Shakespeare in the Little Apple
Library Research Guide
Performances
Although reading the works of Shakespeare can be useful, live examples provide a better understanding as to how the plays were meant to be performed, including timing, vocal characteristics, and movement. In addition to acting elements, the live performances offer a full visualization of costume and set design. The examples selected below include both video and audio performances of Shakespeare, as well as documentaries on life in the Age of Shakespeare.
Video Performances
Shakespeare Performances (Streaming Video)
- BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) Shakespeare PlaysPaid for by K-State Libraries
Streaming video collection of 37 of William Shakespeare’s best known works. Plays can be watched either in their entirety or by act. Public Performance Rights are included for each play.
- MIT Global ShakespearesThe MIT Global Shakespeares Video & Performance Archive is a collaborative project providing online access to performances of Shakespeare from many parts of the world as well as essays and metadata by scholars and educators in the field.
Shakespeare Performances and Shakespeare Documentaries
In this section you will find a combination of live performances, as well as documentaries on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and critical guides to Shakespeare's plays.
Current K-State students, staff, faculty, and visitors to our campus can conduct research starting with these databases:
- Theatre In Video: Volume IPaid for by K-State Libraries detailed description
Search more than 250 of the world’s most important plays and more than 100 video documentaries. Bookmark specific scenes, monologues, and staging examples for use in papers and course reserves. - Dance Online: Dance in VideoPublication Dates Covered: 1950s - present Paid for by K-State Libraries
Offers more than 900 hours of streaming video of dance and related documentaries spanning the 1950s to today. Includes modern dance, ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance, as well as forerunners of the forms and the pioneers of modern concert dance. - KanopyPaid for by K-State Libraries
Kanopy is an on-demand streaming video service for educational institutions. Kanopy works directly with filmmakers and film distribution companies to offer award-winning collections including titles from PBS, Criterion Collection, HBO Documentary Films, Paramount and more. Instructors can request the resources from within the Kanopy website.
For further information on video resources for teaching, a resource guide is available.
Want a full list of Shakespeare films at K-State? Follow this link to our Search It tool results.
Tips on Performing the Bard's Words
If you find yourself cast as Lady Macbeth but aren't certain of how to approach the role, there are many published guides to performing Shakespeare, like one of these from K-State Libraries.
Acting Shakespeare's Language by Call Number: PR3091 .H56 2015
Clues to Acting Shakespeare by Call Number: PR3091 .V36 2000
Current K-State students, staff, faculty, and visitors to our campus can also watch video workshops on performing Shakespeare from the Royal Shakespeare Company via our Theatre in Video database, like this one here:
Audio Performances
- Shakespeare Audio Plays (Literature Online)The complete Arkangel Shakespeare contains fully dramatised unabridged recordings of all of Shakespeare's 38 plays. Each play is recorded by noted actors, many of whom were trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company, such as Simon Russell Beale, Joseph Fiennes, David Tennant, Niamh Cusack and Sir John Gielgud and includes sound effects and music to bring the plays further to life.
The Drama Collection: 250 Quintessential Recorded Plays by Call Number: PS625 .D73 2012Publication Date: 2012V. 19. SHAKESPEARE-SHAW. -- Hamlet / William Shakespeare -- Julius Caesar / William Shakespeare -- King Henry IV: the shadow of succession / William Shakespeare -- Macbeth / William Shakespeare -- Romeo and Juliet / William Shakespeare --
- Music Online Smithsonian Global Sound for LibrariesPaid for by K-State Libraries
An encyclopedia of the world's musical and aural traditions. The collection provides an unprecedented variety of online resources that include diverse musical forms, historical speeches, poets and authors reading their own works, and an extensive children's collection.
