The History Of European Theatre

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Eastward Ho: ‘He That Rises with Ease, Alas, Falls as Easily’

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 209:

After the failure of ‘Sejanus His Fall’ Jonson’s next play was a collaboration with John Marston and George Chapman, a new play for the Blackfriars’s theatre and it’s resident company of boy actors. Jonson maybe needed the collaboration to restore his confidence in his writing, although from what we know of his character perhaps more likely it was the hope of a decent payday that spurred him on. Returning to comedy must have been part of the attraction. Whatever the case the three playwrights managed to produce a comedy that was funny, thoughtful, moralistic and yet still controversial. The exact reasons for that controversy and the strength of reaction to the play from king James is now obscure to us, but at the time nearly cost the playwrights not only their liberty, but their ears as well.

The three authors of the play – who wrote what?

The first performance and printing of the play

A synopsis of the plot

The play as a response to ‘Westward Ho!’

The Prologue

The comparison of good and bad work ethics

The child acting companies and how their plays were received

Combining three types of play on ‘Eastward Ho’

The city comedy

The citizen comedy

The morality tale

Three journeys in the play

The voyage to Virginia

Gertrude’s journey

Golding’s rise in the city

Reference to the Roanoke settlement and the view of the New World

The fate of the adventurers after the shipwreck

The influence of the city of London and alchemy

The pairing of characters for dramatic effect

The theatrical nature of the play and Quicksilver’s redemption

The consequences of the play for the playwrights

The later performance history of the play

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Consent and Other Big Questions in ‘Measure for Measure’: A Conversation with Roberta Barker

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 207:

It was just about this time last year I talked to Roberta Barker about her work on the boy actors of the Elizabethan period and she mentioned at the time that she was then working on a new edition of ‘Measure for Measure’ for Cambridge University Press and I’m pleased to say that she agreed to carve some time out of her busy schedule to discuss the play with us today. Having been immersed in the play for a long time there is no one better placed at the moment than Roberta to discuss the play so I was particularly pleased when she agreed to come back onto the podcast at this point.

Roberta Barker is a member of the Joint Faculty of King’s College, London, where she is Professor of Theatre teaching in the Foundation Year and Early Modern Studies programs, and Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia, where she teaches Theatre in the Fountain School of Performing Arts. Her research interests centre upon the relationship between performance and the social construction of identity and has explored such topics as the representation of gender and class in early modern tragedy, the early modern careers and modern afterlives of Shakespeare’s boy players, and the role played by the performance of illness on the nineteenth-century stage in the evolution of realist style. She is also a theatre and opera director.

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Podcast Announcement - Advertisements

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 11:46:42 GMT

Hello everyone

I’m interrupting your day for a small announcement about the podcast. If you have listened to any episodes recently you will have noticed that advertisements are now playing at the start, middle and end each episode. Placing advertisements in the podcast is a way of helping to recoup the costs of putting the podcast out for free, which is why I took the plunge and decided to go down this path. For those of you who support the podcast on Patreon on either of the paid levels of membership from next Monday’s episode I will be adding all new episodes without adverts to your Patreon feed, so that you can listen to them there. The episode that comes out on a Monday morning UK time will be released on Patreon on the Sunday before. For those of you on the top tier membership on Patreon these episodes will come on the same feed from which you currently get the extra episodes, so no need for you to make any changes.

If you are currently not a supporter on Patreon and you like the uninterrupted podcast experience, then now would be a great time to join us there and it will only cost you £1 a month. If you want to investigate that, or joining at the higher membership level and receiving two additional theatre related audio podcasts a month for an even deeper dive into theatre history then follow the link in the show notes or just go to patreon.com and search for ‘the history of European theatre’.

A bit thank-you to everyone who already supports the podcast on Patreon and also thanks to all of you who listen every week as we make our way through the long history of theatre.

As ever if you want to contact me about this change, or anything to do with the podcast you can reach me by email at thoetp@gmail.com, or through the website where you can leave me a voice message by clicking on the microphone icon or you can write to me on the contact page. That’s all at www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

Link: www.patreon.com/thoetp

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Measure For Measure: ‘Some Rise by Sin, and Some by Virtue Fall’

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 207

Whereas the larger-than-life characters in ‘Othello’ left us with no moral ambiguities, but plenty of questions about the nature of the outsider and society’s attitude towards those who are different. Shakespeare’s next offering, ‘Measure for Measure’ was a very different piece with few of those certainties.

The dating and earliest performance of the play

The early print history of the play

Changes made by Thomas Middleton

The source material for the play

A brief synopsis of the play

Comedy of Tragicomedy?

Issues with the structure of the play

Justice and mercy

The premise of the play examined

How the characters avoid easy categorisation

The role of the duke

The role of Isabella

The role of Angelo

The role of Lucio

The ending of the play and Isabella’s response to the duke

The mixed critical response to the play

The later performance history of the play

Measure for Measure on film

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Othello part 2: ‘Farewell the Tranquil Mind, Farewell Content’

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 206

Last time I discussed the dating and sources for Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’, the early performance history, and some points about the structure and poetry in the play. Then I took you through the first part of the play, up to the point where Iago had managed to sow seeds of doubt into Othello’s mind about the constancy of women and get his professional rival Michael Cassio so drunk and fired up that he got involved in a brawl with the town governor and is demoted. In doing so I looked at the characters of Iago, Brabantio and Cassio, so on this occasion listening to that episode is essential before starting on this one. If you need to do that as soon as you are back, I will be picking up from exactly where I left off last time.

