THEOLOGY AND THE ARTS

Streaming Theater: Chekhov (1860-1904)

May 22, 2024
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

The Seagull (1896)
- Michael Mayer’s 2018 film with Annette Bening and Saoirse Ronan is on Amazon (and Alexander Street).
- Jamie Lloyd’s 2022 production of Anya Reiss’s adaptation, with Emilia Clarke, is on National Theatre at Home (see The Grauniad 7.7.2022, Variety 7.8.2022, Time Out 7.7.2022, London Theatre 7.8.2022, Independent 7.8.2022, The Week 7.15.2022, The Standard 7.27.2022).
- The 2016 National Theatre production of David Hare’s adaptation is on Alexander Street. Guy Roberts’s 2003 analysis is on Alexander Street.
- The 1975 TV production with Frank Langella and Blythe Danner is on YouTube.
- Chekhov: The Essential Plays: The Seagull, Uncle Vanya, Three Sisters & The Cherry Orchard, trans. Michael Henry Heim (Modern Library, 2003)
- Thomas G. Winner, “Chekhov’s Seagull and Shakespeare’s Hamlet: a Study of a Dramatic Device” (1956); T. A. Stroud, “Hamlet and The Seagull“ (1958); Dorothy Slater, “The Sea Gull And The Wild Duck: Birds Of A Feather?” (1965); W. Gareth Jones, “Chekhov’s Undercurrent of Time” (1969); Jacob H. Adler, “Two Hamlet Plays: The Wild Duck and The Sea Gull“ (1970); John D. Goodliffe, “Time in Chekhov’s plays” (1971); Laurence Senelick, “The Lake-Shore of Bohemia: The Seagull‘s Theatrical Context” (1977); Virginia Scott, “Life in Art: A Reading of The Seagull“ (1978); Carol Strongin, “Irony and Theatricality in Chekhov’s The Sea Gull“ (1981); Clara Hollosi, “Chekhov’s Reactions to two Interpretations of Nina” (1983); James M. Curtis, “Ephebes and Precursors in Chekhov’s The Seagull“ (1985); Laurence Senelick, “Stuffed Seagulls: Parody and the Reception of Chekhov’s Plays” (1987); Jovan Hristić, “‘Thinking with Chekhov’: the Evidence of Stanislavsky’s Notebooks” (1995); John Reid, “Matter and Spirit in The Seagull“ (1998); Bella Merlin, “Which Came First: The System or The Seagull?” (1999); Carol Faith, “The Seagull: The Stage Mother, the Missing Father, and the Origins of Art” (1999); Harai Golcomb, “Referential Reflections around a Medallion: ReciprocalArt/Life Embeddings in Chekhov’s The Seagull“ (2000); Thomas Kilroy, “The Seagull: An Adaptation” (2000); Laurence Senelick, “Stanislavsky’s Second Thoughts on The Seagull“ (2004); Geoffrey Borny, “The Seagull: From Disaster to Triumph” (2006)
- David Magarshack, The Real Chekhov: An Introduction to Chekhov’s Last Plays (1972); David Allen, Performing Chekhov (1999); Daniel Larlham, “Stanislavsky, Tolstoy, and the ‘Life of the Human Spirit’” (2013); Peta Tait, Performing Emotions: Gender, Bodies, Spaces, in Chekhov’s Drama and Stanislavski’s Theatre (2017)
Uncle Vanya (1897)
- The 1957 Franchot Tone film is on YouTube.
- Andrey Konchalovskiy’s 1970 film (Russian, English subtitles) is on YouTube.
- The 1991 TV production of David Mamet’s translation is on YouTube and Alexander Street.
- Conor McPherson’s 2021 adaptation (dir. Ian Rickson) is on MarqueeTV and PBS and YouTube.
- Laurence Senelick, “Uncle Vanya“ (1985); Gary Saul Morson, “Prosaic Chekhov: Metadrama, the Intelligentsia, and Uncle Vanya“ (1990); Leonid Heifetz, “Notes from a Director: Uncle Vanya“ (2000); Geoffrey Borny, “Uncle Vanya: ʹA Glimmer of Light Shining in the Distanceʹ” (2005); Thomas Newlin, “Decadent Ecosystems in Uncle Vanya: A Chorographic Meditation” (2015)
Three Sisters (1900)
- The 1966 Paul Bogart Actors Studio version with Geraldine Page, Shelley Winters, and Sandy Dennis is on YouTube.
- The 1970 film by Laurence Olivier and John Sichel is streaming on Kino Film Collection and BroadwayHD.
- The 1970 BBC Play of the Month version by Cedric Messina with Eileen Atkins and Anthony Hopkins is on YouTube.
- Inua Ellams’s 2019 adaptation set in 1960s Nigeria is streaming on National Theatre and Alexander Street. See The Theatre Times, Time Out, Stage Door, Alt Africa, The Arts Desk, Londonist, The Stage, The Grauniad, The Standard.
- The Three Sisters: A Play, adapted by David Mamet (1990); Sarah Ruhl, Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Woolf’s Orlando: Two Renderings for the Stage (2013)
- Beverly Hahn, “Chekhov: The Three Sisters“ (1972); Barbara Paul, “Chekhov’s ‘Five Sisters’” (1972); William Babula, “Three Sisters, Time, and the Audience” (1975); David Parker, “Three Men in Chekhov’s Three Sisters“ (1979); Charles J. Rzepka, “Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, Lear’s Daughters, and the Weird Sisters: The Arcana of Archetypal Influence” (1984); Harai Golomb, “Communicating Relationships in Chekhov’s Three Sisters“ (1985); Carol Strongin Tufts, “Prisoners of Their Plots: Literary Allusion and the Satiric Drama of Self-Consciousness in Chekhov’ s Three Sisters“ (1989); Nick Worrall, “Stanislavsky’s Production of Chekhov’s Three Sisters“ (1990); Trevor Nunn, “Notes from a Director: Three Sisters“ (2000); Carol Shafer, “Chekhov’s Three Sisters: Exploring the Woman Question” (2001); Jefferson J. A. Gatrall, “Exile and the Death of Languages in Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters“ (2003); Lee Trepanier, “The Problem of Stupidity in Chekhov’s Three Sisters“ (2011); Yasushi Nagata, “The Japanization of Chekhov: Contemporary Japanese Adaptations of Three Sisters“ (2012)
The Cherry Orchard (1903)
- The 1981 Richard Eyre version with Judi Dench is on YouTube.
- The 2011 Andrew Upton version with Zoe Wanamaker is on Alexander Street and National Theatre. See The Arts Desk, The Grauniad, Los Angeles Times, The Jewish Chronicle.
- Andrey Bely, “The Cherry Orchard“ (1904); P. Warner, “The Axe in Springtime (The Cherry Orchard)” (1958); Norman Silverstein, “Chekhov’s Comic Spirit and The Cherry Orchard” (1958); Jacqueline E. M. Latham, “The Cherry Orchard as Comedy” (1958); Peter P. Remaley, “Chekov’s The Cherry Orchard“ (1973); Jean-Pierre Barricelli, “Counterpoint of the Snapping String: Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard“ (1977); Beverly Hahn, “Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard“ (1973); Laurence Senelick, “The Cherry Orchard” (1985); Greta Anderson, “The Music of The Cherry Orchard: Repetitions in the Russian Text” (1991); Stephen L. Baehr, “The Machine in Chekhov’s Garden: Progress and Pastoral in The Cherry Orchard“ (1999); Svetlana Evdokimova, “What’s so Funny about Losing One’s Estate, or Infantilism in The Cherry Orchard“ (2000); Edward Braun, “The Cherry Orchard“ (2000); John Mckellor Reid, “Polemic as Parting Advice: The ‘Argument’ of The Cherry Orchard“ (2005); Savely Senderovich, “The Cherry Orchard: Chekhov’s Last Testament” (2009)
Coleridge. June 2023

