Comments on: Much Ado about Digital Theatre’s streaming of Shakespeare

By: Wie

Wie — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:24:37 +0000

It’s the only Hamlet that has ever left me in tears…. All that “madness” makes perfect sense. All the spying, the lying, the speeches made solely for the benefit of the spies (or the spy cameras), it all makes perfect sense. Buy the DVD. The extras are really valuable, and you’ll watch it repeatedly.

With a digital purchase like this, if the company folds, I assume my “purchase” would evaporate with it, right? I love the idea of being able to see real theatre out here in the boonies, but I’m wary of “buying” things that I don’t subsequently own. Still, it’s only 18 bucks, and I REALLY want to see this production. Those two are hilarious together.

By: Andrew Girvan

Andrew Girvan — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:06:31 +0000

Richard.

I’ve just watched your most recent episode of The Theatre Show. It’s great to see what you’re doing with theatre video in Australia. We could do with more video like that in the West End.

Andrew

By: Andrew Girvan

Andrew Girvan — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 19:02:39 +0000

Richard,

As Bex points out we haven’t “got around” the copyright issues – we work with the theatres and creatives directly to secure licences for all the productions that we capture. In the case of Much Ado the script is obviously public domain buy we’ve worked with Equity and the Musicians Union for three years to establish agreements which make sure that everyone involved is properly rewarded. We’ve captured all of the productions on the site ourselves and have the ability to distribute them around the world.

Andrew

By: Bex

Bex — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 01:04:03 +0000

One added note… The Digital Theatre people did the actual filming for the video in conjunction with the production team, so they negotiated for world wide access before they even went into the theatre to film the live productions and own the video themselves.

By: Bex

Bex — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 17:43:07 +0000

They have worked out the legal aspects with the producers and actors to provide access worldwide. It is completely legal. It is stream-only for the 48 hour rental and if you purchase the download you must use their proprietary video player that reauthenticates your computer over the Internet each time you watch it, so it can not be traded through file sharing. Go to their website and read about it.

By: Richard

Richard — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 07:14:22 +0000

How do they get around Copyright issues – the rights holders only authorise a show for performance in a geographic location, loading it up to the web counts under US and Australian Copyright law as re-broadcasting, which they shouldnt have the right to do. This cant actually be legal. Just a thought.

By: Kayla

Kayla — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 00:12:36 +0000

That version of Hamlet is available free on the pbs.org website albeit in a same kind of experience. It’s also available on DVD. For those who like to take in films and performances abroad a region free dvd player is a must.

By: Bex

Bex — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 22:07:13 +0000

I live in Wisconsin and I did get to go see it in London (three times in a week!) but i bought the DT download and have rewatched it numerous times. I work with a university theatre department and we are planning to get an institutional subscription because there are some truly remarkable performances and behind the scenes video. I’m still waiting for their ipad app though… Seconding the other comment about DT’s Hamlet, too. You can stream that from the PBS site if you are in the US… Or you canbuy a DVD.

By: Henry 3 Dogg

Henry 3 Dogg — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 10:18:37 +0000

To stay with the SF theme…

Hamlet staring Dr Who and Jean Luc Picard is excellent