U.K.’s National Theatre Collection Comes to ProQuest
CAMBRIDGE, UK, June 13, 2019 – EdTech leader ProQuest announced the upcoming launch of its new National Theatre Collection, a collaboration with the U.K.’s National Theatre to offer a range of digital performance resources never previously seen outside of the National Theatre’s archive.
Students and faculty around the globe can soon access world-class productions and archival materials from the National Theatre through this collection, transforming the current landscape of theatre and performance studies around the globe.
The video content will launch in September and continue to grow. As a supplement to the filmed productions, digitized archival materials such as photographs, scripts, designs, programs, posters and more will be available in the National Theatre Collection and in ProQuest’s Theatre and Drama Premium Collection.
“The National Theatre Collection from ProQuest will provide a comprehensive insight into British theatre-making and aims to transform learning in schools, libraries and universities across the globe in today’s increasingly digital age,” said Lisa Burger, Joint Chief Executive of the National Theatre. “We believe that accessibility to theatre is of paramount importance and we would like to express our continued gratitude to the rightsholders of these materials who have made this new service possible and helped us to share a rich and broad collection across the globe.”
The National Theatre Collection will feature a wide range of works regularly studied in secondary and higher education. Unique in scope, the collection will include such performances as:
- Literary adaptations, such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein adapted by Nick Dear and directed by Danny Boyle, with Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller
- Greek classics such as Medea by Euripides, in a contemporary adaptation by Ben Power, directed by Carrie Cracknell with Helen McCrory in the title role
- Vibrant modern stagings of Shakespeare, such as Twelfth Night, directed by Simon Godwin, with Tamsin Greig in the role of Malvolia
- 20th-century classics such as Lorraine Hansberry’s Les Blancs and the Young Vic’s production of Lorca’s Yerma, adapted and directed by Simon Stone with Billie Piper in the title role
- Comedies such as She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith, directed by Jamie Lloyd with a cast including Cush Jumbo and Katherine Kelly, and One Man, Two Guvnors by Richard Bean, directed by Nicholas Hytner, and featuring James Corden's Tony Award-winning performance
- …and many more.
“ProQuest is thrilled to partner with the National Theatre to help scholars everywhere access an incomparable wealth of diverse content,” said Katie Birch, Director of Product Management at ProQuest. “Many students are simply not able to invest the time and funds into traveling to see the National Theatre’s world-class productions. This new collaboration creates unprecedented opportunities for research, teaching and learning in the performing arts, all with the power of streaming video and archival materials.”
About National Theatre (https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk)
The National Theatre’s mission is to make world class theatre that’s entertaining, challenging and inspiring – and to make it for everyone. It aims to reach the widest possible audience and to be as inclusive, diverse and national as possible with a broad range of productions that play in London, on tour around the UK, on Broadway and across the globe. The National Theatre's extensive UK-wide learning and participation program supports young people’s creative education through performance and writing programs like Connections, New Views and Let’s Play. Its major new initiative Public Acts creates extraordinary acts of theatre and community; the first Public Acts production was 2018’s Pericles. The National Theatre extends its reach through digital programs including NT Live, which broadcasts some of the best of British theatre to over 2,500 venues in 65 countries. The National Theatre invests in the future of theatre by developing talent, creating bold new work and building audiences, partnering with a range of UK theatres and theatre companies.
For more information, please visit https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/.
About ProQuest (https://www.proquest.com)
ProQuest supports the important work in the world’s research and learning communities. The company curates six centuries of content – the world’s largest collection of journals, ebooks, primary sources, dissertations, news, and video – and builds powerful workflow solutions to help libraries acquire and grow collections that inspire extraordinary outcomes. ProQuest products and services are used in academic, K-12, public, corporate and government libraries in 150 countries.
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