Holidays, rainy days, vacation days, sick days- when the mood for some Shakespeare strikes, you’ve got to be ready. When you can’t make it out to the park for some Free Shakespeare or to a library for a tour show, here’s a roundup of some of our favorite Shakespeare shows now appearing on screens in your home.
This fantastic PBS series started in 2015 and explores Shakespeare’s work play by play, featuring little-known facts and famous actors from all over the world. You’ll find early seasons on Amazon or stream it at pbs.org/shakespeareuncovered.
A terrific adaptation telling the story of three kings: Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. Watch superstars Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and more fight for the English throne.
Magic, drama, and Helen Mirren as a gender-swapped Prospero. What’s not to love? Check out visionary director Julie Taymor’s version of this Shakespearean tale.
Just released! Sir Anthony Hopkins takes on the role of the lifetime in a brand-new version of this famous tragedy, which also stars the incomparable Emma Thompson. (Warning for the very young: King Lear can get a bit gory!)
If your family would rather enjoy some laughs, check out this 1980s film based on The Comedy of Errors, starring Bette Middler and Lily Tomlin. (And make plans to see SF Shakes’ own production of Comedy in the spring!)
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Tom Stoppard’s philosophical riff on Hamlet stars Tim Roth, Gary Oldman, and Richard Dreyfuss. Forget the fancy words about this being an “absurdist, existential tragicomedy.” It’s just plain fun and funny.