The character and expected role of Emelia

The relationship of Emelia and Desdemona

The character of Bianca and the Venetian courtesan

How Bianca contrasts with Desdemona

Conflicting views of the character of Desdemona

The character of Othello

The play as a tragedy of Greek proportions

The disintegration of Othello from strong leader to murderer

Othello as a social disruptor

The ‘noble savage’ Vs the veneer of sophistication

The role of resentment and honour in the play

Later performances of the play

Some very selected criticism of the play

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Othello part 1: ‘O, Beware, my Lord, of Jealousy’

Mon, 02 Mar 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 205:

Last time Ben Jonson’s retelling of a slice of Roman Imperial history failed to impress at the Globe theatre. As an actor in that play Shakespeare had first-hand experience of the way the audience in the theatre could turn on the poet and the players alike, but it is difficult to think that his confidence in his own work was much dented by the experience. His next play ‘The Tragedy of Othello, The Moor of Venice’ is, I would say, brim full of the confidence of an experienced playwright who knew that his play would both entertain on several levels and provoke much thought in the audience.

The dating and first performance of the play

The early publication history of the play

Details from a performance in 1610

The source material for the play

The structure of the play

The significance of Venice and Cyprus

The structural balances in the play

The poetry and imagery in the play

The use of language as a dramatic technique

The urgency of the opening of the play

The character of Iago and how he manipulates his victims

The character of Brabantio

What the Elizabethan audience might have thought of a ‘moor’

Queen Elizabeth’s attitude to immigrants from Africa

How Shakespeare handled the racial aspects of the play

The character of Micheal Cassio

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Beyond Shakespeare: A Conversation with Robert Crighton

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 204:

For today’s guest episode we welcome Robert Crighton to the podcast. Robert is the guiding light behind ‘Beyond Shakespeare’ a project that aims to shine a light on very early theatre through to Early Modern theatre. As the name ‘Beyond Shakespeare’ suggests Robert is keen to look at plays not written by Shakespeare and indeed, as you will hear, much of Robert’s work looks at works written long before Shakespeare was around. I first came across ‘Beyond Shakespeare’ through the online readings of early modern plays that Robert has produced as a means of working towards full audio and staged productions. It was a very useful point of reference for me when I was looking as those early Jonson plays where there is little chance of seeing a performance.

Beyond Shakespeare:

Link to Website: https://beyondshakespeare.org/

Link to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondShakespeare

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Sejanus His Fall: ‘Ambition Makes More Trusty Slaves Than Need’

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 203:

We now stay in the world of the Elizabethan interpretation of classical history and myth with Ben Jonson’s next play ‘Sejanus His Fall’. Rooted more firmly in history than myth Jonson’s play uses the story of a power struggle motivated by personal ambition to look at the nature of power, justice and politics. This was quite evidently dangerous ground for a playwright already known for his clashes with the authorities, but it was not just that commentary of contemporary politics that got Jonson into trouble with this play.

A brief word on the unfinished tragedy ‘Mortimer His Fall’

The ‘argument’ of the play and some thoughts on what the play might have been

The early performance history of ‘Sejanus His Fall’

The possible co-author of the play

The early reception of the play

The background to the poor reception of the play

A synopsis of the play

The ban on satires and histories

The translations of Tacitus and complications with Essex

How John Heyward’s problems with censorship influence the play

The play as a commentary on Elizabethan society

Questions of the control of power in the play

Questions of the application of justice in the play

The motivations of Sejanus

The aesthetic issues with the play

How Jonson mixed comedy and tragedy in the play

The influence of Marlowe on the verse in the play

Jonson censured for the play

The later performance history of the play

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Why did Shakespeare write ‘Troilus and Cressida’?: A Conversation with Rachel Aanstad

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 202:

For today’s guest episode it is a very warm welcome back to Racheal Aanstad. You will remember that Racheal and I have discussed Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the podcast and now she returns to discuss ‘Troilus and Cressida’. As you will hear Racheal was able to bring thoughts about the history of the play and it’s sources, particularly Homer’s Iliad, which, I think, really enhances our understanding of this challenging play.

Rachel Aanstad is a writer, artist, historian, and Shakespeare nerd with an MFA in theatre. She is the former Artistic Director of the Rose City Shakespeare Company and the author of A Bawdy Twelfth Night or What You Will Encyclopaedia & Dramaturgical Handbook and A Midsummer Night’s Dream Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia. She lives in the Pacific Northwest from where I spoke to her over a zoom call.

Link to Shakespeare and Friends on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Shakespeareandfriends

Link to A Bawdy Twelfth Night UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_1

Link to A Bawdy Twelfth Night USA: https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_1

Link to Midsummer Nights Dream UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S

Link to Midsummer Nights Dream USA: https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S

Link to Marquee TV RSC Production: https://marquee.tv/videos/royal-shakespeare-troilus-cressida

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Troilus and Cressida: ‘Men prize the thing ungained more than it is’

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 201

‘Troilus and Cressida’, is a challenging piece by pretty much everybody’s estimation. Although it is no surprise that Shakespeare looked to the Homeric tales for his next inspiration which part of that story he chose to dramatize perhaps is and what he chose to do with it has perplexed commentators ever since. Ambiguous is the word most often used, but ultimately opinions range through ‘failure’ to ‘misunderstood’ to ‘modernistic’, and just about everything else in-between.

