Shakespeare, William

An intimate look inside a living time capsule, this program explores the planning and reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, presenting a day in the working life of the unique artistic institution. The video guides viewers through the facility, painstakingly designed and built to resemble the original Elizabethan playhouse, and offers commentary from the actors, artisans, and educators who practice their craft there. Illustrating how the Globe’s productions breathe life into the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, the program features thrilling performances from Romeo and Juliet, including the balcony scene and the death of Mercutio. (50 minutes)

This program artfully brings together a treasury of visual resources to retrace Shakespeare's life and work. Included are the landmarks of Elizabethan London associated with his plays; depictions of the structure and operations of the Globe Theatre (including scenes from Laurence Olivier’s Henry V); historical sources of the plays in art and architecture surviving today; theatrical traditions that influenced the playwright, like folk festivals and medieval dances; and sites associated with Shakespeare's family and origins. Some of the major dramatic motifs, like that borrowed from Plautus's The Braggart Warrior, are shown through reenactment of sections of the plays. (31 minutes)

A fifth of London’s population in the year 1600 were regular playgoers. Examination of the Globe Theatre shows where they stood, how the stage was constructed, and how the special effects so beloved by the audience were achieved, from thunder and lightning to fairies flying through the air and ghosts emerging from the earth. Rehearsals were minimal and there was no producer or director—just the play, the actors, and the audience of two to three thousand, which could be kept under control only by the interest of the play itself. The program points out that Shakespeare himself wrote the plays to be adaptable to different theaters when the company was on tour, and to different audiences. (28 minutes)