July 1, 2023

Very happy to introduce Coleridge, my new monthly column at Covenant:

Introducing Coleridge

Coleridge: Against False beauty, Raphael’s Inner Gentleness, and the First Poet-priestess

And, as a bonus, here’s everything that didn’t make it into the first installment:

The Imaginative Conservative has articles on Jonathan R. Eller’s biography of Ray Bradbury (reviewed by Bradley Birzer); Russell Kirk’s short story ‘The Cellar of Little Egypt’ (by Blaine McCormick); Charles Williams in letters and remembrances (by Cicero Bruce); the ‘tall tales’ of Chesterton, Tolkien, Lewis, and Rowling (by Joseph Pearce); and “Solzhenitsyn, Russell Kirk, & the Moral Imagination” (by Edward Ericson).

In The Imaginative Conservative, Julian Kwasniewski writes on Tolkien’s traditionalism, and C. R. Wiley on Tolkien’s character Tom Bombadil as “jovial father.”

At Voegelin View, Sarah Tillard writes on Shakespeare’s Reformation, Noelle Canty on Longfellow’s final years of genius, and Paul Krause on Dante in the digital inferno. And in three new podcasts from the Thomistic Institute, Justin Jackson speaks on “Christology in Literature”, Michael Mack on “The Imago Dei in Sidney and Shakespeare”, and Fr. Albert Trudel on “Dante, Aquinas, and the Virtues.”

Justin E. H. Smith, “Poetry has lost its violence: Censorious prudes miss the point of art” (UnHerd)

Alice Gribbin argues that art must acknowledge the Muses: “Advanced over decades and from various directions, campaigns to demystify art—to make art legible, unmysterious, or more accessible—have obscured its nature, perversely. Those most involved in arts and culture have led the campaigns” (Notes of an Aesthete). Franklin Einspruch responds, “Standing in the way of our connection to [the Muses] is not just centuries of secularization, as Gribbin notes, but millennia of Christianity and Judaism, which she doesn’t” (Dissident Muse).

