Drama Online Announces New Video Partnership With The Royal Shakespeare Company

Drama Online significantly expands its current video offering with new world-class content from the preeminent producer of Shakespeare in the theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company.

The RSC Live Collection will launch on December 11, 2017 with 13 films of productions dating from 2013 to the cutting-edge 2016-17 production of The Tempest starring Simon Russell-Beale. The collection will continue to add new RSC productions as they are filmed, as the RSC works through Shakespeare's canon.

The RSC Live Collection is available as an online education collection through Drama Online. Exclusively through Drama Online, users have the possibility of watching a live performance in the same digital space in which they can read and study the text in the gold-standard Arden Shakespeare editions. Institutions can pick and choose which individual collections on Drama Online they subscribe to or purchase, including audio recordings, playtexts, criticism, theatre craft, films, recordings, master classes, a monologue finder, and more.

"We are delighted to announce this ambitious new set of collaborations. RSC Education is committed to giving as many people as possible the chance to see and experience our work and these platforms each give access to millions of teachers and students in over 65 countries worldwide. The new streaming partnerships provide a cost-effective way for schools and universities to access high quality cultural experiences."

- Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of RSC Education

"I am delighted to welcome the RSC as a new partner on Drama Online. The RSC Live Collection of first-class theatre productions from a world-leading producer of Shakespeare not only expands the platform's video content but complements our collection of gold-standard play editions and scholarly works from the Arden Shakespeare, allowing users to read, analyze, listen to and watch a play in the same digital environment. The RSC Live Collection offers students worldwide their own seat in the RSC's theatre - joining the theatre audience to experience stunning performances of Shakespeare in the very best of scholarly digital platforms."

- Margaret Bartley, Editorial Director, Drama Online, Bloomsbury Digital Resources

"...[I]t is splendid news that through the Drama Online platform those studying, teaching and enjoying Shakespeare can now watch live video recordings of RSC productions and consult an impressive range of Arden publications, including their world-renowned editions of the plays. This alliance between Drama Online and the RSC is a milestone in the continuing digital life of the Shakespeare canon."

- Michael Dobson, Director of The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Birmingham, UK

"The Royal Shakespeare Company and the Arden Shakespeare side by side online: what a wonderful combination of resources for students and scholars alike! To be able to watch the ever-growing list of films of RSC productions and then to turn to the superb scholarship of Arden editions (or vice versa) seems to me the perfect way to study-and enjoy-Shakespeare."

- Peter Holland, Chair of the International Shakespeare Association, Associate Dean for the Arts McMeel Family Professor in Shakespeare Studies, Department of Film, Television, and Theatre, University of Notre Dame, USA

Content highlights include:

· Richard II, starring David Tennant

· King Lear, starring Sir Antony Sher

· The Tempest, starring Simon Russell Beale and featuring innovative live motion capture

· Hamlet, with award winning Paapa Essiedu in the title role

Launch Collection, Winter 2017:

Richard II; Henry IV Part 1; Henry IV Part 2; Henry V; Two Gentlemen of Verona; Love's Labour's Lost,; Love's Labour's Won ("Much Ado About Nothing"); The Merchant of Venice; Othello; Hamlet; King Lear; Cymbeline; The Tempest.

About the RSC:

The Royal Shakespeare Company creates theatre at its best, made in Stratford-upon-Avon and shared around the world. We produce an inspirational artistic programme each year, setting Shakespeare in context, alongside the work of his contemporaries and today's writers. Everyone at the RSC - from actors to armourers, musicians to technicians - plays a part in creating the world you see on stage. All our productions begin life at our Stratford workshops and theatres and we bring them to the widest possible audience through our touring, residencies, live broadcasts and online activity. So wherever you experience the RSC, you experience work made in Shakespeare's home town. www.rsc.org.uk

About Drama Online:

Developed in partnership by Bloomsbury Publishing and Faber & Faber, Drama Online was created as a response to the need for a high-quality online research tool for drama and literature students, professors and teachers. Drama Online is a fast growing study resource which now features over 2,500 titles from 500 playwrights. It is the only resource to combine exclusively available playtext content and scholarly publications with filmed live performances, film adaptations and audio plays. www.dramaonlinelibrary.com

To post a comment, you must register and login.