Where to find streaming video of Shakespeare plays filmed live?
July 22, 2019 4:38 PM Subscribe
I mentor a man who is really familiar with Shakespeare, references plays and characters often. I know nothing of Shakespeare, so it all slides right past me. He recommended starting with Hamlet, the film production put together by Kenneth Branagh, and that was my intent.
But yesterday afternoon, sitting in the cold waters of Barton Springs (actually the pool outlet, where everybody takes their dogs to play in the water, the dogs eyes bright, their tails wagging, barking festively, happiest dogs in Austin, chasing balls and frisbees -- Barking Springs), I met two actors in town from NYC.
The woman is English, seemingly well-versed in all matters Shakespeare, told me that yes, the Branagh film is good, but it would serve me much better to see the play live, as Shakespeare planned it to be seen -- makes sense to me. She told me that pretty much all of Shakespeares plays have been filmed for TV and are now streamed for the world, so that we, The Great Unwashed, can also get us hold of some cultural experience.
She told me that there is a national archive, or a national Shakespeare archive, or a UK English National Shakespeare Archive, or something, easily found online. I cannot find this trove, duckduckgo or not, google or not. Do you know where I can find this?
But yesterday afternoon, sitting in the cold waters of Barton Springs (actually the pool outlet, where everybody takes their dogs to play in the water, the dogs eyes bright, their tails wagging, barking festively, happiest dogs in Austin, chasing balls and frisbees -- Barking Springs), I met two actors in town from NYC.
The woman is English, seemingly well-versed in all matters Shakespeare, told me that yes, the Branagh film is good, but it would serve me much better to see the play live, as Shakespeare planned it to be seen -- makes sense to me. She told me that pretty much all of Shakespeares plays have been filmed for TV and are now streamed for the world, so that we, The Great Unwashed, can also get us hold of some cultural experience.
She told me that there is a national archive, or a national Shakespeare archive, or a UK English National Shakespeare Archive, or something, easily found online. I cannot find this trove, duckduckgo or not, google or not. Do you know where I can find this?
By the way, since you're looking for Shakespeare done by British people for British people do not be shy at *all* about holding out for subtitles. You don't want to fight accents while learning to follow Shakespeare's stylized language, believe me.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:10 PM on July 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 5:10 PM on July 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
The Globe has archives online where you can watch their plays. Not free though. Also in my opinion kind of disappointing, unless maybe there was a specific production you were looking for, one that was particularly great or of a really rarely produced play. Turns out that a straight up stage production filmed with a very limited number of cameras before a live audience doesn't always translate to a great filmic experience.
Watching a good production of Hamlet live is in many ways better than watching the Kenneth Branagh version, but watching a poorly shot live stage version of Hamlet is the worst of both worlds.
posted by phoenixy at 5:11 PM on July 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Watching a good production of Hamlet live is in many ways better than watching the Kenneth Branagh version, but watching a poorly shot live stage version of Hamlet is the worst of both worlds.
posted by phoenixy at 5:11 PM on July 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
National Theatre Live is a live-stream of UK plays to various theaters around the world. It’s Shakespeare as well as other productions. In my area, it plays in a small arthouse theater. As far as I know, it only feeds to theaters, not to home streaming services. If you can find a location near you, it’s really worth checking out. Good luck!
posted by Gusaroo at 5:15 PM on July 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Gusaroo at 5:15 PM on July 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
I don’t think this is the archive you heard about, but you might check out the BroadwayHD streaming service. It has recordings of tons of plays and musicals, including apparently 47 Shakespeare-related results. $9 per month.
posted by jroybal at 5:23 PM on July 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by jroybal at 5:23 PM on July 22, 2019 [2 favorites]
There are a few live Hamlets on YouTube (I can't seem to link to it on my phone, but you can use the YouTube search option to filter for long videos). I don't know much about the quality of those productions, but there are definitely some good productions of other plays to be found there (do a search for David Tenant Shakespeare, for example).
