James R | On 02, Apr 2020

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre will be streaming 40 Shakespeare productions online for free over the coming weeks, as theatre fans turn the web to get their culture fix. (You can see our full guide to streaming plays online here – or head this way for our full stay-at-home culture festival QuaranstreamFest.)

With theatres shut cross the UK due to the coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of venues and companies are streaming productions on-demand, some for free, some as part of subscription services. Globe Theatre is no stranger to digital theatre, with its own on-demand platform – Globe Player – launching several years ago. Now, though, it’s opening those virtual doors to everyone without having to pay, with 40 productions being made available free online.

From Monday 6th April, six Shakespeare’s Globe productions will be available to watch in a fortnightly cycle, starting with 2018’s Hamlet. The other plays will include Romeo & Juliet (2009), The Winter’s Tale (2018), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2013), The Two Noble Kinsmen (2018) and The Merry Wives of Windsor (2019).

This rolling carousel of films will be joined all 34 productions staged as part of the theatre’s Globe to Globe season in 2012. The season brought together artists from all over the world to present Shakespeare’s work in their own languages, including one in sign language.

Alongside these will be 37 ‘Complete Walk’ films celebrating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, with an all-star cast in the 10-minute shorts shot on location in the real setting of each plot.

Patrick Spottiswoode, Director of Globe Education, said: “Since we opened in 1997, we have explored ways of sharing the wonder of the Globe with people who may not be able to visit the theatre for themselves. Our online activities, classes and research materials will help in some way to keep our Globe doors open for all, whether primary children, post-graduates, or pensioners. Our theatre closed during the run of the Playing Shakespeare with Deutsche Bank production Macbeth, with over 33,000 students having watched the production, but sadly a further 15,000 missing out. I am so proud that the educational activities of the Globe can adapt online to keep providing the best access to our excellent provisions until we can open the doors again.”

The titles can be watched from Monday at globeplayer.tv.

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