Shakespeare goes global online: Review of 'Global Shakespeares Video & Performance Archive' (SPIA - Shakespeare Performance in Asia), edited by Peter S. Donaldson and Alex Huang: An open-access, collaborative online research project presented by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Abstract

The scope and breadth of this project is impressive. It is the product of many years of scholarship and a model of collaborative practice. MIT's Peter Donaldson has been involved in cross-media enterprises related to Shakespeare in performance for some time, and this global project evolved from the mutual scholarly interests of Donaldson and Alex Huang, who joined forces to work on an interactive web-based archive when the MIT 'Shakespeare Electronic Archive' received major funding in 2006. Since then, co-editors Donaldson and Huang have concentrated on the development of the archive's first portal, SPIA, launched in April 2009. At the time of writing this review only the SPIA portal was fully developed and available online, and thus it forms the content of my observations. However, following the launch of 'Global Shakespeares' in August 2010, the development of further portals is under way; portals dedicated to India, Brazil, and Shakespeare in the Arab World are already works in progress, and may also be available by now.