Shakespeare’s Globe in London is getting into the on-demand streaming game but arguably delivering something completely unique in the crowded market. Via its new Globe Player, viewers can buy or rent more than 50 filmed productions available for rent or purchase.
Shakespeare’s Globe claims it’s the first theatre to offer this kind of service.
The videos are available everywhere in the world, however if some of the more recent productions are screening in local theatres, they make take some time before they’re available on the Globe player. There is even some non-English content, as several foreign productions have also taken place in the Globe.
The Standard reports that more productions will be on the way, including last year’s production of The Tempest starring Merlin‘s Colin Morgan.
Rented videos will cost £2.99 to £3.99 (about $4.79 to $6.39) and purchased videos will go for £4.99 to £7.99 (about $7.99 to $12.79). In addition to the paid content, there’s also about 100 free videos of interviews with stars like Ian McKellen, Judy Dench, Jude Law and Tom Hiddleston.
More and more big companies are competing with Netflix by launching their own standalone video services, most recently Shomi — a partnership between Rogers and Shaw which launched Tuesday — and Latte, a streaming service by Bell that offers HBO’s entire catalogue to Canadian consumers.