The early print history and dating of the play

The confusion caused by the two quarto versions and the First Folio version

The source material for the play

A brief synopsis of the play

‘Troilus and Cressida’ as a ‘problem play’

The Prologue

The play as an ensemble piece

The ignoble nature of the characters in the play

Cassandra as the voice of truth

Troilus and his view of Cressida

Is there a parallel with Romeo and Juliet?

The portrayal of Achilles and Hector

Ulysses and the ‘great chain of being’ argument

Was the play written for the Inns of Court?

Pandarus and the bitter ending to the play explained

The critical reception of the play

The performance history of the play

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Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Brecht-Practical-Performance-Companions/dp/1350419613/ref=asc_df_1350419613

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Shakespeare and Brecht: A Conversation with Stephen Unwin

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 200

For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return to the podcast for Stephen Unwin. I spoke to Stephen earlier in this Shakespeare and Jonson season to discuss his book ‘Poor Naked Wretches’ which examines the way Shakespeare portrayed working people and their significance in the plays. For his next published work Stephen has produced a work that examines Berthold Brecht’s lifelong obsession with Shakespeare and which makes the case for reading the two playwrights together. This is part of the Arden Performance Companion series so is slanted towards practical suggestions about how performance of Shakespeare can be achieved through Brechtian techniques.

Link to Stephen’s website: www.stephenunwin.uk

Link to online retailers for ‘Shakespeare and Brecht’:

Bloomsbury UK: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/shakespeare-and-brecht-9781350419612/

Bloomsbury US: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/shakespeare-and-brecht-9781350419636/

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Brecht-Practical-Performance-Companions/dp/1350419613/ref=sr_1_1

Support the podcast at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_1

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Twelfth Night: ‘Foolery, sir, does walk about the orb like the sun: it shines everywhere’

Mon, 05 Jan 2026 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 199:

The line I have used for the title of today’s episode is spoken by Feste the fool, a central character in ‘Twelfth Night’. Fools have already played significant roles in Shakespeare’s previous plays and as you will hear there are possible connections between them and Feste, but significant as he is, and fools will be in forthcoming Shakespeare plays, there is so much more to Twelfth Night than just that one character. It is a play where other Shakespearean comedic characteristics also feature – identical twins, empowered and quick-witted women, variants on the braggart soldier character, and an exotic, virtually mystical, setting, spring to mind. If ever there was a comedy where Shakespeare was completely in his stride then this, for me, is the one.

The early performance history of the play

The dating of the play

The early print history of the play

The sources for the play

The establishing of social roles in the play

The positions of the knights Sir Toby and Sir Andrew

The role of Feste, the fool.

The impact of Feste’s songs

Feste as a portrait of Thomas Nashe

The centrality of Malvolio to the themes of the play

Feste’s sung epilogue to the play

Love, desire and infatuation in the play

The play as a knowingly theatrical story

The performance history of the play

Some of the critical reaction to the play

Link to Rachel Aanstad’s ‘A Bawdy Twelfth Night’ for UK customers:

Link to Rachel Aanstad’s ‘A Bawdy Twelfth Night’ for US customers:

https://www.amazon.com/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_1

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The Poetaster: ‘Good Ignorance, I’m Glad Thou Art Gone’

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 05:50:55 GMT

Episode 198:

As Ben Jonson was writing ‘The Poetaster’ in 1601 the Elizabethan age was drawing to a close. Elizabeth would live until March 1603, but by 1601 any hope of a natural heir was long past and her court and councillors were playing a waiting game and with different degrees of secrecy were trying to manipulate the situation over the accession to their own advantage. Jonson, I’m sure, had an eye and an ear on those politics, but the comedy he was writing was more concerned with the politics of the theatre than those in the court. In the previous episode on ‘Cynthia’s Revels’ and in my episodes on Thomas Dekker, that you can still find on the podcast archive, I have touched on ‘the war of the poets’ and this episode on ‘The Poetaster’ will bring these matters to a close. Although it’s not essential you might find listening to those earlier episodes useful, if you have not done so already, before listening to this one.

The early performance of the play and it’s place in the ‘war of the poets’

The print history of the play

The theme of the role of the poet

A short synopsis of the play

The caricature of John Marston

The Poetaster and Satiromastix

The feud as fuelled by the rivalry between playing troupes

The poet as councillor and companion to the monarch

The exposing of the poetasters

The change in title

Reference to the Essex rebellion

The attempted censoring of the play

The epilogue

The end of the ‘Poetomachia’

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Illustrated Tudors: A Conversation with Simon Sandys Winsch

Mon, 15 Dec 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 197:

For today’s guest episode I had the pleasure of talking to Simon Sandys Winsch, author of the Illustrated Tudor Dictionary. Given Simon’s broad knowledge of the period I took the opportunity to talk to him about some of the entries in the dictionary that give us a view of what life was like for the Elizabethan’s who went to the London theatres. We started by going back a few years into the reign of Henry 8th and discussed actions of his, the legacy of which the Elizabethans were still living with which led onto conversations about some of the struggles of the ordinary Elizabethan life.

