Globe On Demand

The Globe Library & Archives are currently in possession of around 1500 VHS recordings of the 1996 season through the 2007 season, as well as 100 VHS of other Globe activities. Furthermore, there are over 500 DVDs of 2008 and 2009 performances. These valuable records are on their way to becoming updated and modern, through digitisation.

Thanks to the Sidney E. Frank Foundation and the Eric Anker Petersen Charity, the Globe Archive has laid a firm basis for an on-demand system which will integrate the digitization of past seasons with the video capture of current and future seasons. This on-demand system will be available to visitors to the Library & Archives, allowing them to select video and audio recordings, as well as photographs, to view at a library workstation.

Original Practices Costume Archive

The Original Practices Costume Archive is a collection of 26 original costumes created for Shakespeare’s Globe in the period 1997-2005, all of which were constructed using Elizabethan and Jacobean methods and historically accurate materials. The costumes in the collection were selected by Olivier Award-winning designer Jenny Tiramani, as representative of the research and experimental techniques into historical pattern cutting and construction undertaken at the Globe. Although of recent construction, all the clothing and accessories were created using only techniques and materials available to contemporary theatre companies, painstakingly recreated after extensive research into extant clothing, documents and visual resources from the period. Authenticity extends to undergarments, and the aim in every case was a faithful reproduction of the kinds of clothing worn by the players at the first Globe Theatre. The specially commissioned textiles and specific skills used to create the costumes makes them a unique and irreplaceable resource.

Throughout 2011, the Original Practices Costume Archive has undergone an extensive update, with new shelving and dedicated preservation equipment and techniques, ensuring the future of these vital recreations of fashion history. For the first time, a complete archive catalogue and labelling system has been established and put into practice, meaning the Globe can increase the frequency with which we alternate the clothing in the Exhibition, and lend the pieces to other institutions for wider appreciation. The work conducted on the archive means that we are able to actively promote it to the public, making the resource accessible to a broad spectrum of arts scholars and researchers, clothing designers and textile enthusiasts, to name but a few. We also hope to produce a digital learning resource, including pictures and glossarial notes in addition to the complete catalogue.