David Farnor | On 05, Nov 2014

Shakespeare’s Globe theatre has launched its own video on-demand service.

Globe Player offers full-length films of over 50 Shakespeare productions recorded at the Globe to rent or buy.

The line-up consists of the main summer productions from recent years, including 2012’s Twelfth Night starring Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, Henry V starring Jamie Parker, The Taming of the Shrew starring Samantha Spiro, Marlowe’s Dr Faustus starring Arthur Darvill, 2011’s Much Ado About Nothing starring Eve Best and All’s Well That Ends Well with Janie Dee. From 2010, Henry IV parts 1 and 2 with Roger Allam and Jamie Parker and Henry VIII with Miranda Raison are available, alongside 2009’s As You Like It directed by Thea Sharrock, Love’s Labour’s Lost directed by Dominic Dromgoole and Romeo & Juliet starring Ellie Kendrick.

The main titles from last year’s summer season – 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 released in the coming months.

It will cost £3.99 to rent an HD play for a week (£2.99 in SD) and £7.99 to purchase a play permanently (£4.99 in SD). The streaming catalogue also includes every foreign-language production from the 2012 Globe to Globe festival of international Shakespeare.

In addition, theatre fans can also watch over 100 free interviews on Shakespeare recorded by actors Dan Poole and Giles Terera for their documentary Muse of Fire (Official Selection Raindance 2013), with subjects ranging from Dame Judi Dench and Ewan McGregor to Sir Ian McKellen, Jude Law, Tom Hiddleston, Harold Bloom, Bonnie Greer and others. More interviews will be released on a fortnightly basis over the next few months.

The move marks the growing prominence of theatre in the digital video age. The National Theatre has established NT Live, a network that streams productions live into cinemas around the world, while Digital Theatre boasts a wide range of theatre plays available to rent and purchase (read our reviews here). Globe Player, though, is the first dedicated video-on-demand platform for a single theatre.

Dominic Dromgoole, Artistic Director of Shakespeare’s Globe, says: “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. 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. ”

For more information, or to start streaming The Bard on-demand, visit www.globeplayer.tv

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