Simon Sandys Winsch graduated from Aberystwyth university with a degree in History and international politics and then became a history teacher working in various schools. It was during that career that he realised the importance of knowing topics in depth as well as the need to keep lessons informative and interesting as possible and he now puts those skills to use in writing history books.

Link to the Tudor Illustrated Dictionary on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrated-Tudor-Dictionary-Simon-Sandys-Winsch/dp/1036101983/ref=sr_1_1?

Link to the Tudor Illustrated Dictionary on Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Tudor-Dictionary-Simon-Sandys-Winsch/dp/1036101983/ref=sr_1_1?

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https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/european-review-of-history-podcast/id1695812614

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Cynthia’s Revels: ‘O That Joy So Soon Should Waste’

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 196:

The origins of the play written for the court and the Children of the Chaple playing company

Why this type of play is a fit for the child playing troupes

The print history of the play

A brief synopsis of the play

Myth, Satire and Masque - the complexities with getting an understanding of the play

The minor role of plot compared to words and music in the play

The performance style of the boy playing companies compared to the adult companies

The verbal sketching of characters as part of the satiric intent

The play as part of the battle of the poets

Unpicking the satiric portraits in the play

The introduction of the Poetaster

The masque and it’s role in the play

Jonson’s coded support for the Earl of Essex in the play

Early responses to the play and the longer historical view

Link to European Review of History Podcast:

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Playing Polonius: A Conversation with Colin David Reese

Mon, 17 Nov 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 195

Last time I completed my review of ‘Hamlet’, although it is probably wrong to say that one’s thoughts on Hamlet are ever complete. I am not alone in finding that every time I see the play, and it is I think, as it is for many, the Shakespeare play I have seen most often, I find something new in it to think on. To complete this quartet of episodes on the play we have the second part of my conversation with Colin David Reese about the play and in this segment, which is much shorter than the previous conversation, we focussed on the character of Polonius, although as you will near Colin also brought in other thoughts generated by the play and his knowledge of other Shakespeare plays. I certainly was not expecting to hear about ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ in the context of this conversation, but I’m glad we went there and it just illustrates how any Shakespeare conversation can lead you to all sorts of places.

Before we get to Colin’s thoughts, I thought I would share with you some of the views of the play and Polonius from critics and commentators from the past. This is, of course, a tiny selection given the vast amount that has been written about Hamlet, but they are pieces that I have come across and found particularly interesting. If this piques your interest in Shakespeare criticism through time I have produced a series on that very subject for members on Patreon where I traced criticism and praise for Shakespeare from the praise poems in the First Folio to the 19th century romantics. To find out more about that just pop over to the website or to patreon.com.

John Dryden

Samuel Jonson

Samuel Taylor Coleridge

William Hazlitt

A C Bradley

Colin Dave Reese on Polonius

Colin’s Website and access to ‘Shakespeare Unbound: A Gift to the Future’: https://shakespeareunbound.org

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Hamlet Part 2: ‘Something is Rotten in the State of Denmark’

Mon, 10 Nov 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 194:

Last time I left things hanging for Hamlet as, having seen the ghost of his father and resolved on revenge, he had seen his planning go awry as he mistakenly killed the old councillor Polonius while he hid behind a wall hanging. We have seen his daughter Ophelia begin her descent into madness, school friends Rosencrantz and Guildenstern become embroiled in Hamlet’s feigned madness and Claudius prompted into a desire to pray, having seen the players perform a piece that replicated his actions in the matter of his brother’s murder.

That quick summary in no way does the play any sort of justice so please do listen to the previous two episodes on ‘Hamlet’, my look at the first half of the play and my conversation with Colin David Reese about the language in the play, if you have not done so already. I’ll be here waiting for you when you get back.

Continuing a summary of the play picking up from the murder of Polonius, with Hamlet leaving and dragging the body behind him.

The Character of Gertrude

The female characters and the players who portrayed them

The rise of boy playing troupes reflected in ‘Hamlet’

The political position of Claudius in the Danish nation

The character of Osric and his role in the play

The themes of death and decay

The character and actions of Hamlet

Hamlet as a tragic hero

The graveyard scene

A brief overview of the performance history of the play

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Speaking Hamlet: A Conversation with Colin David Reese

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 193

For today’s guest episode it is a very welcome return to the podcast for Colin David Reese, who I last spoke to in early 2023, when we discussed his play ‘Shakespeare Unbound: A Gift to the Future’ and Shakespeare in general. If you missed those episodes you will find them as part of season five, first released in February and April 2023.

On this occasion I asked Colin to discuss Shakespeare’s use of language, with particular reference to Hamlet, and how that language is used to create character. Colin goes in some depth into two of Hamlet’s most famous speeches from the play, so, although it is not essential you might find it useful to have a copy of the speeches to hand to follow along. You will need ‘To be or not to be’, from Act three scene one and ‘O what a rogue and peasant slave am I’ from act two scene two. We also spoke about the differences between the quarto and folio versions of the play with examples of the language from them, and as this have become a long, but very richly detailed episode, I have split it into two and will share the part dealing with characterisation and particularly Polonius after my second episode discussing the play.