For something different you might also check out Slings and Arrows, a Canadian TV show about a theater company putting on a different Shakespeare play each season (first season is Hamlet). It has a lot of discussion about how to stage or act different scenes, and the thinking behind those decisions. It's also very funny.
posted by trig at 5:43 PM on July 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
For something different you might also check out Slings and Arrows, a Canadian TV show about a theater company putting on a different Shakespeare play each season (first season is Hamlet). It has a lot of discussion about how to stage or act different scenes, and the thinking behind those decisions. It's also very funny.
posted by trig at 5:43 PM on July 22, 2019 [7 favorites]
Does your public library have a Kanopy subscription? If so, there are many Shakespeare performances recorded (here's an example available to SFPL members)
posted by rogerroger at 5:43 PM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by rogerroger at 5:43 PM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
PBS Great Performances shows many of the Royal Shakespeare Company performances. If you are a member of your local station, you can stream the whole archive at PBS Passport. Your local library probably carries DVDs of most if not all the plays. I don't know that watching a filmed play is much different than watching a movie -- as opposed to watching the play in a theatre, which yes, is a very different experience.
I don't buy the authorial intent strategy your British friend recommends -- I mean, Shakespeare planned his work to be half-improvised by a bunch of barely literate men and boys-in-drag, shouted in Original Pronunciation (aka pirate-speech) over the chatter of the groundlings -- but I would definitely recommend starting with the Branagh Much Ado about Nothing instead of any of the Hamlets. Hamlet is Important with a capital I and carries a lot of cultural baggage which gets in the way of both the plot and the language, and it's pretty bleak at the end. (Not the Branagh Hamlet, which is painfully faithful to the text until it just goes off the rails in Act V.) Whereas Much Ado is just really damn fun, especially the bits where Beatrice and Benedick basically invent hate-flirting.
posted by basalganglia at 5:46 PM on July 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
I don't buy the authorial intent strategy your British friend recommends -- I mean, Shakespeare planned his work to be half-improvised by a bunch of barely literate men and boys-in-drag, shouted in Original Pronunciation (aka pirate-speech) over the chatter of the groundlings -- but I would definitely recommend starting with the Branagh Much Ado about Nothing instead of any of the Hamlets. Hamlet is Important with a capital I and carries a lot of cultural baggage which gets in the way of both the plot and the language, and it's pretty bleak at the end. (Not the Branagh Hamlet, which is painfully faithful to the text until it just goes off the rails in Act V.) Whereas Much Ado is just really damn fun, especially the bits where Beatrice and Benedick basically invent hate-flirting.
posted by basalganglia at 5:46 PM on July 22, 2019 [6 favorites]
I'm afraid I can't directly answer your question either, but I wanted to underline and expand on phoenixy's point. Seeing Shakespeare performed live is wonderful, but film is a different medium than stage. I think Shakespeare translates very well to film, but in my opinion doing so works much better if the director is doing so as a deliberate adaptation.
I also don't think worrying about what Shakespeare "intended" is too important. (On preview, exactly what basalganglia said.) Shakespeare's plays are works of genius and thrive when interpreted creatively by a director, cast, and production crew that have something they want to say with it. It's easy to get hung up on the idea that Shakespeare is Important Art, but I think it's best to seek out versions that engage you in a way that you enjoy.
I think the PBS Great Performances suggestion is a really good one if you have access to it. The 2010 version of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart was really good, using a kind of weird post-apocalyptic or Soviet totalitarian setting, and Stewart's performance is stellar. There's this one scene where Stewart's Macbeth makes a sandwich and it's just... so... good. Unfortunately it doesn't seem you can stream the performance from PBS any more, but there's an interview with Patrick Stewart still available where he talks about the sandwich scene, and his opinion of playing Shakespeare on stage versus film, and other things. (You've actually inspired me to go find some way to watch this performance again, myself. It's so good.)
Much Ado about Nothing is a fun one to start with. Another fun film version of that play is Joss Whedon's version he made with the various actors he works with frequently, which was available on Netflix at least recently. I wouldn't say that production or the performances are inspired, but it's fun one, it has kind of a 20s gangland feel.
There's also an animated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I saw as a kid that I remember liking, and that's a really fun, light-hearted play.
posted by biogeo at 6:19 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
I also don't think worrying about what Shakespeare "intended" is too important. (On preview, exactly what basalganglia said.) Shakespeare's plays are works of genius and thrive when interpreted creatively by a director, cast, and production crew that have something they want to say with it. It's easy to get hung up on the idea that Shakespeare is Important Art, but I think it's best to seek out versions that engage you in a way that you enjoy.
