The Play's the Thing

I will be working on our collection of plays on DVD for the February DVD order. Shakespeare is always a favorite because school kids would often rather watch MacBeth rather than read it. I don't blame them really, Shakespeare is in early modern English and is difficult to understand at times so watching a really good production helps. Kenneth Branagh did some excellent productions that were very accessible. I love his Henry the fifth but it is currently out of print (ARGH!). I also remember an excellent MacBeth directed by Orson Welles that's also out of print (although I did find him in a production of King Lear!).

What prompted this was the ballet DVDs I bought. They flew off the shelves after I let some of the local Ballet schools know they were here. So I thought I'd try the same thing with Plays. I ran across a DVD of the Iceman Commeth. It was Jason Robards break out role on Broadway and he later recreated the role for a Television version. So I thought I'd find the best DVD versions of play by the actors that made them famous. Then I'll see if English and dama teachers find them useful.

Just a thought.