Since The Show Must Go Online began livestreaming weekly readings of William Shakespeare’s plays on 19th March, the series has now attracted over 100,000 views in its first two months. Viewers hail from more than 50 countries, on 6 of the 7 continents. Created by actor-writer-director Robert Myles, the series is producing performed readings of the entire Shakespeare canon, with ten of the plays livestreamed so far, featuring over 200 actors and creatives.
The eleventh performance in the series will be Romeo and Juliet, available to watch live on Wednesday 27 May, 7pm BST here. Previous readings from the series can be watched here.
Robert Myles today said “We’re delighted to celebrate this milestone with our audiences, actors and theatremakers. We see everyone who takes part as a co-equal contributor in the mission to make Shakespeare for everyone, in what two months ago was a brand-new medium. Together we’ve pushed creative innovations every week, and we’ve received moving stories from audiences, sharing the joy this has brought to people in challenging circumstances, even those unrelated to Covid. We can’t wait to see what new discoveries lie ahead as we start to tackle some of Shakespeare’s best-known works.”
The Show Must Go Online aims to bring actors and audiences together to collectively enjoy and experience Shakespeare at a time when connecting in a traditional theatre space isn’t possible. The initiative has also established an opt-in hardship fund for actors who take part, which can be found here.
The viewing figures are independent of the initiative’s work with US Publisher Quirk Books, performing scenes from Ian Doescher’s pop-culture Shakespeare mashups including Shakespeare’s Star Wars, Taming Of The Clueless, Much Ado About Mean Girls, with Get Thee Back To The Future being performed on Mon 25th May, free tickets for which can be secured here.
