The Mary Sue: Back in the day, if you wanted to watch a Shakespeare play—or any work of Elizabethan-era theater, really—you had to schlep yourself over to a disgusting outdoor theater and, unless you could afford the exorbitant costs for seats. stand with a bunch of other plebes in a tightly packed standing-room-only gravel pit. But we live in the future now, where we can stream those plays directly into our eyeballs via magic screens! Isn’t life amazing?
5 comments:
I think this is amazing. On my visit to London and to the Globe, I saw the best show I've ever seen in my life. Although it was amazing being there, it was sad to me that i wouldn't really be able to experience such an immersive, stylized, british style show when I flew back home. Being able to bring this kind of work to the public in America is fantastic as it is. But I also think it's really prevalent for us in the industry to look at this kind of work because they way they perform 'across the pond' is so much different than the way we approach work, especially Shakespeare (the Globes specialty.)
YES! I am SO excited about this. What an incredible thing to do. I wish so much that this could have been done for Titus Andronicus. I cannot wait to watch these productions.
I think this way of connecting people to the theater is only going to help raise the amount of theater-goers. I've heard a lot of concern about how this will mean that nobody needs to go to the theater, that it's just going to be like going to a movie and people are going to take it for granted, but I don't think so. I think it will end up being like the difference of do you wanna watch this at home or would you rather see it on the big screen? Some things are better when you're there in front of something larger than life. Since I'm not in London, I'd love to be able to watch a production without buying a plane ticket, but I'd still rather be standing there.
I have never had the experience of seeing any British theater in person. The only London theater I have been exposed to is Young Frankenstein which I saw at a movie theater. After seeing this show I has so honored and amazed for many reasons but one of them being that i could experience theater that was performed on the other side of the world. This has also my first time ever seeing a theatrical performance that is government funded. This concept is amazing to me. Being able to see such talent is different areas is such an honor. To be able to experience theater directly with out the high cost or being in the actual location in remarkable. Now that I know I have the option of seeing this theater I will most definitely be watching these Shakespeare performances. While some people say our technology is killing the theater this is showing that it may be helping. By making the theater more accessible and less expensive this may cause a new leap for the theater arts.
This is pretty cool, and I kind of wonder why they haven't done it sooner. I know the East End has the technology set up to do it in the form of Digital Theater, which is even able to be watched overseas. I think anything that makes theatre more accessible to the general public can only be a good thing. I also think that possibly even more important than making theatre more accessible is the fact that it will make Shakespeare, particularly his more obscure works, more available to the public.
This is a tremendous resource and gift. BUT at the same time, there is absolutely no replacement for being at a show. Ever since live productions started to be screened in movie theaters, before eventually making their way onto Netflix and into everyday streaming, there has been this growing population of viewers who have begun to confuse going to a production with viewing a production. I really hope this becomes a catalyst that sparks curiosity in a larger and wider demographic of people, which in turn urges them to go see real, live productions at the Globe or wherever else they can go. But, I mean, how better to beat the Sunday blues than curling up in bed and viewing some first rate theater for less than the penny seats?
Post a Comment