Ted Gioia, “How Songs Created Western Rational Thinking: And Socrates sends me on a mad chase into the wild world of musical dreams” (The Honest Broker)

Michael De Sapio, “The Drama of Western Music” (The Imaginative Conservative)

“Is anyone at home in Northern Ireland? An ambiguous identity is productive for writers” (UnHerd)

Rimsky-Korsakov’s Magical “Scheherazade” – VoegelinView

Bijan Omrani, “On the Roman Road: A Journey with the Poet Ausonius” (Antigone)

Jaspreet Singh Boparai on Cézanne: “Stand and stare” (The Lamp).

Emily Wilson reviews the complete Epictetus (London Review of Books) and Daisy Dunn, a biography of Plato (Literary Review).

A Modern Dostoevsky–Almost | The Russell Kirk Center

Aidan Hart on The Annunciation: Discernment and Hopeful Expectation

Kafka’s Trials by Theodore Dalrymple | Articles | First Things

Capturing “Emma” ~ The Imaginative Conservative

The Lamplighters: The Life of Pablo

The Duty of the Craftsman: Beauty and Goodness in Cormac McCarthy | The Russell Kirk Center

As Likely to End the World as to Save It: Knowledge and Science in Cormac McCarthy | The Russell Kirk Center

Capturing “Emma” ~ The Imaginative Conservative

The Return of the King: Arthurian Legends and History – VoegelinView
Theology & arts: April-May 2023

May 6, 2023

Exhibitions

“Going through Hell: The Divine Dante.” 20 works from the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. through July 16.

“Marc Chagall and the Bible.” Exhibition at Wycliffe College, Toronto, through October 15.

“The Resurrection and the Life by Fish Coin Press.” Exhibition at Sojourn Church Midtown, Louisville, KY, through May 28.

Talks and Seminars

“Curator’s introduction: Saint Francis of Assisi.” May 2, online. National Gallery, London.

Summer seminar on David Jones’ Anathemata led by Jane Clark Scharl

Beatrice Institute reading group on Thomas Pfau’s Incomprehensible Certainty: Metaphysics and Hermeneutics of the Image

Lectionary Art

Andrew Louth, “The Ascension.” 2021. Works of art from Hohenfurth monastery, Donatello and the Rabbula Gospels. The Visual Commentary on Scripture.

Eunice Dauterman Maguire, “Pentecost.” 2018. Works of art from Hosios Loukas, Santo Domingo de Silos, and the Benedictional of St Aethelwold. The Visual Commentary on Scripture.

Chloë Reddaway, “Luke 1:39-45: Quickening Creation.” 2018. Works of art from Pontormo, El Greco, and the church of Timios Stavros, Cyprus. The Visual Commentary on Scripture.

Writings

Harry Mount, “Wren’s Harmonies.” The New Criterion, May 2023.

James Matthew Wilson, “The First Metaphysical Poet.” [Thomas Aquinas]. The Catholic Thing, Apr. 15, 2023 and “T.S. Eliot’s Still Point: On the poet’s life & work.” The New Criterion, April 2023.

Thomas Hibbs, “Jacques Maritain and Art for Beauty’s Sake.” Religion and Liberty Online, Apr. 28, 2023.

Fiona Gilsenan, “Fit for a King: Sixth-century Augustine Gospels to be used in the Coronation of King Charles III.” Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge, Apr. 28, 2023.

J. S. Marcus, “The Pazzi Chapel: Heavenly Purity in Architecture.” Wall Street Journal, Apr. 21, 2023 (text-only)

Anthony Esolen, “‘Virtue,’ George Herbert, 1639.” Substack. Apr. 19, 2023.

Jessica Hooten Wilson, “Called to Sing: Learning from Mary’s Magnificat.” Substack, Apr. 14, 2023.

Peter Hitchens, “Lipstick and Nylons: On the end of Narnia.” The Lamp, Apr. 11, 2023.

Michael Yost, “The Land of spices; something understood: Reading George Herbert’s The Temple.” Dappled Things, Apr. 11, 2023, and “Shakespeare and the Real,” The University Bookman, Mar. 19, 2023.

Carmen-Helena Téllez, “Arvo Pärt: The Unexpected Profile of a Musical Revolutionary.” Church Life Journal, March 30, 2023.

Wade Bellesbach, “A Novel Reimagines the Birth of Bach’s Passion.” Plough, Apr. 4, 2023.

Marc Weitzmann, “Leonardo da Vinci was Jewish.” Tablet, Apr. 3, 2023.

Alexander Adams, “Goya and the Enlightenment.” Substack, Apr. 1, 2023.

Laura Hodes, “A Jewish painter, perhaps, but undeniably a spiritually transcendent one. Standing before the paintings of Helen Frankenthaler, it’s hard not to feel a sense of awakening.” Forward, Mar. 31, 2023.

Barry Davis, “Codex Sassoon: One of the most valuable manuscripts comes to Ramat Aviv.” Jerusalem Post, Mar. 25, 2023.

