Digital Theatre

[alchimie]

There is a site called 'Digital Theatre' which I can subscribe to for a reasonable monthly fee that is offering me access to a large number of filmed Shakespeare plays by the RSC & other groups, as well as some operas, ballets, etc. Does anyone out there in the wider Dreamwidth world know a reason I would not want to do this, finances allowing? I feel oddly like there must be something terrible about it or I would already be subscribed to it...

Comments

[grondfic]

Definitely worth it, I'd say (but then - as you know - I'm a total theatre-nut)

[alchimie]

That is excellent to hear -- as a theatre-nut I assume you would be picky if their catalogue was not accurate or the video quality was poor. I am definitely thinking I will spring for it, there are so many things they have which I am curious about.

[grondfic]

Please do let us know how you get on, if you do subscribe - both about the service and the plays.

I see you've been recommended The Globe one too - one of my favourite theatres in London (even though the benches are a total penance!)

[clevermanka]

I've never done the subscription service, but I have rented shows from Digital Theatre and enjoyed them very much. I'll seen if anyone I know has the monthly thing and will report back.

[alchimie]

Thank you! Mostly my concern was with video quality and such things, so having the two positive reports makes me inclined to go for it. It will probably substantially increase the Shakespeare content on this journal!

[clevermanka]

[clevermanka]

My friend (who had a subscription through her school when she was still teaching high school drama) said she LOVED it and absolutely recommends it.

[rydra_wong]

*waves hello*

I watched the RSC Titus Andronicus on Digital Theatre and it was great. I went for one-off rental of that production, but subscription's going to be cheaper if you plan to watch a lot in a short space of time -- a lot of their other shows look great so I may well go for that.

Excellent video quality, professionally shot with a live audience, would recommend.

I'm also really enjoying Globe Player.

[alchimie]

Hello! I had been going to post an introductory comment on your journal but life got away from me -- but I think it was a mention you made of Digital Theatre somewhere on DW that led to my discovery, although I admit I cannot figure out just where. Regardless, congratulations on your successful Shakespeare completion! It has been a goal of mine but not one I was pursuing, except now in the world of the modern internet it seems much more plausible. I am just now looking at Globe Player thanks to your link -- I cannot believe how much is out there just between that site and Digital Theatre!

I do not know if a subscription would be practical or aspirational in my case, but I think if I were to plan to rent when I could watch I would never get around to it, whereas a subscription might make me prioritise watching Shakespeare over playing yet another game of Sudoku on my iPad or whatever else it is I am distracting myself with.

Do you have a favourite play?

[rydra_wong]

I am just now looking at Globe Player thanks to your link -- I cannot believe how much is out there just between that site and Digital Theatre!

I KNOW RIGHT??? I'm so excited! Some of the foreign-language productions at the Globe look especially fascinating.

Do you have a favourite play?

No, I'm terrible at picking a single favourite from anything, especially when there are so many plays that I love in very different ways. I dither and then my brain stalls out completely.

Also so much depends on the production -- I've seen productions that really changed my view of a play, and I'd far rather see a really great production of one of the plays that I'm not that into per se than a mediocre production of a play I love (in fact, the latter is likely to have me mentally screaming IT COULD BE SO MUCH BETTER, WHY ISN'T THIS BETTER).

I definitely have favourites plural -- love the Wars of the Roses plays, love the problem plays, am fascinated by Titus and Coriolanus, LOVE a good Hamlet, will jump at any chance to see oddities like King John or Pericles (not least because they tend to be done because someone wants to do them, not because it's a GCSE set text), yearning to see a really good Antony and Cleopatra. All Macbeths have to compete in my head with the McKellen/Dench version, which is impossible. Very fond of Much Ado.