The Library is Now Streaming Theater Productions of Shakespeare from the Globe in London!

Thanks to the late actor and director Sam Wannamaker, whose Globe Trust oversaw construction of an authentic Elizabethan playhouse across the road from the site of Shakespeare’s Globe in London, audiences don’t have to time-travel 4 centuries to see Shakespeare’s work staged in the proper surroundings.

And now, thanks to the Library’s subscription to Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen and Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen 2, UVA faculty and students don’t have to travel to England to see a Globe production. The Library is offering a streaming service that features 21 of the Bard’s 37 canonical plays recorded live at Shakespeare’s Globe, along with others by Christopher Marlowe, John Webster, Ben Jonson, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan.

Part 1 of Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen features recordings from 2008–2015, and part 2 the most recent recordings from 2016–18, made available to UVA by Drama Online—a database of dramatic works extending from the present day back to ancient Greece.

The 55 hours of Shakespeare in HD with surround sound are presented free over UVA’s wireless network with captions for the hearing-impaired and with searchable transcripts you can follow during the play. The productions feature critically acclaimed performances from leading actors including Academy Award winner Mark Rylance (Bridge of Spies) and Roger Allam in his Olivier award-winning role as Falstaff in Henry IV pts.1 & 2.

If you’ve just been introduced to Shakespeare in class, or if you’re a student of the dramatic arts, Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen is a place you can go besides the assigned texts to broaden your knowledge of Shakespeare, Elizabethan drama, and theatrical staging.

Please check the list of new Library online resources. It’s updated daily!

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