Jill Rice, Sarah Vincent, Lisa Ampleman. “Finding the divine in anything and everything: A review of the year in poetry.” America: The Jesuit Review, Mar. 16, 2023.

Gary Saul Morson, “What Pilate Learns.” On Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel The Master and Margarita. First Things, March 2023.
Theology & arts: March 2023

April 1, 2023

Stephen Witmer, “The Temple: A Reader’s Guide to a Christian Classic.” Desiring God, Mar. 21, 2023.

Joseph Pronechen, “This Glorious Stained Glass from Ireland Graces Only One American Church.” [Harry Clarke at St. Vincent de Paul in Bayonne, New Jersey]. National Catholic Register, Mar. 17, 2023.

Jonathan Geltner, “The Spirit of Fantasy and the Sense of Place.” Review of Marly Youmans, Seren of the Wildwood. Slant Books, Mar. 6, 2023.

Daniel Kraft, “Erika Doss’s Spiritual Moderns: Twentieth-Century American Artists and Religion demonstrates how reductive the canonical dismissal of spirituality really is.” The Brooklyn Rail, March 2023.

Nigel Biggar, “The case for keeping the Elgin Marbles: The call for the restitution of museum artefacts on the grounds of ‘colonial guilt’ is based on a misreading of history.” The Telegraph, Jan. 28, 2023. [archive link]
Reply by Matthew J. Milliner, “Grace and the Parthenon Marbles.” The Public Discourse, Mar. 22, 2023.
The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis

March 2, 2023

My review of Jason M. Baxter’s book, The Medieval Mind of C. S. Lewis, is online at The Living Church:

“Unlocking the Lewisian Imagination”
The Massacre of the Innocents

January 4, 2023

I wrote about the massacre of the innocents for Covenant at The Living Church:

“A Test of Faith,” Dec. 28, 2022.
Streaming Shakespeare: Tragedies

January 4, 2023

Updated February 24, 2026

More Shakespeare Tragedies on YouTube here

Hamlet in movies: Laurence Olivier’s 1948 version is on YouTube. Grigori Kozintsev’s 1964 version is on YouTube. Tony Richardson’s 1969 version with Nicol Williamson, Anthony Hopkins (Claudius), and Marianne Faithfull (Ophelia) is on Amazon ($) etc. Franco Zeffirelli’s 1990 version with Mel Gibson, Glenn Close (Gertrude), Paul Scofield (Ghost), Ian Holm (Polonius), and Helena Bonham Carter (Ophelia) is … not streaming?? Kenneth Branagh’s 1996 version is on Amazon ($) etc. Michael Almereyda’s 2000 version with Ethan Hawke, Kyle MacLachlan (Claudius), Sam Shepard (Ghost), Liev Schreiber (Laertes), Julia Stiles (Ophelia), and Bill Murray (Polonius) is on Apple ($). Campbell Scott’s 2000 version is on Roku. Michael Mundell’s 2003 version is on Tubi. Aneil Karia’s 2025 film is coming.

Hamlet on stage and TV: John Gielgud’s 1964 Broadway version with Richard Burton is on YouTube. Philip Saville’s 1964 BBC version with Christopher Plummer, Donald Sutherland (Fortinbras), and Michael Caine (Horatio) is on YouTube. Rodney Bennett’s 1980 BBC version with Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart (Claudius) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Peter Brook’s 2002 version with Adrian Lester is on YouTube. Gregory Doran’s 2009 RSC version with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart (Claudius) is on Amazon ($). Sarah Frankcom’s 2015 Royal Exchange version with Maxine Peake is on Digital Theatre ($). Antoni Cimolino and Shelagh O’Brien’s 2016 Stratford version is on Amazon ($). Simon Godwin’s 2016 RSC version with Paapa Essiedu is on Digital Theatre ($). Federay Holmes and Elle While’s 2018 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

King Lear on film: Ernest C. Warde’s 1916 version survives in a 36-minute cut (Vimeo, Thanhouser) and a 63-minute cut (unavailable?). Peter Brook’s 1953 version with Orson Welles is on YouTube. Brook’s 1971 version with Paul Scofield is on Apple ($). Grigori Kozintsev’s 1971 version with Jüri Järvet is on YouTube. Jonathan Miller’s 1975 version with Michael Hordern is on YouTube. Michael Elliot’s 1983 version with Laurence Olivier is on YouTube. Brian Blessed’s 1999 version with Blessed is on Tubi. Trevor Nunn’s 2008 version with Ian McKellen is on YouTube. Richard Eyre’s 2018 version with Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson (Goneril) is on Amazon and Amazon. Alexander Barnett’s 2018 version is on Filmzie. Bernard Rose’s Lear Rex is coming.