I think the PBS Great Performances suggestion is a really good one if you have access to it. The 2010 version of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart was really good, using a kind of weird post-apocalyptic or Soviet totalitarian setting, and Stewart's performance is stellar. There's this one scene where Stewart's Macbeth makes a sandwich and it's just... so... good. Unfortunately it doesn't seem you can stream the performance from PBS any more, but there's an interview with Patrick Stewart still available where he talks about the sandwich scene, and his opinion of playing Shakespeare on stage versus film, and other things. (You've actually inspired me to go find some way to watch this performance again, myself. It's so good.)
Much Ado about Nothing is a fun one to start with. Another fun film version of that play is Joss Whedon's version he made with the various actors he works with frequently, which was available on Netflix at least recently. I wouldn't say that production or the performances are inspired, but it's fun one, it has kind of a 20s gangland feel.
There's also an animated version of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I saw as a kid that I remember liking, and that's a really fun, light-hearted play.
posted by biogeo at 6:19 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
I like this recording of Ian McKellen parsing the "Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" speech from Macbeth. He slows the language down, and discusses it line by line.
Sounds like a lovely conversation, and a good day at Barking Springs!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:22 PM on July 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
Sounds like a lovely conversation, and a good day at Barking Springs!
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:22 PM on July 22, 2019 [9 favorites]
I did PhD work in English, with Shakespeare as one of my areas of study. You can’t reproduce Shakespeare’s “intended” experience today. I mean, if you want to, you should also watch the plays in a theater in the dicey part of town because it’s kind of a questionable undertaking, and if you wait a few decades, the Puritans are going to close down the theaters altogether. And none of the plays were actually written down and published by Shakespeare himself. They were published by others after his death. There are three early published versions of Hamlet, and there’s no consensus that any one is the correct version. It’s been a while since I’ve studied this, but probably any version existing now is going to be some kind of combination of at least two of those versions. That’s what editors of Shakespeare do, create a play out of what’s available. Also, a director friend of mine once referred to someone as “the kind of person who wouldn’t cut Shakespeare,” so a staged or film version is likely to omit parts of whatever text is being used.
So go see a staged production because it’s cool, but watch a good film version or several to get a sense of whatever play you’re interested in and absorb it as an experience. Don’t get hung up on authenticity. It is not possible.
posted by FencingGal at 6:50 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
So go see a staged production because it’s cool, but watch a good film version or several to get a sense of whatever play you’re interested in and absorb it as an experience. Don’t get hung up on authenticity. It is not possible.
posted by FencingGal at 6:50 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
For something different you might also check out Slings and Arrows, a Canadian TV show about a theater company putting on a different Shakespeare play each season (first season is Hamlet).
While you're at it check out the more recent Upstart Crow, a BBC half hour comedy series starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare. It's fun and a bit silly and manages to sneak in quite a bit of useful knowledge about the time and place he lived in. Here's a link to the first episode -- if you like the first five minutes you'll like the whole show.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:53 PM on July 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
While you're at it check out the more recent Upstart Crow, a BBC half hour comedy series starring David Mitchell as Shakespeare. It's fun and a bit silly and manages to sneak in quite a bit of useful knowledge about the time and place he lived in. Here's a link to the first episode -- if you like the first five minutes you'll like the whole show.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 6:53 PM on July 22, 2019 [3 favorites]
First, I must heartily concur with phoenixy's observation: "a straight up stage production filmed with a very limited number of cameras before a live audience doesn't always translate to a great filmic experience." Live theater and film have different conventions that don't overlap very well between mediums.
Therefore, if at all possible seek out a live performance of a Shakespeare play.
If a taped performance is the best option, and if you wish to avoid the purely cinematic interpretations of Shakespeare plays (e.g., any of the Branaugh movies [Henry V, Much Ado, Love's Labours Lost, Othello, Hamlet], Romeo and Juliet [Baz Luhrmann's or Franco Zeffirelli's], and so forth), you might consider the BBC Television Shakespeare Collection. It is definitely dated (1978-1985), but it is comprehensive and features a nice balance between film and stage performance and techniques--that is, the performances are theatrical, no live audience, but will balanced, professional camerawork.
Unfortunately, I couldn't fine any sources for any of the BBC Shakespeare plays available for free online. However, it is an iconic series that should be available from most libraries.
Also, if you're starting out fresh on Shakespeare plays, I suggest you start with the well-known works first (e.g., Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream) before tackling the heavy stuff (e.g., Hamlet, King Lear, Richard III, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus) or the lesser known works (e.g., Timon of Athens, Cymbeline, Two Noble Kinsmen).
