Shakespeare's Globe Announces Relaunch Of Globe Player

Shakespeare's Globe has announced the relaunch of their video-on-demand streaming service, Globe Player. The original platform was the first of its kind and the upgrade enables audiences to subscribe or pay-on-demand for world-class Shakespeare productions to devices internationally.

For the first time, audiences can subscribe to Globe Player in addition to the existing pay-per-production system, providing audiences unlimited access to a growing collection of filmed performances. Launched just in time for Christmas, Globe Player is a perfect gift for theatre lovers wanting to enjoy their favourite productions from Shakespeare's Globe.

Audiences that were unable to visit the Globe this summer are now able to stream all the 2021 Summer Season productions including Romeo & Juliet starring Alfred Enoch and Rebekah Murrell and Twelfth Night with The Globe's Artistic Director Michelle Terry playing Viola.

Currently there are 16 productions from Shakespeare's Globe available to watch on Globe Player with new plays being added throughout the year. Productions currently available include:

• The award-winning all-male Original Practice Twelfth Night from 2012 featuring Mark Rylance, Stephen Fry, Johnny Flynn and Paul Chahidi
• Hamlet, 2018. Michelle Terry as the Globe's first-ever female Hamlet. This was also the first time integrated BSL was incorporated into a production.

• The Duchess of Malfi, 2014 starring Gemma Arterton in the opening production in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse
• Love's Labour's Lost, 2009 starring Michelle Terry and Paul Ready

• The Winter's Tale, 2018 and The Merry Wives of Windsor, 2019 will also now be available to watch digitally for the first time ever

Subscriptions cost £59.99 a year for unlimited access to all titles, or £9.99 per production. The redeveloped platform will be mobile-responsive, allowing content to be streamed directly to all devices as well as the ability to cast onto larger screens.

As part of the Globe's ongoing commitment to accessibility, all productions are captioned and Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Metamorphoses from the Summer Season 2021 will also be available with audio description, with a view to increasing this number over time.

Globe Player is available worldwide and can be watched on any device, with new plays added throughout the year. The next batch of new content will go live in February 2022.

For those watching Globe productions as part of their educational development, Drama Online also provides access for drama and literature students, professors, and teachers.

Since Shakespeare's Globe closed its doors in March 2020 due to the pandemic it greatly expanded the use of digital channels to maintain contact with audiences across the world. Filmed productions released for free on its YouTube channel received over 3 million views across 137 countries, with over 600,000 tuning in for the first release of Hamlet. During lockdown, new users to the existing iteration of the Globe Player platform increased by almost 500%. This new redevelopment of Globe Player will help Shakespeare's Globe to increase its capability to meet the growing demand of audiences wanting to experience the magic of The Globe Theatre at home and away.

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