King Lear on stage and TV: Edwin Sherin’s 1974 PBS version with James Earl Jones is on YouTube. Jonathan Miller’s 1982 BBC version with Michael Hordern is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Richard Eyre’s 1998 National Theatre version with Ian Holm is on YouTube. Michael Attenborough’s 2012 Almeida version with Jonathan Pryce is on Digital Theatre ($). Antoni Cimolino’s 2015 Stratford version is on Alexander Street ($). Gregory Doran’s 2016 RSC version is on Marquee/Amazon ($). Jonathan Munby’s 2018 version with Ian McKellen is on Apple and National Theatre. Nancy Meckler’s 2017 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

Romeo & Juliet on film: George Cukor’s 1936 version with John Barrymore (Mercutio) and Basil Rathbone (Tybalt) is on Amazon ($). Renato Castellani’s 1954 version is on Amazon ($). Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 version with Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey is on Amazon ($) etc. Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 version with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes is on Amazon ($) etc. Carlo Carlei’s 2013 version with Hailee Steinfeld and Douglas Booth is on Amazon. Riccardo Donna’s 2014 version is on Amazon.

Romeo & Juliet on stage and TV: Joan Kemp-Welch’s 1976 version is on YouTube. Alvin Rakoff’s 1978 BBC version with John Gielgud (chorus) and Alan Rickman (Tybalt) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Dominic Dromgoole’s 2009 Globe version is on Digital Theatre ($). Don Roy King’s 2014 Broadway version with Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad is on Amazon ($). Erica Whyman’s 2018 RSC version is on Amazon ($). Scott Wentworth and Barry Avrich’s 2018 Stratford version is on Amazon ($). Simon Godwin’s 2021 National Theatre version is on Amazon and Alexander Street and National Theatre and Apple ($). Kenneth Branagh’s 2016 version is not online. Versions by Dominic Dromgoole (2009) and Ola Ince (2021) are on GlobePlayer.

Macbeth on film: Orson Welles’s 1948 version is on YouTube. Roman Polanski’s 1971 version is on Amazon ($) etc. Jeremy Freeston’s 1997 version is on Tubi. Geoffrey Wright’s 2006 version is on YouTube. Rupert Goold’s 2010 BBC/PBS version with Patrick Stewart is on Amazon and Apple ($). Justin Kurzel’s 2015 version with Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard is on Amazon and Tubi etc. Kit Monkman’s 2018 version is on Tubi. Joel Coen’s 2021 version with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand is on Apple and Amazon ($).

Macbeth on stage and TV: Paul Almond’s 1971 version with Sean Connery is on YouTube. Trevor Nunn’s 1978 version with Ian McKellen is on YouTube. Jack Gold’s 1983 BBC version with Nicol Williamson is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ and Amazon ($). Shelagh O’Brien’s 2017 Stratford version is on Amazon ($). Polly Findlay’s 2018 RSC version with Christopher Ecclestone is on Amazon and Apple ($). Gemma Bodinetz’s Liverpool version is on Digital Theatre ($). Eve Best’s 2013 version is on GlobePlayer.

Othello on film: Orson Welles’s 1952 version with Welles (Othello) and Micheál Mac Liammóir (Iago) is on Plex. Oliver Parker’s 1995 version with Laurence Fishburne (Othello) and Kenneth Branagh (Iago) is on Amazon ($).

Othello on stage and TV: Stuart Burge’s 1965 version with Laurence Olivier (Othello) and Frank Finlay (Iago) is on YouTube. Jonathan Miller’s 1981 BBC version with Anthony Hopkins (Othello) and Bob Hoskins (Iago) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ and Amazon ($). Trevor Nunn’s 1990 RSC version with Willard White (Othello) and Ian McKellen (Iago) is on YouTube. Wilson Milam and Derek Bailey’s 2007 Globe version with Eamonn Walker (Othello) and Tim McInnerny (Iago) is on Digital Theatre ($). Iqbal Khan’s 2015 RSC version with Hugh Quarshie (Othello) and Lucian Msamati (Iago) is on Digital Theatre ($). The 2020 Nigel Shawn Williams / Barry Avrich version with Michael Blake (Othello) and Juan Chioran (Iago) is on Amazon and Apple ($). Versions by Wilson Milam (2007) and Ola Ince (2024) are on GlobePlayer.

Julius Caesar on film: David Bradley’s 1950 student film with Charlton Heston (Antony) is on YouTube. Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s 1953 version with James Mason (Brutus), Marlon Brando (Antony), and John Gielgud (Cassius) is on Amazon ($). Stuart Burge’s 1970 version with Jason Robards (Brutus), Charlton Heston (Antony), and John Gielgud (Caesar) is on Amazon ($).

Julius Caesar on stage and TV: Herbert Wise’s 1979 BBC version with Richard Pasco (Brutus) and Keith Michell (Antony) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Gregory Doran’s 2012 RSC/BBC version with Paterson Joseph (Brutus) and Ray Fearon (Antony) is on Amazon ($). Angus Jackson’s 2017 RSC/BBC version with Alex Waldmann (Brutus) and James Corrigan (Antony) is on Marquee ($). Phyllida Lloyd’s 2018 Donmar version with Harriet Walter (Brutus) and Jade Anouka (Antony) is on Digital Theatre ($). Dominic Dromgoole’s 2014 version is on GlobePlayer.

