OUR STORY

“I love Shakespeare. I act it, direct it, I run workshops for actors, offer one-to-one coaching, and created The Shakespeare Deck. Being from working class origins, I believe Shakespeare is for everyone. Being a time of crisis and isolation, I believe it is more important than ever. Look no further than Nelson Mandela, and the Robben Island Bible.” Robert Myles

The Show Must Go Online is the first, best and most prolific creator of made-for-digital theatre in response to the pandemic. First featured on BBC Newsnight, in The Guardian, Playbill and more, the show has become a global movement and a cultural export, committed to making Shakespeare for everyone, for free, forever.

TSMGO drives the innovation of Zoom as a medium, rising to new creative challenges every week with ingenuity and resourcefulness. Every show is produced, cast, rehearsed and performed in a single week, with just two and a half days of rehearsal. The shows have so far amassed over 160,000 views from more than 60 countries, thanks to over 350 contributors, and has won two OnComm Awards to date.

‘Digital Groundlings’ react viscerally in the YouTube live-chat, replicating the Elizabethan theatre experience in the 21st century. Audiences have inspired the creation of a Patreon opt-in hardship fund for contributors, and the creation of merchandise to help support those who give their time and talent freely to provide an essential service during lockdown, while theatres are closed and their own futures are uncertain.

The show endeavours to provide a progressive vision for the future of theatre, with gender balanced casting and proactive inclusion of underrepresented groups. TSMGO has featured actors from 6 of the 7 continents, and of all levels of experience, from seasoned pros to new grads and enthusiastic amateurs.