Colin David Reese has not only a lifetime of acting experience behind him, but a lifetime of Shakespeare study too. That started in his family life where his actor father had a Shakespeare quote for every occasion and continued with his first professional engagement when aged twelve, he played Shakespeare’s illegitimate son. Along with his many acting roles he has run his own acting company and undertaken in depth study of Shakespeare and the Commedia Dell’arte

Link to RSC To Be Or Not to Be sketch on YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEs8rK5Cqt8

Link to Colin's website: https://shakespeareunbound.org

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Hamlet Part 1: ‘That One May Smile and Smile and Be a Villain’

Mon, 27 Oct 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 192:

And so, we come to perhaps the biggest challenge in all of Shakespeare's work, ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark’. Over the next two episodes and a special guest episode I hope I can get close to doing this monumental play justice.

The dating of the play and the complication of the ‘ur-Hamlet’

The early print history of the play and the three versions

The possible sources for the play

The opening of the play

The character and significance of Fortinbras

The character of Polonius

The ghost of Hamlet’s father and the responsibility of revenge

The position and character of Ophelia

Ophelia and the meaning of flowers

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern – appearances and honesty

The players and their play as an insight to acting genres and techniques of the time

The success of ‘The Murger of Gonzago’

The centrality and irony of Claudius at prayer

Hamlet, Gertrude and the ghost

Part two of this review of ‘Hamlet’ will follow as episode 194 (season 6 episode 81)

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Staging Julius Caesar: A Conversation with Ricky Dukes

Mon, 20 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 191:

For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return to Ricky Dukes, artistic director of Lazarus Theatre Company. Following on from our conversation about ‘Henry V’ Ricky and I went on to discuss ‘Julius Caesar’. Not surprisingly our conversation pulled out some alternative points to those I raised in my episode on the play, especially when it came to talking about aspects of staging the play and the impact of the female roles in the play, which I did not mention in any detail previously. So, please see these two episodes as complimenting each other, but as long as you are familiar with the play you don’t need to have listened to my episode first, or, for that matter, our earlier discussion of ‘Heny V’, to enjoy this one.

Ricky Dukes is an award-winning Director, Practitioner and Teacher based in the West Midlands and London. In 2007 he founded Lazarus Theatre Company and is the company’s current Artistic Director for which he won Best Artistic Director in the 2012 Fringe Report Awards. His work is ensemble led with actor detail at its heart creating large scale visual, visceral, and vibrant theatrical experiences. Ricky has gone on to direct over 40 productions for Lazarus Theatre Company including: The Changeling, Hamlet, Doctor Faustus, Oscar Wilde’s Salomé, Macbeth, Marlowe’s Edward II, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Tis Pity She’s A Whore, and Dido, Queen of Carthage. Ricky also runs workshops for actors under the ‘Lazarus Gym’ banner, and I have put links in the show notes to his activities so you can follow that up further if you wish.

Check out Lazarus Theatre here: https://www.lazarustheatrecompany.co.uk

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Julius Caesar: ‘It is the Bright Day That Brings Forth the Adder’

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 190:

'Julius Caesar' has proved to be one of Shakespeare’s most malleable plays through the centuries as it’s political narrative has been applied to just about every period of history since it was first performed, either in the moment or retrospectively. In most people’s estimation it is one of Shakespeare’s truly great plays, but that does not mean that there is always a consensus of opinion over the details of the plot or the motivations of the main characters, but by now that is pretty much what we have come to expect from Shakespeare.

The dating of the play

The early performance history of the play

The publication history of the play

The sources for the play

A brief synopsis of the play

Why did Shakespeare choose to write about Roman history?

The play as Ceasar’s tragedy

The play as the tragedy of Brutus

Anthony as the playboy and political strategist

The role of words, letters and misunderstandings in the play

The death of Cinna the poet

The later performance history of the play

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https://www.routledge.com/Neighbourly-Relationships-in-Early-Modern-Drama-Staged-Communities/Sheeha/p/book/9781032896670

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Neighbourly Relationships in Early Modern Drama: A Conversation in Dr Iman Sheeha

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 189:

For today’s guest episode it is my pleasure to welcome Dr Iman Sheeha to the podcast. Her book ‘Neighbourly Relations in early modern drama has been published recently so it was a great opportunity to talk to her about her research after she had just completed a summer tour of conferences.

Her work is a close examination of neighbourly relationships in early modern English drama, placing a select number of plays alongside other contemporary materials such as wills, pamphlets and sermons and other sources that give us a glimpse of the early modern lived life. The plays span the period between the 1550s and the 1620s, belong to different genres, were aimed at different audiences, and were written for different kinds of playhouses, which allows for conclusions to be drawn about the way genre shapes the treatment of neighbourly relationships, as well as revealing continuities and changes during the period.

Iman Sheeha is a Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature at Brunel University of London and co-General Editor of New Mermaids Classic Plays series. She has wide-ranging interests within the fields of Shakespeare and Early Modern Literature, including gender, race, devotional literature, service, and domesticity and she works with PhD candidates working on these and related topics.

She is the author of two books: Household Servants in Early Modern Domestic Tragedy, and Neighbourly Relationships in Early Modern Drama. She has co-edited a special issue on liminal domestic spaces for Early Modern Literary Studies. Her research has appeared or is forthcoming in Shakespeare Survey, Early Theatre, The Journal of Early Modern Cultural Studies, Early Modern Literary Studies, and American Notes and Queries and she contributed a chapter to People and Piety: Devotional Writing in Print and Manuscript in Early Modern England (MUP, 2019).’ She has written the introduction for the Oxford World’s Classics edition of ‘The Tragedy of Master Arden of Faversham’ which is due to be published by Oxford University Press in April, 2026.