Antony & Cleopatra on film: Charlton Heston’s 1972 version with Heston and Hildegard Neil is on Tubi etc.

Antony & Cleopatra on stage and TV: Peter Dews’s 1963 BBC version, “The Spread of the Eagle,” with Keith Michell and Mary Morris, is on YouTube. The 1974 RSC version with Janet Suzman and Richard Johnson is on YouTube. Jonathan Miller’s 1981 BBC version with Colin Blakely and Jane Lapotaire is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Barry Avrich’s 2015 Stratford version is on Amazon ($). Iqbal Khan’s 2017 RSC version is on MarqueeTV ($). Simon Godwin’s 2018 National Theatre version with Ralph Fiennes and Sophie Okonedo is on National Theatre. Jonathan Munby’s 2014 version is on GlobePlayer.

Coriolanus on film: Ralph Fiennes’s 2011 version is on Fandango.

Coriolanus on stage and TV: Elijah Moshinsky’s 1984 BBC version with Alan Howard is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Josie Rourke’s 2014 Donmar version with Tom Hiddleston is on OK.RU (part-one part-two). Angus Jackson’s 2017 RSC version is on Marquee ($). Robert Lepage’s 2019 Stratford version is on Digital Theatre ($). Lyndsey Turner’s version with David Oyelowo is on National Theatre.

Titus Andronicus: Jane Howell’s 1985 BBC version with Trevor Peacock is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Julie Taymor’s 1999 movie Titus, with Anthony Hopkins, is on Apple. Blanche McIntyre’s 2017 RSC version with David Troughton is on Amazon and Digital Theatre ($). Lucy Bailey’s 2014 version is on GlobePlayer.

Timon of Athens: Jonathan Miller’s 1981 BBC version with Jonathan Pryce (Timon) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Simon Godwin’s 2019 RSC version is on Amazon ($). Stephen Ouimette and Barry Avrich’s 2017 Stratford version is on Amazon ($).

Troilus and Cressida: Jonathan Miller’s 1981 BBC version with Anton Lesser (Troilus) and Suzanne Burden (Cressida) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Gregory Doran’s 2018 RSC version is on Marquee ($).

Two Noble Kinsmen: Barrie Rutter’s 2018 Globe production is on GlobePlayer.
Streaming Shakespeare: Comedies

January 4, 2023

Updated February 24, 2026

More Shakespeare Comedies on YouTube here

A Midsummer Night’s Dream on film: Max Reinhardt’s 1935 version with James Cagney (Bottom) and Mickey Rooney (Puck) is on Amazon ($). Peter Hall’s 1968/69 version with Judi Dench (Titania) is on Amazon ($). Michael Hoffman’s 1999 film with Michelle Pfeiffer (Titania), Rupert Everett (Oberon), Kevin Kline (Bottom), and Stanley Tucci (Puck) is on Amazon ($). David Kerr’s 2016 BBC version is on Apple and Alexander Street ($). Casey Wilder Mott’s 2018 film is on Tubi and Amazon etc.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream on stage and TV: The 1965 ITV version with Benny Hill (Bottom) is on YouTube. Elijah Moshinsky’s 1981 BBC version with Helen Mirren (Titania) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Adrian Noble’s 1996 RSC version is on Plex and Tubi ($). Julie Taymor’s 2014/15 version is on PBS until May 2026. Nicholas Hytner’s 2019 National Theatre version is ~~not online~~. Versions by Dominic Dromgoole (2013), Emma Rice (2016), and Sean Holmes (2021) are on GlobePlayer ($).

Twelfth Night on film: Trevor Nunn’s 1996 version with Helena Bonham Carter (Olivia) and Ben Kingsley (Feste) is on Amazon ($) etc. Adam Smethurst’s 2018 version is on Amazon ($). Aimée Emma Kwan’s 2020 version is on Amazon ($).

Twelfth Night on stage: John Sichel’s 1970 version with Alec Guinness (Malvolio) is on YouTube and Freevee. John Gorrie’s 1980 BBC version with Alex McCowen (Malvolio) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Neil Armfield’s 1986 Australian version with Geoffrey Rush (Aguecheek) is on YouTube. Christopher Luscombe’s 2017 RSC version is on Digital Theatre ($). Versions by Tim Carroll (2012), Emma Rice (2017), and Sean Holmes (2021) are on GlobePlayer ($).

The Merchant of Venice on film: Michael Radford’s 1994 version with Al Pacino (Shylock) is on Amazon etc. ($).

