Docutah: Road to the Globe

The documentary, "Road to the Globe" follows a theater company of Maori actors from New Zealand as they prepare to be a part of a Shakespeare festival involving 37 different companies from different countries all performing different plays at the Globe.  Making this documentary, the filmmaker was able to record a unique experience that not only can those actors treasure and share with their kids and grandkids and many generations to come, but also a great film to present to others so that we can have a peek into their culture.  

Throughout the film, the filmmaker would spend some time with a few different characters, interviewing them and allowing the audience to get to know them.  In a film like this, a documentary with plenty of great information, but not much action, it is important that the audience develops a kind of bond with the subjects of the film.  If the audience has an emotional attachment to the characters, they will feel more invested in the film and be much more intrigued to continue watching.

In making this film, the maker gets to show the hard work and long hours that the Maori people put into their production.  The theater company had their ups and downs and struggled to get to the Globe, but their efforts and teamwork paid off in the end.  As a filmmaker, showing the audience the struggles they had to overcome is a very effective tactic because whether we are watching a film, or play, or reading a book, we, as an audience, like to have someone to cheer for.  Having a goal that we want the characters to reach keeps us engaged throughout the film.  In this film we got to watch the actors overcome weaknesses as performers and also watch the whole company come together to meet their goals.  It made it more engaging to watch them work and struggle towards these things than it would have been if the filmmaker had simply showed their everyday work and just led us to believe that they would make it to the Globe without any hardships.   

I feel that this film’s subject was very interesting and it would have been a shame if this documentary was done poorly and did not express the amount of hard-work and dedication that went into the production that the Maori group took to the Globe.  Allowing character development, and showing the characters struggle, are to techniques that come together very effectively to convince the audience to care about the film.  This documentary will be a treasure for not only the people directly involved in the filming and play production, but also anyone interested in learning more about unique Shakespearean culture.