of the complete collections of the Muziek Centrum Nederland and the Theater Instituut Nederland to the Special Collections.
UvA’s Library collects academic literature in order to study performing arts in the Dutch-speaking regions specifically but also international developments are kept an eye on. We try to present sources on all phenomena counted as theatre, such as drama, dance, mime, puppetry, circus, musical etc. Works of theory and philosophy are an important part of our collection since research into theatre practice is coupled with theorisation in philosophical, cultural- and media-historical frameworks. Another important section is theatre history, especially European theatre history within which the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands and Flanders are emphasised. Less prioritised for acquisition are scripts and theatre texts.