What a week, huh? In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Folger’s staff will be working remotely through the end of March. Like us, you may be buckling down for a long stretch of staying in.
You might have heard that Shakespeare wrote King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and a handful of other classics during a period when the plague forced London theaters to close. You probably have your own list of projects you’d like to complete while you’re social distancing, but, if you need a break from writing that masterpiece, here’s a short list of Shakespeare adaptations on streaming platforms in the US this March. There’s something for everyone here: television episodes, Bollywood adaptations, made-for-TV movies, filmed versions of stage productions, and big blockbusters.
Of course, if you’d rather start by reading some Shakespeare, check out The Folger Shakespeare, our new online home for all of Shakespeare’s plays. There, you can read, search, and download the texts. You’ll also find introductory and critical essays, textual notes, and scene summaries.
And now, here’s what to stream if you need a little Shakespeare in your life:
Amazon Prime
Henry V (1989)
Directed by and starring Kenneth Branagh.
Julius Caesar (2012)
A BBC Television adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company production, with Paterson Joseph as Brutus.
King Lear (2018)
With Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.
Kiss Me, Kate (1958)
A black-and-white, made-for-TV version of the musical with Alfred Drake and Patricia Morison reprising their Broadway roles and Fred and Lilli.
Macbeth (2010)
Rupert Goold’s made-for-TV movie with Sir Patrick Stewart as Macbeth and Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth.
Macbeth (2015)
Maqbool (2004)
In this Bollywood picture, director Vishal Bhardwaj re-imagines Macbeth in Mumbai’s criminal underworld.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1981)
One of a handful of BBC Television versions of the plays streaming on Amazon Prime, this Midsummer features Helen Mirren and Hugh Quarshie.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2018)
Much Ado About Nothing (1993)
Othello (2001)
A modern language adaptation for Britain’s ITV, with former-Doctor Who Christopher Eccleston as “Ben Jago” and Eamonn Walker as “John Othello.”
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (1991)
Shakespeare Uncovered, Seasons 1 – 3
In this PBS documentary series, actors dig deep into their favorite Shakespeare plays.
Richard II (2016)
Adapted from Deborah Warner’s National Theatre production, with Fiona Shaw as Richard II.
The Taming of the Shrew (1929)
The Taming of the Shrew (1980)
With Monty Python’s John Cleese as Petruchio.
Twelfth Night (1970)
With Alec Guiness as Malvolio, Ralph Richardson as Toby, and Joan Plowright as Viola.
Twelfth Night (2018)
Disney+
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
The Lion King (1994, 2019)
Watch either the 1994 animated classic or the 2019 “live action” remake: they might remind you of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.
⇒Related: The Lion King owes as much to Henry IV, Part 1 as it does to Hamlet, writes Austin Tichenor.
HBO Go
As You Like It (2007)
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
With Pacino as Shylock!
Hulu
10 Things I Hate About You (2009)
The ABC Family TV show, not the movie.
Pinky and the Brain, Season 3, episode 25: “The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo”/ “The Melancholy Brain” (1998)
The Brain’s plan to take over the world starts with Denmark.
The Twilight Zone, Season 4, episode 18: “The Bard” (1963)
A hack screenwriter uses black magic to conjure up William Shakespeare, then promptly puts the Bard to work ghostwriting a screenplay.
⇒Related: Watch a ’60s TV shows with Shakespeare-inspired episodes.
Netflix
Haider (2014)
A Bollywood re-imagining of Hamlet that sets the play’s events in Kashmir.
The King (2019)
Timothée Chalamet plays Henry V in this Netflix adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henriad.
Sure, Shakespeare wrote King Lear while he was quarantined, but back then Netflix was still just doing DVDs in the mail
— Mike Ingram (@mikeingram00) March 14, 2020
Is there anything we missed? Are you streaming TV or movies outside the United States? Have your own streaming recommendations for home-bound Shakespeare-lovers? Tell us what you’re streaming in the comments!
The Globe Theatre London has a good collection of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries (rent or buy)
https://globeplayer.tv/
I’ve been looking everywhere for a copy of Othello where Patrick Stewart played Ohtello. I believe it was performed in Washington DC several years ago, but I cannot find a copy of it anywhere. Any help?
