The full schedule has been announced for The Show Must Go Online – a project to live-stream readings of all the works of Shakespeare.
After starting with The Two Gentlemen of Verona (pictured) and The Taming of the Shrew, the next reading in The Show Must Go Online will be Henry VI, Part 1 which will be streamed via YouTube on 2 April at 7pm (UK time). They are being performed weekly in the order that Shakespeare is generally believed to have written them.
Casts in the UK and around the world are being brought together, using meeting platform Zoom, by Robert Myles, a classical actor and director, writer and freelance creative lead.
With each play reading remaining on YouTube afterwards, The Two Gentlemen of Verona has gone on to attract nearly 35,000 views. Aiming to mimic the experience of a staged reading in the home, the performances include an interval.
The performance of The Taming of the Shrew on 26 March integrated with the Clap for our Carers at 8pm. The cast included Mary Bragg Ion who is an NHS trauma therapist.
Although the readings are free to view, the company has established a Patreon for the venture at patreon.com/TheShowMustGoOnline, which will be used as an opt-in hardship fund for the actors who take part.
The live-streamed readings aim 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.
For updates, check out the hashtags, #ShowMustGoOnline and #ConnectedAndCreative, on social media and follow @RobMyles on Twitter. WATCH YOUTUBE LIVE READINGS For information about becoming a member of the cast - Click Here THE SHOW MUST GO ONLINE SCHEDULE
All performances are streamed from 7pm
2 April: Henry VI, Part 1
9 April: Henry VI, Part 2
16 April: Henry VI, Part 3
23 April: Titus Andronicus
30 April: Richard III
7 May: The Comedy of Errors
14 May: Love's Labour's Lost
21 May: Love's Labour's Won
28 May: Richard II
4 June: Romeo and Juliet
11 June: A Midsummer Night's Dream
18 June: King John
25 June: The Merchant of Venice
2 July: Henry IV, Part 1
9 July: The Merry Wives of Windsor
16 July: Henry IV, Part 2
23 July: Much Ado About Nothing
30 July: Henry V
6 August: Julius Caesar
13 August: As You Like It
20 August: Hamlet
27 August: Twelfth Night
3 September: Troilus and Cressida
10 September: Measure for Measure
17 September: Othello
24 September: All's Well That Ends Well
1 October: King Lear
8 October: Timon of Athens
15 October: Macbeth
22 October: Antony and Cleopatra
29 October: Coriolanus
5 November: The Winter's Tale
12 November: Cymbeline
19 November: The Tempest
26 November: Henry VIII
Mark Ludmon has been a journalist for over 20 years, specialising in writing about theatre and the arts as well as bars, pubs and drink. He has been on the theatre judging panel for London’s Olivier Awards and has a masters degree in English literature, specialising in Elizabethan and Jacobean drama. He has an MA in theatre research, criticism and dramaturgy from the University of London’s Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. You can find him tweeting about theatre as @MarkLudmon and writing about theatre at markludmon.com.
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