The Merchant of Venice on stage: John Sichel’s 1973 version with Laurence Olivier (Shylock) is on YouTube and YouTube and YouTube. Jack Gold’s 1980 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Trevor Nunn’s 2001 version with Henry Goodman (Shylock) is ~~not online~~. Robin Lough & Jonathan Munby’s 2016 Globe version is ~~not online~~. Polly Findlay’s 2017 RSC version with Makram J. Khoury (Shylock) is on Marquee ($). Abigail Graham’s 2022 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

Love’s Labours Lost on film: Kenneth Branagh’s 2000 movie is on Amazon ($). Jennifer Sturley’s 2020 movie is on Amazon ($).

Love’s Labours Lost on stage and TV: Basil Coleman’s 1975 BBC version is on YouTube. Elijah Moshinsky’s 1985 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Dominic Dromgoole’s 2009 Globe version is on Marquee/Amazon and GlobePlayer ($). Christopher Luscombe’s 2015 RSC version is on Marquee / Amazon ($). John Caird & Barry Avrich’s 2017 Stratford version is on Amazon ($).

Much Ado About Nothing on film: Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 version with Branagh (Benedick) and Emma Thompson (Beatrice) is on Plex, Google Play, Apple ($) etc. Joss Whedon’s 2012 version with Alexis Denisof (Benedick) and Amy Acker (Beatrice) is on Amazon, Plex, Tubi, etc. etc.

Much Ado About Nothing on stage: Joseph Papp’s 1972 Delacorte-CBS version with Sam Waterston (Benedick) and Kathleen Widdoes (Beatrice) is on Alexander Street ($). Stuart Burge’s 1984 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Christopher Luscombe’s 2015 RSC version (“Love’s Labours Won“) is on Marquee ($). Jeremy Herrin’s 2011 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

The Taming of the Shrew on film: Sam Taylor’s 1929 version with Mary Pickford (Katherine) and Douglas Fairbanks (Petruchio) is on Tubi and Amazon etc. Franco Zeffirelli’s 1967 version with Elizabeth Taylor (Katherine) and Richard Burton (Petruchio) is on Amazon ($) etc.

The Taming of the Shrew on stage: Jonathan Miller’s 1980 BBC version with Sarah Badel (Katherine) and John Cleese (Petruchio) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Barry Avrich’s 2016 Stratford version is on Amazon ($) Justin Audibert’s 2019 RSC version is on Marquee / Amazon ($). Toby Frow’s 2012 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

As You Like It on film: Paul Czinner’s 1936 version with Elizabeth Bergner (Rosalind) and Laurence Olivier (Orlando) is on Tubi etc. Kenneth Branagh’s 2006 version with Bryce Dallas Howard (Rosalind) is on HBO ($).

As You Like It on stage and TV: Basil Coleman’s 1978 BBC version with Helen Mirren (Rosalind) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Thea Sharrock’s 2009 Globe version with Naomi Frederick (Rosalind) is on GlobePlayer and Digital Theatre ($). Michael Boyd’s 2010 RSC version with Katy Stephens (Rosalind) is on Digital Theatre ($). Kimberly Sykes’s 2019 RSC version is on Marquee/Amazon ($).

Measure for Measure: Paul Ireland’s 2020 film is on Amazon. Desmond Davis’s 1979 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Gregory Doran’s 2019 RSC version is on Marquee ($). Dominic Dromgoole’s 2015 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

Merry Wives of Windsor: David Jones’s 1982 BBC version with Richard Griffiths (Falstaff) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Fiona Laird’s 2018 RSC version is on Marquee ($). Antoni Cimolino & Barry Avrich’s 2019 Stratford version is on Amazon ($) etc. Elle While’s 2019 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

The Comedy of Errors: James Cellan Jones’s 1983 BBC version with Michael Kitchen (Antipholus) and Roger Daltrey (Dromio) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Paul Hunter’s 2009 RSC version is on Digital Theatre ($). Philip Breen’s 2021 RSC version (Guardian) is on Marquee (Amazon). Blanche McIntyre’s 2014 version is on GlobePlayer ($).

The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Don Taylor’s 1983 BBC version with Tyler Butterworth (Proteus) and John Hudson (Valentine) is on Kanopy ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Simon Godwin’s 2014 RSC version with Michael Marcus (Valentine) and Mark Arends (Proteus) is on Marquee ($).

All’s Well That Ends Well: Elijah Moshinsky’s 1981 BBC version with Donald Sinden (King of France) is on Kanopy ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Blanche McIntyre’s 2022 RSC version (Guardian) is on Marquee on Amazon and on Digital Theatre ($). John Dove’s 2011 version is on GlobePlayer ($).
Streaming Shakespeare: Histories

January 4, 2023

Updated February 24, 2026

More Shakespeare Histories streaming on YouTube here

The Henriad (Richard II ; Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 ; and Henry V):

Michael Hayes’s 1960 An Age of Kings (BBC) with Sean Connery (Hotspur) and Judi Dench (Katherine) is on YouTube. Orson Welles’s 1967 Chimes at Midnight, with Welles (Falstaff), Keith Baxter (Prince Hal) and John Gielgud (Henry IV) is on Amazon ($) etc. David Giles’s BBC version is ~~no longer on Britbox~~ (Richard II (1978) with Derek Jacobi (Richard II) and John Gielgud (John of Gaunt); Henry IV, part 1 (1979) with David Gwillim (Prince Hal); Henry IV, part 2 (1979); Henry V (1979)). The Hollow Crown, season 1 (BBC, 2013) with Jeremy Irons (Henry IV), Patrick Stewart (John of Gaunt) and David Suchet (Duke of York) is on Amazon ($). Gregory Doran’s 2013-2014 RSC version is on Marquee ($): Richard II ; Henry IV, part 1 ; Henry IV, part 2 ; Henry V.