Ben Lauer: Thank you for the quick reply. Yes, I have seen this on DVD — its a very poor quality version that looks to have been taped off of a TV monitor. I have no idea if the UCLA version is a tape or film — but one could assume it’s a much better quality version than this one. Still, it’s good to get an idea of the production was like. Thank you very much for the info.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/west-virginia/article/American-Shakespeare-Center-Will-Livestream-Full-Performance-of-A-MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS-DREAM-20200320
Staunton’s American Shakespeare Center wil have some stuff available.
Marquee TV is doing a 30 day free offer right now. Royal Shakespeare Company just announced a partnership with Marquee to stream full productions. We also have the Donmar Warehouse Shakespeare Trilogy as part of the offer.
To GS Morris – is this what you’re looking for?
https://youtu.be/CLoCQAu6iWg
Richard Chamberlain and Martin Shaw in ‘Hamlet’ – on Youtube!
Sherry Antoinetti, the Hurt Shakespeare in the Park film is in the collections of a few colleges and the NYPL performing arts library. Yes, that is a hard one to find.
This is most likely a fools errand to be sure, but back in the 70s Richard Chamberlain did a extremely well received Hamlet that was subsequently filmed and aired I believe by The Hallmark Hall of Fame. So far as I know the only remaining copy belongs to the University of California. It would be good to see it, I’ve only heard the audio recording. Is it possible that the Folger might want to investigate further?
GS, did you see Jamie-Rose’s comment? There’s a Richard Chamberlain version of Hamlet on YouTube at https://youtu.be/CLoCQAu6iWg.
For those in Canada or those wiley enough to get cancon, CBC Gem has a series from the Stratford Festival. 12 plays in all.
https://gem.cbc.ca/series/stratford-presents/all/8d5898e8-9215-4c97-8fe3-a10b30c89d58
I always thought that “Julius Caesar Must Die,” which is half documentary, half Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” was really good. Setting the play in Rome’s Supermax prison was a genius move.
Hunting high and low for a copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream from Shakepseare in the Park, it ran on PBS and A&E for a while, and starred William Hurt as Oberon. It was one of the best versions of the play by the Mechanicals I’ve ever seen. Any hints on where I can get a copy?
The Criterion Channel has Laurence Olivier’s Henry V (1944), Hamlet (1948) Richard III (1955) and Orson Welles’ Chimes at Midnight (1966) [Welles drew from the Falstaff sections of Shakespeare’s Henry plays] and may have other filmed Shakespeare plays among its 2000+ streaming videos. It used to have Kenneth Branagh’s Hamlet (1996) and there is some rotation of films beyond its established archive of films.
The Criterion Collection! I (alas) don’t have a subscription for that, but great reminder. Akira Kurosawa’s Shakespeare-inspired films should also be included on that platform… I remember Throne of Blood and maybe Ran being on Hulu when the Criterion Collection was briefly available there.
You missed As You Like It and Taming of the Shrew, free from Open Culture http://www.openculture.com/freemoviesonline
Ooh, a couple of classics! Thanks for sharing these Deborah! We love free movies even more than movies on streaming platforms.
High school teacher here. Teaching Romeo and Juliet and The Tempest. Was using the Leonardo version and the 1976 version to cover media studies and the play for grade 8; was using Christopher Plummer version of Tempest from Stratford Theatre but my films are in school and I am not! Have you suggestions? Can you help? We are the best girls’ school in Montreal with an ambitious school body. I know all schools are in crisis but your assistance would be invaluable. Stay safe!
Hi Edna!
We don’t have any immediate solutions for streaming versions of Romeo and Juliet or The Tempest, but if another commentor suggests anything, we’ll ping you!
If you sign up for a free, 7-day trial of BroadwayHD, it looks like you can stream Phyllida Lloyd’s recent production of Tempest, with Harriet Walter as Prospero, via Amazon Prime! We’ve heard it’s incredible.
Here’s a handful of our other content about those plays: maybe it will spark some ideas?
Classroom resources & teaching modules from Folger Education
Romeo and Juliet
Episodes from our podcast, Shakespeare Unlimited:
Romeo and Juliet through the ages
Olivia Hussey on playing Juliet in Franco Zeferelli’s 1968 film
Elizabethan street fighting
Charlotte Cushman: When Romeo Was A Woman
Shakespeare and girlhood (probably my all-time favorite episode of our podcast–just a great conversation)
And The Tempest
Episodes from our Shakespeare Unlimited podcast:
Teller (of Penn and Teller) on magic in The Tempest
Phyllida Lloyd on all-Female Shakespeare and her 2016 Tempest (see our other comment)
Harriet Walter on all-Female Shakespeare and her 2016 Tempest (see our other comment)