Happy Shakespeare-ing!
posted by Quaversalis at 7:08 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
Therefore, if at all possible seek out a live performance of a Shakespeare play.
If a taped performance is the best option, and if you wish to avoid the purely cinematic interpretations of Shakespeare plays (e.g., any of the Branaugh movies [Henry V, Much Ado, Love's Labours Lost, Othello, Hamlet], Romeo and Juliet [Baz Luhrmann's or Franco Zeffirelli's], and so forth), you might consider the BBC Television Shakespeare Collection. It is definitely dated (1978-1985), but it is comprehensive and features a nice balance between film and stage performance and techniques--that is, the performances are theatrical, no live audience, but will balanced, professional camerawork.
Unfortunately, I couldn't fine any sources for any of the BBC Shakespeare plays available for free online. However, it is an iconic series that should be available from most libraries.
Also, if you're starting out fresh on Shakespeare plays, I suggest you start with the well-known works first (e.g., Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night's Dream) before tackling the heavy stuff (e.g., Hamlet, King Lear, Richard III, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus) or the lesser known works (e.g., Timon of Athens, Cymbeline, Two Noble Kinsmen).
Happy Shakespeare-ing!
posted by Quaversalis at 7:08 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]
We just watched Colm Feore as King Lear at the Stratford Festival in Canada. Colm Feore is arguably one of Canada's pre-eminent Shakesperian actors.
They did as good a job as I think can be expected taping a live performance.
That production and many others of theirs are on the BroadwayHD service mentioned above, and can also be rented via Amazon Video (at least in Alberta where I am now).
I'm not a huge fan of taped performances, but Lear was gripping partly because of the performances and partly because they chose their camera angles wisely and didn't try to turn it into a movie.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:29 PM on July 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
They did as good a job as I think can be expected taping a live performance.
That production and many others of theirs are on the BroadwayHD service mentioned above, and can also be rented via Amazon Video (at least in Alberta where I am now).
I'm not a huge fan of taped performances, but Lear was gripping partly because of the performances and partly because they chose their camera angles wisely and didn't try to turn it into a movie.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:29 PM on July 22, 2019 [4 favorites]
To clarify, we saw it on TV, not live.
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:46 PM on July 22, 2019
posted by under_petticoat_rule at 7:46 PM on July 22, 2019
If we are recommending movies, I would suggest the Hollow Crown adaptations of the Henriad. They are great and available on DVD.
posted by Pendragon at 12:54 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Pendragon at 12:54 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
FencingGal is right, start off by watching a decent film version to get familiar with the plot and the different characters featured, without worrying too much about authenticity. Check out Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli, Keneth Branagh's Hamlet and Much ado about nothing, as well as Macbeth directed by Justin Kurzel. And if you have access to the National Theatre Live plays from where you are, don't miss the chance to watch one, they're really engaging without being too academic. Once you've got an idea of what you're interested in, you can go on to watch live performances and delve into more of Shakespeare's works.
posted by raft at 2:32 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by raft at 2:32 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
It sounds like you’re aiming for some cultural knowledge so that when your friend says “Et Tu Brute?” you know what situation he is referring to. For that kind of thing I think watching an interpretation made for film is JUST FINE and actors telling a total newbie to start with live plays is a bit much; they probably didn’t start that way themselves.
I’d also recommend finding a plot synopsis before watching; I’ve watched Shakespeare with some newbies and the folks willing to be spoiled (as much as you can spoil a 400 year old play) have more fun. If you are 2 minutes in and are tempted to turn it off because you’re not quite catching what they’re saying, give it 10-15 minutes to get into the rhythm. The first scene in most Shakespeare plays almost always consists of two minor chararacters talking about the setting to give the audience a chance to settle down, and it gives me as a modern audience goer a chance to get the hang of the language. By the time all the title characters show up I’ve usually got it.
Other good starting points for understanding and popular reference density would be Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. Midsummer Night’s Dream has a play within a play that gives you a joking sense of what Shakespeare and his contemporaries had to work with—a ragtag team of goofballs.
That being said, watching Shakespeare live is fun too. This time of year there are lots of groups that will stage plays outside. See if there are some near you.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:45 AM on July 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
I’d also recommend finding a plot synopsis before watching; I’ve watched Shakespeare with some newbies and the folks willing to be spoiled (as much as you can spoil a 400 year old play) have more fun. If you are 2 minutes in and are tempted to turn it off because you’re not quite catching what they’re saying, give it 10-15 minutes to get into the rhythm. The first scene in most Shakespeare plays almost always consists of two minor chararacters talking about the setting to give the audience a chance to settle down, and it gives me as a modern audience goer a chance to get the hang of the language. By the time all the title characters show up I’ve usually got it.
