SHAKESPEARE’S GLOBE GOES FROM STAGE TO SCREEN
Backstage
By Suzy Evans
Taking a play from stage to screen typically involves an adapted screenplay, new cast members, a film crew and set, countless hours of postproduction, and many other costly and involved factors. However, NCM Fathom and Arts Media Alliance’s partnership with Shakespeare’s Globe in London allows the Bard’s plays to come alive in their original theatrical form in more than 275 movie theaters.
The programming brings four Globe productions—”The Merry Wives of Windsor,” “Henry IV Part 1,” “Henry IV Part 2,” and “Henry VIII”—to audiences who might not have the chance to travel to London to see a live production. “Merry Wives” aired in June, and the next segment, “Henry IV Part 1,” will hit theaters Aug. 1.
“We’re very much aware that recorded live theater, although that’s an oxymoron in itself, is increasingly going to become part of what every theater does,” says Dominic Dromgoole, the Globe’s artistic director. “And it’s increasingly become part of how you reach out to new audiences.”
This programming serves to make local communities aware of nationally renowned institutions like the Globe, and it also works on the community level. “We’re seeing a landscape where arts are really challenged,” says Dan Diamond, vice president of NCM Fathom. “What this does is create a real opportunity to reignite that excitement about the arts in the local community.”
While some may argue recording live theater cheapens the experience, Dromgoole believes new technologies bring the opportunity to authentically capture a production’s inherent theatricality while creating an essential historical record of Globe productions.
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Shakespeare’s Globe London Cinema Series continues with the London Globe Theatre’s critically acclaimed production of Henry IV Part 1 starring Roger Allam, who won the Best Actor Olivier Award for his definitive performance as Falstaff in this production to be in select movie theaters across the U.S. at 6:30 p.m. local time on Monday, August 1. Following Henry IV Part 1, the Series continues with Henry IV Part 2 on Thursday, August 18 at 6:30 p.m. and closes with Henry VIII on Thursday, September 15 at 6:30 p.m.