Much Ado About Downloadable Theatre

There has been much written in the London papers about what is being deemed "well done" digital theatre.  We've all seen bad recordings of stage plays, operas, concerts, etc.  Apparently, the recently-launched London-based www.digitaltheatre.com is making strides to improve the filming of live stage productions (think MET Opera on the big screen).  I'm still downloading the Digital Theatre Player as I write this, but I did check out a preview for a recording of English Touring Theatre's Far From The Madding Crowd.  The trailer is quite good – many theaters could learn a thing or two from this site about creating a well-shot web-trailer of their shows (hopefully, the unions are loosening up to this).

I don't know what good such a service will be in the long run, whether it will be best for archiving purposes, or actually capturing and sharing a theatrical experience to a newcomer (probably a long shot), but the website is worth a look.  The story in The Times asks and provides many answers to the question: "Why would you download plays?"   Whatever your reason, I just hope that theater companies will continue to improve efforts to create quality recordings of the works on stage, not as a replacement for the experience of going to the theatre, but as a means of giving visitors a more accurate glimpse of the experience they can expect when they go.

--Joe