Links to books by Iman Sheeha

https://www.routledge.com/Household-Servants-in-Early-Modern-Domestic-Tragedy/Sheeha/p/book/9780367503772

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As You Like It: ‘I Can Suck Melancholy Out of a Song as a Weasel Sucks Eggs’

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 188:

Following on from the last episode before the run of summer guest conversations we take a sharp swerve from ‘Henry V’ to ‘As You Like It’. Although we cannot be quite sure about the chronology in which Shakespeare wrote his plays, or how much the writing of one crossed over with the writing of another, whatever the precise order it is pretty clear that Shakespeare could move freely between the History and Comedy genres and within those how he was always pushing at the edges of the forms and conventions of the theatre and playwrighting to see what could work on stage and with language. ‘As You Like It’ is no exception to that.

The Dating of the play

The sources for the play

The possible first performance date

A brief synopsis of the play

The use of poetry and prose in the play

The play as part of the ‘Pastoral’ genre

The location of the play and influence of the forest

The character of Jacques

The character of Rosalind

The character of Touchstone

The ending, Hyman, and the masque

A summary of the performance history of the play

The epilogue

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Who is King Henry?: A Conversation with Ricky Dukes

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 187:

This episode is both an ending and a beginning. An ending because it is the last of the recent run of consecutive guest episodes – next time we will be returning to Shakespeare, Jonson and their plays – but it is also the first of what I hope will be a series of guest episodes attached to each of the very significant Shakespeare plays that are coming up soon. With the very well-known and arguably greatest of Shakespeare’s plays the task of providing some meaningful commentary is, I have found, very daunting, so I thought it would be a good idea to have another view on these plays to bring another perspective to them besides my own. I am also keen for those views to be born from the practical experience of producing the plays and understanding them from an actor’s perspective and therefore as a result of close exploration of the text.

The photos used on social media posts for this episode are from the 2015 production of 'Henry V' with Colette O'Rourke as the king at the Union Theatre. Photo credit: Adam Trigg.

Check out Lazarus Theatre here: https://www.lazarustheatrecompany.co.uk

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Robert Armin – Shakespeare’s Other Clown: A Conversation with Tim Fitzhigham

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 186:

In this continuing series of guest episodes, it is a very welcome return to the podcast for Tim Fitzhigham. You may remember I spoke to Tim in episode 140 about his work at the Kings Lynn Guildhall where the Elizabethan period Stage had recently been uncovered and hit the headlines in the UK as a stage that Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men had actually played on as they toured the country. Since then the work has continued and through the summer of 2025 it has been possible for the public to view the timber floor, which was built in 1419. If you do get to Kings Lynns and want to see what is going on at the Guildhall and the theatre do have a look at the website that I have linked to in the show notes to check on what work is currently underway and how that might affect opening times.

Tim Fitzhigham is the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Creative Director appointed to oversee the revival of St George’s Guildhall. As well as leading this extensive project he is currently completing his PhD on Robert Armin, an actor in The King’s Men who originated many of the clown and fool roles in all but the earliest Shakespeare plays and was a well-known playwright and author in his own right.

Link to King's Lynne Guildhall website: https://stgeorgesguildhall.com/

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‘The Shakespeare Ladies Club’: A Conversation with Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 23:06:00 GMT

Episode 185:

For today’s guest episode it’s a warm welcome to the podcast for Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth, co-authors of the recently published book ‘The Shakespeare Ladies Club’.

Their book explores the lives of four ladies who were crucial in ensuring the original work of Shakespeare was not forgotten in the 18th Century and beyond. In 1736, these three ladies of quality, two from the aristocracy and one a writer who ran a stationery shop, formed the ‘Shakespeare Ladies Club’. All three were so enraptured by the plays of William Shakespeare that they met to read and discuss his them and his genius. Not content with this, they used their power and influence to campaign for a statue of their literary idol to be placed in Westminster Abbey. They were successful in that endeavour, but their role in these achievements has never been properly recognised. Along with other scholars Christine and Johnathn’s book is part of the process of putting that right. It is a very entertaining and informative read that I thoroughly enjoyed as I hope you will our conversation with just a taster of some of the details Christine and Jonathan have revealed.

Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth live in Adelaide, South Australia and have a passion for historical investigation and challenging the 'conventional wisdom' regarding famous historical subjects.

Christine spent several decades working for the Australian government in social services. Her work on a program to re-connect lone parents with training, education and employment opportunities gave her a unique insight into family and societal challenges.

Jonathan was educated in Britain and Australia and has over thirty years of experience as a high school teacher of Modern and Ancient History, and English Literature. He is a graduate of The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia.

Link to Christine and Jonathan's website: https://hainsworthwardagius.com

Link to The Shakespeare Ladies Club on Amberley Publishing: https://www.amberley-books.com

Link to The Shakespeare Ladies Club on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Ladies-Club-Forgotten-Rescued/dp/1398127442/ref=sr_1_1?

