Citing and referencing: Live Performances

This guide is no longer being maintained as the 7th edition of the MLA Handbook has been replaced by the 8th edition. Only use the 7th edition under direction of your lecturer or tutor. Please click here to go to the MLA 8th library guide.

See the handbook p.129 for details on formatting (e.g hanging indent and double line spacing). The following examples are based on more detailed information in:

Modern Language Association of America. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 7th ed. New York: Mod. Lang. Assn., 2009, Print.

To cite a performance, play, dance, opera, or concert
see 5.7.4. p. 198-199.
An entry usually contains the following:
- Title italicized
- Director, performers etc.
- Site of the performance (usually the theater and city, separated by a comma and followed by a full stop)
- Date of the performance
- Indication that you are citing a performance (in the place where the medium of publication is usually recorded)

If you are citing the contribution of a particular individual or group, begin with the appropriate name.

A Performance

Title of Performance. By Firstname Lastname. Dir. Firstname Lastname. Perf. Firstname Lastname/s. Theatre/venue, Place. Date of Performance. Performance.

Example

Embrace: Guilt Frame. By Tess de Quincy and Peter Snow. Perf. Tess de Quincy and Peter Snow. Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne. 2 Dec. 2009. Performance.

Elektra. By Sophocles. Trans. Anne Carson. Dir. Adena Jacobs. Perf. Zahra Newman, Jane Griffiths, Luisa Hastings Edge, Gary Abrahams, Karen Sibbing and Josh Price. The Dog Theatre, Footscray. 5 Dec. 2010. Performance. 

Princess Dramas. By Elfriede Jelinek. Trans. Gitta Honegger. Dir. Andre Bastian. Perf. Dion Mills, Melodie Reynolds and Andrea Swifte. Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne. 8 June 2011. Performance.

A performance citing contribution of a particular individual

Lastname, Firstname. perf. Title of play/performance. By dramatist/creator. Dir. Firstname Lastname. Theatre/Venue, Place. Date. Performance.

Examples

Porter, Susie, perf. The Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. By Ray Lawler. Dir. Neil Armfield. Belvoir Street Theatre Company, Sydney. 24 Sep. 2011. Performance.

Griffiths, Jane, perf. Elektra. By Sophocles. Trans. Anne Carson. Dir. Adena Jacobs. The Dog Theatre, Footscray. 5 Dec. 2010. Performance.