Shakespeare's Globe

Globe Player Offers Full-Length Plays On-Line

Shakespeare's Globe in London has launched Globe Player, a new online platform offering full-length, high-definition films of more than 50 Shakespeare productions at the Globe to rent or buy.

Shakespeare's Globe is the first theater in the world to offer this kind of on-demand platform for digital content. Every foreign-language production from the 2012 Globe to Globe Festival of International Shakespeare has been made available on film, alongside main productions from the 2012, 2011, 2010, and 2009 summer seasons, as follows:

• 2012: Twelfth Night starring Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, Henry V starring Jamie Parker, and The Taming of the Shrew starring Samantha Spiro;
• 2011: Marlowe's Dr. Faustus, Much Ado About Nothing starring Eve Best, and All's Well That Ends Well with Janie Dee;
• 2010: Henry IV, Parts One and Two with Roger Allam and Jamie Parker, and Henry VIII with Miranda Raison;
• 2009: As You Like It directed by Thea Sharrock, Love's Labour's Lost directed by Dominic Dromgoole, and Romeo and Juliet starring Ellie Kendrick.

Last year's touring productions of the three Henry VI plays, directed by Nick Bagnall and live-streamed from Barnet battlefield on The Space, are also now available. The main 2013 titles—The Tempest with Colin Morgan and Roger Allam, Dominic Dromgoole's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Eve Best's directorial debut Macbeth—will be made available on the Globe Player in the coming months.

The Globe Player will also host an assortment of material gathered by actors Dan Poole and Giles Terera while making their film Muse of Fire (Official Selection Seattle International Film Festival 2014, Official Selection Raindance 2013). Dan and Giles travelled the world in a clapped-out car, interviewing some of the world's most famous and respected actors, directors, and academics in an epic effort to demystify and illuminate Shakespeare's work for everyone. For the first time, full-length footage of every single one of their encounters—from Jude Law at Elsinore to Bonnie Greer in London, from Baz Lurhmann in Hollywood to Mark Rylance in Stratford—will be made available for free. The films will be released in groups on a fortnightly basis over the coming months.

"We're thrilled that Muse Of Fire has found the perfect place to host and support our vast resource for future generations," Poole and Terera said in a statement released by Shakespeare's Globe. "The Globe Players' unique and international functionality means we can ensure that the widest possible demographic of people can enjoy these interviews, hopefully as much as we enjoyed shooting them. And, of course, being supported by Shakespeare's Globe and its incredible content and reputation is absolutely perfect.”

The first collection of Muse of Fire interviews will be with Ewan McGregor, Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Ruth Negga, James Earl Jones, Fiona Shaw, Nicholas Hytner, Julie Taymor, Harold Bloom, and Michael Boyd. The remainder of the interviews will be released on a fortnightly basis over the next few months. 

Additional content currently hosted by or coming soon on Globe Player includes dozens of short films from the New York Shakespeare Exchange's Sonnet Project and the feature-length documentary A Summer Hamlet.

“Whether we're touring the world, inviting the world to the Globe, or being the first to experiment with low ticket prices with our £5 groundling tickets, the Globe is always looking for bold new ways to take Shakespeare out into the world and share his astonishing plays with as many people as possible," Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of Shakespeare's Globe, said in a press release. "Globe Player will allow us to reach brand-new audiences and to make access to our productions simple and seamless for anyone with the Internet. We are delighted to be the first theatre with its own dedicated video-on-demand platform.”

Rentals range from £2.99–£3.99, purchases £4.99–£7.99 (£9.99 for A Summer Hamlet). To access the Globe Player, go to www.globeplayer.tv.

November 7, 2014

If you have Shakespearean news to share, e-mail editorial@shakespeareances.com