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‘A Trojan Woman’: A Conversation with Sara Farrington

Mon, 01 Sep 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 184:

Today’s episode is part of my summer run of guest episodes and feels very special as rather than talking about a long dead playwright I got to talk to a living one. Sara Farrington is a New York based playwright who has written an adaptation of ‘The Trojan Women’ by Euripides, called ‘A Trojan Woman’, which has had several productions in Europe and Nort America and Sara kindly agreed to come onto the podcast to discuss her interpretation of Euripides.

Sara Farrington is a New York based Playwright and co-founder of Foxy Films Theatre. Her plays include: ‘Mickey & Sage’, ‘Leisure, Labor, Lust’, ‘A Trojan Woman’, ‘CasablancaBox’, which was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards and ‘The Rise & Fall of Miles & Milo’, which won the award for outstanding playwriting @ FringeNYC. She also works as a script supervisor and costume designer.

Link to ‘A Trojan Woman’ published Edition: https://www.broadwayplaypublishing.com/the-plays/a-trojan-woman

Link to Sara’s Substack ‘Theatre Is Hard’: https://substack.com/@theaterishard

Sara on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladyfarrington/

Link to Sara’s website: https://www.ladyfarrington.com

Support the podcast at:

Amazon UK:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dream-Factory-Londons-Playhouse-Shakespeare/dp/0300263546/ref=sr_1_1?

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The Dream Factory: A Conversation With Daniel Swift

Mon, 25 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 183:

Today’s episode is the first of a short run of guest episodes to see us through the end of the English summer and first up is Daniel Swift, author of ‘The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the making of William Shakespeare’. Given that title I don’t think Daniel’s book needs any further introduction other than to say that I found it a fascinating read and I hope this episode gives. You a taster of Daniel’s work and the research he has undertaken.

Daniel Swift is associate professor of English at Northeastern University, London, and has written books on Shakespeare, Ezra Pound, and the poetry of the Second World War and articles for The New York Times, The New Statesman and The Spectator.

Links to'The Dream Factory':

Yale University Press London: https://yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300263541/the-dream-factory/

Macmillan New York https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374601270/thedreamfactory/

Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Factory-Londons-Playhouse-Shakespeare/dp/0374601275/ref=sr_1_1?

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Henry V: ‘A Valiant Flea That Dare Eat His Breakfast on The Lip of a Lion’

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 182:

Although it feels like a while since Shakespeare had produced a history play, we must remember that all the plays I have discussed so far were written and played in a very compressed timescale. If we take Henry 6th part 1 as being from 1591 then eight years and eighteen plays later, we get to Henry 5th.

The sources for the play

The dating of the play

The printing history of the play

The early performance history of the play

A brief synopsis of the play

A play that works on several levels

The central role of the Chorus

The multiple linguistic registers in the play

The conclusion of Henry’s character arc

The different aspects to Henry’s character

Henry’s meditations on the responsibilities of kingship

The supporting characters – the soldiers

Princess Katerine and her English lesson

The demise of Pistol

The later performance history of the play

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Leicester's Men: A Conversation with Laurie Johnson

Mon, 11 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

6.68

Leicester’s Men: A Conversation with Laurie Johnson

Episode 181:

For today’s guest episode it’s a pleasure to welcome Laurie Johnson to the podcast. Laurie’s book ‘Leicester’s Men and their Plays’ is a fascination study of one of the most influential of the playing troupes of the Elizabethan period and the story of how they lived and functioned under one of the most influential nobles in the land. As you will hear Laurie’s research to try to draw an ever-better picture of the players and playing in the period is ongoing and leading to some interesting postulations.

Laurie Johnson is Professor of English and Cultural Studies at University of Southern Queensland and a Fellow of both the Society of Antiquaries of London and the Royal Historical Society. His current roles include President of the Marlowe Society of America, Research Dramaturg for the Oxford Marlowe Project, Academic Adviser to the Museum of Shakespeare, Shoreditch, and Project Researcher for the Weather Extremes in England’s Little Ice Age,1500-1700 database. His publications include The Earl of Leicester’s Men and their Plays and Shakespeare’s Lost Playhouse: Eleven Days in Newington Butts.

UK Link to 'Leicester's Men': https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leicesters-Men-their-Plays-Elizabethan/dp/1009366491/ref=sr_1_1?

US Link to 'Leicester's Men': https://www.amazon.com/Leicesters-Men-their-Plays-Elizabethan-ebook/dp/B0CG28GHN9/ref=sr_1_1?

Link to the Oxford Marlowe Project: https://research.kent.ac.uk/marlowe-works/

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Much Ado About Nothing: 'A College of Wit-Crackers Cannot Flout Me Out of My Humour'

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 180:

Much Ado About Nothing remains one of the more popular comedies where the characters of Benedick and Beatrice are usually thought of as the leading characters, but this play is much more of an ensemble piece than might be usually remembered.

The dating of the play

The print history of the play

Early performances of the play

The sources for the play

The significance of the title

A Synopsis of the play

The views of the male character, all soldiers, in the play

The pairings of Hero and Claudio and Beatrice and Benedick

Margaret and her views on marriage

Communication and miscommunication

The changes Shakespeare made to his sources

Public honour and public shaming

Pride and pridefulness

Dogberry and the watch

Why didn’t Shakespeare dramatize the fooling of Claudio?

