Guest Post: Petition to release Alan Rickman’s archival performances

By Zora Giacomelli

[It has been a decade since he died of pancreatic cancer but we will “always” miss Alan Rickman and long to see more of his great acting. A Leaky fan has written a petition to get Alan Rickman’s recorded works released for public viewing. The views expressed here are her own. If you are moved to sign her petition, there is a link at the bottom.]

Like so many other people, Alan Rickman inspired me to do things I never thought I’d do in my life, and it genuinely makes me sad that so much of his theatre work isn’t available to the public, some of it even considered lost media at this point. I’m glad that a lot of his movies, plays, and other work are still out there, safely kept in archives, but the truth is most people don’t have the means to travel and access those archives in person, and even if they could, there’s no guarantee they’d actually be allowed to watch anything once they got there. Most of what I’ve found online is recorded in awful quality, clearly filmed by someone in the audience on an old camera, and so many people have asked me if there’s any way to find better versions. Knowing that’s basically impossible right now, I decided to try something instead of just accepting it, so I started this petition.

It’s been more than 10 years since he passed, and there are so many of us who love theatre and hate that these pieces of his work are still just sitting there, kept private, watchable only if you happen to live near London and can book a visit. We’re never going to get anything new from him again, no new films, no new plays, nothing. So if that’s the case, why not fight for what’s already there, and for a way to actually make it accessible to people no matter where they live? He inspired so many people while he was alive, and I want him to keep inspiring people going forward too, even the ones who never got to see any of it happen in real time. He was such an extraordinary actor and, from everything I’ve heard, a genuinely beautiful person, and I don’t want him to get forgotten in a world that honestly feels like it’s heading toward soulless, forgettable art.

To the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and the Estate of Alan Rickman:

Alan Rickman is loved all over the world for films like Harry Potter and Die Hard, but his incredible stage legacy is still locked away in archives, only viewable in person, and completely out of reach for almost everyone who’d want to see it.

New generations of fans and theatre students deserve the chance to see his legendary stage work from home, including his iconic performance in the RSC’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses and his role in the National Theatre’s Antony and Cleopatra. The massive success of his published diaries proves people still want more of him, in whatever form they can get it, and streaming platforms already exist that could make this possible without anyone needing to travel anywhere.

We’re asking the RSC, the National Theatre, and the Alan Rickman Estate to work together to:

• Digitally release or stream archival recordings of his plays online, so anyone, anywhere, can watch them.
• Host cinema screenings of his historic stage performances for those who’d prefer to experience it that way too.

Please don’t let these just sit in the dark, only accessible to the few who can make it to an archive in person. Bring Alan Rickman back to the stage, for everyone, wherever they are.

You can sign the petition here.