To download or not to download? That's the problem a new digital project hopes to solve by making performances of Shakespeare's plays available to audiences on demand for the first time.

London's Globe Theatre has made more than 50 productions available to download as full-length, high-definition films on its dedicated online platform, in what it said on Tuesday was a world first.

Among the plays featured is a highly acclaimed production of Twelfth Night, starring British actors Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry, as well as Roger Allam's award-winning performance in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2.