Other good starting points for understanding and popular reference density would be Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. Midsummer Night’s Dream has a play within a play that gives you a joking sense of what Shakespeare and his contemporaries had to work with—a ragtag team of goofballs.
That being said, watching Shakespeare live is fun too. This time of year there are lots of groups that will stage plays outside. See if there are some near you.
posted by tchemgrrl at 4:45 AM on July 23, 2019 [5 favorites]
For a newbie, I'd recommend starting with a summary of the plays (Sparknotes, or even the book by Charles and Mary Lamb) then the movies, then, if you can manage it, watching a live performance. My Shakespeare-newbie (I'm not from a country where his plays are a Thing like they are in the West) enjoyment of the live performance of Twelfth Night was vastly improved by knowing the rough plot beforehand.
posted by Tamanna at 6:01 AM on July 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Tamanna at 6:01 AM on July 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
+1 to watching an actual film version and reading a study notes first. Hamlet has a lot of lines that get referenced in popular culture, a study guide will note those and probably give you some excerpts from the play to help you get into the language.
That said, I recommend starting with a comedy (I.e. wedding at the end) unless you’re super jazzed about Hamlet, just because they have more predictable plots. I really enjoyed the Whedon Much Ado About Nothing - the play makes a lot more sense when it’s explicit that everyone is drunk all the time. Would also recommend the Luhrman Romeo + Juliet for familiar plot (but I like Luhrman and hated the Zeffirelli version, YMMV)
Also, +1 for just getting in there and watching/reading some stuff. Shakespeare generally gets better as you get more familiar with it, don’t stress about the perfect intro.
posted by momus_window at 7:06 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
That said, I recommend starting with a comedy (I.e. wedding at the end) unless you’re super jazzed about Hamlet, just because they have more predictable plots. I really enjoyed the Whedon Much Ado About Nothing - the play makes a lot more sense when it’s explicit that everyone is drunk all the time. Would also recommend the Luhrman Romeo + Juliet for familiar plot (but I like Luhrman and hated the Zeffirelli version, YMMV)
Also, +1 for just getting in there and watching/reading some stuff. Shakespeare generally gets better as you get more familiar with it, don’t stress about the perfect intro.
posted by momus_window at 7:06 AM on July 23, 2019 [1 favorite]
I think the Hollow Crown Henriad is less good than the Globe's, available on Globe Player. Jamie Parker and Roger Allam are epic as Hal and Falstaff, and the Hotspur-Lady Percy relationship is also really well played.
The RSC's Richard II with David Tennant, and Oliver Ford Davies as the zero-fucks-given Duke of York, is also a beauty.
A couple of Marlowe goodies: the Globe Player Doctor Faustus is a good one. And-- this is much older, but in 1970 the young Ian McKellen played Edward II for Prospect Theatre Company. It was filmed and shown on the BBC, and was the first same-sex kiss ever seen on British TV. Bits of it are on YouTube; the whole thing gets uploaded and taken down periodically.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:56 PM on July 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
The RSC's Richard II with David Tennant, and Oliver Ford Davies as the zero-fucks-given Duke of York, is also a beauty.
A couple of Marlowe goodies: the Globe Player Doctor Faustus is a good one. And-- this is much older, but in 1970 the young Ian McKellen played Edward II for Prospect Theatre Company. It was filmed and shown on the BBC, and was the first same-sex kiss ever seen on British TV. Bits of it are on YouTube; the whole thing gets uploaded and taken down periodically.
posted by Pallas Athena at 3:56 PM on July 23, 2019 [2 favorites]
Nthing the suggestion to check your library. Many libraries have DVDs and streaming versions of lots of Shakespeare.
posted by kristi at 11:41 AM on July 28, 2019
posted by kristi at 11:41 AM on July 28, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
Also don't miss the Kenneth Branaugh Much Ado About Nothing. Michael Keaton and Keanu Reeve's characters are disasters, but to be fair they're written that way. Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson, and Denzel Washington showcase some of Shakespeare at his very best. (check out the camera work on the final shot for a treat)
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 4:58 PM on July 22, 2019 [5 favorites]