Deborah Warner’s 1997 National Theatre Richard II with Fiona Shaw is on Amazon ($). Simon Godwin’s 2015 Richard II with Charles Edwards is on GlobePlayer ($).

John Caird’s 1991 BBC Henry IV is on Amazon ($). Phyllida Lloyd’s 2014 Donmar Henry IV with Harriet Walter is on Digital Theatre ($). Dominic Dromgoole’s 2010 Henry IV with Roger Allam is on Globe Player (Part 1 and Part II, $).

Laurence Olivier’s 1944 version of Henry V is on YouTube. Kenneth Branagh’s 1989 Henry V is on YouTube and Pluto etc. Peter Babakitis’s 2010 Henry V is on Tubi.

The second historical tetralogy (Henry VI parts 1,2,3, and Richard III):

Michael Hayes’s 1960 An Age of Kings (BBC) with Paul Daneman is on YouTube. John Barton and Peter Hall’s 1965 BBC/RSC The Wars of the Roses is on YouTube. Jane Howell’s 1983 BBC version is ~~no longer on Britbox~~ (Henry VI Part 1 ; Henry VI Part 2 ; Henry VI Part 3; Richard III). The Hollow Crown, season 2: The Wars of the Roses (2016), with Anton Lesser (Exeter) and Benedict Cumberbatch (Richard III) is on Amazon ($).

Laurence Olivier’s 1956 Richard III with Olivier is on Amazon ($) etc. Richard Loncraine’s 1995 Richard III with Ian McKellen and Annette Bening (Elizabeth) is on Fandango ($) etc. Gregory Doran’s 2022 Richard III is on Digital Theatre ($).

Others:

King John: David Giles’s 1984 BBC version with Leonard Rossiter (King John) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~. Barry Avrich’s 2015 Stratford/CBC version with Tom McCamus (King John) is on Amazon ($). Eleanor Rhode’s 2020 RSC version with Rosie Sheehy (King John) is on Marquee and Digital Theatre ($).

Henry VIII: Kevin Billington’s 1979 BBC version with John Stride (Henry VIII) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ ($). Barry Avrich’s 2022 Stratford production is on Amazon ($).
Streaming Shakespeare: Romances

January 4, 2023

Updated February 24, 2026

Playlist of more Shakespeare Romances on YouTube here

The Tempest on film: Derek Jarman’s 1979 version is on Tubi. Julie Taymor’s 2010 version with Helen Mirren (Prospero) is on Amazon ($) etc.

The Tempest on stage: John Gorrie’s 1980 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Amazon and Britbox~~ ($). Des McAnuff’s 2010 Stratford version with Christopher Plummer (Prospero) is on Alexander Street ($). Gregory Doran’s 2016 RSC version is on Marquee ($). Barry Avrich and Michael Cimolino’s 2019 Stratford version is on BroadwayHD, Alexander Street and Apple ($). Phyllida Lloyd’s 2016 Donmar version with Harriet Walter (Prospero) is on Digital Theatre ($). Jeremy Herrin’s 2013 production is on GlobePlayer ($).

Cymbeline: Michael Almereyda’s 2015 movie with Dakota Johnson (Imogen), Ethan Hawke (Iachimo), and Ed Harris (Cymbeline) is on Apple (as Anarchy, $). Elijah Moshinsky’s 1982 BBC version with Helen Mirren (Imogen) is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ ($). Melly Still’s 2016 RSC version with Bethan Cullinane (Innogen) and Gillian Bevan (Cymbeline) is on Marquee TV ($).

The Winter’s Tale: Jane Howell’s 1981 BBC version is ~~no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ ($). Gregory Doran’s 1999 RSC version is on YouTube and Amazon ($). Blanche McIntyre’s 2018 version is on GlobePlayer ($). Erica Whyman’s 2022 version is on Amazon ($).

Pericles, Prince of Tyre: David Hugh Jones’s 1984 BBC version with Mike Gwilym (Pericles) ~~is no longer on~~ ~~Britbox~~ ($). Scott Wentworth’s 2015 Stratford/CBC version with Evan Buliung (Pericles) is on Amazon ($) and Digital Theatre. Pericles by Shakespeare on the Road is on Amazon ($).

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)

Uncle Vanya (1897)

Three Sisters (1900)

The Cherry Orchard (1903)

Exhibitions

Talks and Seminars

Lectionary Art

Writings