South Bank Shakespeare Goes Global: Broadcasting from Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre

Abstract

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Bloomsbury via the ISBN in this recordThis chapter argues that whereas their authority stems from their historical association with the early modern theatre industry, South Bank Shakespeares are shaped by the distinctive architectures and the types of performer-audience dynamics fostered by the affordances of the National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe, as interpreted by their successive artistic directors. I show how through paratexts, camerawork, and the triggering of strong affective responses, broadcasts are able to generate atmospheres in which broadcast audiences experience a ‘distributed presence’ that transcends boundaries of time and space. A phenomenology of space and affect grounded in Michel de Certeau’s work allows me to explain how broadcasts generate the experience of spatial inclusion or exclusion, which in turn contributes to the sensation of participation in the event. I argue that strong affects have the capacity to transcend spatial and temporal boundaries, connecting remote audiences with the performance in the here-and-now of their emotional response. The handling of strong affect, combined with a representation of space as transactional, is a catalyst of 'aliveness'. My close analysis of broadcasts from the National Theatre and Shakespeare's Globe since 2003 reveals that the two companies generate distinctive modes of spectatorial engagement which, most recently, have merged to generate a more hybrid style of 'South Bank Shakespeare', with remote spectators responding to prompts within the broadcasts by engaging in digital modes of interaction