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What light through yonder laptop breaks?

Now is not the winter of our discontent, as Shakespeare’s Globe today launches a dedicated video-on-demand service for the London theatre. 

Globe Player will offer full-length HD films of more than 50 Shakespeare productions from the theatre, which will be available to rent or buy.

In what the Globe claims is a VoD first for any theatre, every foreign-language production from the 2012 ‘Globe to Globe’ festival of international Shakespeare will be available, alongside the main productions from the 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 summer seasons.

This includes productions of Twelfth Night, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, As You Like It, Love’s Labour’s Lost and Romeo and Juliet.

“The Globe is always looking for bold new ways to take Shakespeare out into the world and share his astonishing plays with as many people as possible,” said Dominic Dromgoole, artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe.

“Globe Player will allow us to reach brand new audiences and to make access to our productions simple and seamless for anyone with the internet. We are delighted to be the first theatre with its own dedicated video-on-demand platform.”