Reality and imagination in the play

‘Much Ado About Nothing’s relationship with ‘The Taming of the Shrew’

The performance history of the play

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Jonson’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 179:

For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our second conversation Kay discusses Jonson’s world view and how it differed from Shakespeare’s, which we discussed in our first conversation plays. If you have not already done so, listening to that conversation, which is episode 177, and my recent episodes on Jonson’s early plays ‘The Case Is Altered’, ‘Every Man Out of his Humour’ and ‘Every Man In His Humour’ would be a good idea before listening to this conversation.

Kay Daly is a writer, novelist, book and theatre reviewer, teacher, and public humanities advocate. Since earning her Ph.D. in English Literature from Northwestern University, she has written for a variety of publications and organizations including The Chicago Review of Books, TimeOut Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, WNET New York Public Media, The Library of Virginia’s blog UnCommonwealth, Dramatics Magazine, and Centerstage Chicago. She also teaches adult enrichment courses focusing on arts and humanities at the Newberry Library in Chicago. Her debut novel ‘Wilton House’, based on the life of 17th-century writer Lady Mary Wroth, will be published by Regal House Publishing in 2027

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Every Man Out of his Humour: ‘Art Hath an Enemy Called Ignorance’

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 178:

Ben Jonson's humours play 'Every Man in His Humour' was a big success and Jonson chose to name his next comedy in a very similar way, just substituting ‘in’ for ‘out’, no doubt to capitalise on the success of the earlier play by letting the public know that this was going to be a play in a very similar vein, and although there are no points where the plots or characters cross over during the plays the humour and satire are similar. However, there are also some significant differences between the two plays with the latter offering being more complex structurally and even less reliant on a plot that it’s predecessor.

The early performance history of the play and it’s reception

The dating of the play

The early print history of the play

The amendments in the first folio version

A Synopsis of the plot

The framing device

Macalente the malcontent

Carlo Buffone and the drinking game

Sogliardo the stooge

Delerio and Falace

Fastidious Brisk, his wardrobe and Fungoso

The strange inclusion of Sordidio, the miserly farmer

Puntovolo, his wife, his dog and his cat

The fate of Puntovolo’s dog

The language style of the play

The Italian setting of the play

The war of the theatres

Why was the play less successful than it’s predecessor?

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Shakespeare’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Mon, 14 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 177:

For today’s guest episode it is a warm welcome for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our conversation Kay took the opportunity to give an overview of Shakespeare’s world view as seen through his earlier plays and particularly the comedies. As you will hear we strayed a little into some later plays, but Kay’s thoughts seemed particularly useful at this point as we are about to move away from the earliest plays and move onto new and very different experiments in comedy. I hope you enjoy the conversation and find useful as a kind of summary of what I have covered so far on the podcast in respect to Shakespeare.

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Every Man in his Humour: ‘Learn to be Wise and Practice How to Thrive’

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 176:

In ‘Every Man In His Humour’ Jonson pays a debt to Roman comedy, but also shows us, in an almost fully formed way, his very own style. This is not the biting satire of many of his plays, but something a little gentler in that he is not taking aim at specific people and certainly not at the court, as he was to do later. ‘Every Man in His Humour’ is a city comedy with it’s large cast of London characters and it is they, as a group, who are Jonson’s target on this occasion.

The early performance history of the play

The printing history of the play

The differences between the quarto and folio versions of the play

The London setting of and as a character in the play

A synopsis of the play

The complexity of the plot structure

The effect of ‘humours’ on character

The comedic characters based on Roman comic characters

An analysis of the prologue

Brainworm the instigator of deception

Edward Knowell the portrait of a London Student

Old Knowell as a sympathetic father

Mathew the poet and butt of the joke

Bobadil the braggart soldier

Kitely the jealous husband

The later performance history of the play

The use of prose in the play

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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Radio-Century-BBC-Plays/dp/1399547283/ref=sr_1_1?

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Shakespeare on the Radio: A Conversation with Andrea Smith

Mon, 30 Jun 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 175:

On today’s guest episode we welcome Andrea Smith to the podcast. Andrea’s book ‘Shakespeare on the Radio’ has just been published and she kindly agreed to come on and give us some highlights from her very detailed review of Shakespeare on BBC radio in the last one hundred years.

Andrea Smith is a lecturer at the University of Suffolk, specialising in Shakespeare and audio drama. Her research looks at how stage plays can be turned into something purely aural through voice, music, sound effects and other non-verbal noises.

Link to amazon UK site:

Link to Edinburgh University Press site:

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shakespeare-on-the-radio.html

Link to BBC Sounds Drama on 3 page:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006tnwj

Link to Box of Broadcasts landing page:

https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/bob/

Link to the online appendix listing all BBC Shakespeare productions up to 2024, which is listed in the ‘resources’ tab towards the bottom of the page:

https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-shakespeare-on-the-radio.html

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The Case is Altered: ‘It Is the Pleasure of Our Fates That We Should Thus Be Wracked on Fortunes Wheel’

Mon, 23 Jun 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 174:

Ben Jonson's erliest play. Here we have the bricklayer’s son trying to make his way in the theatre and with the court. Until James came to the throne, he was pretty unsuccessful in the latter and as far as we can tell more of less from the off his life writing for the public theatre was controversial. I recounted the events surrounding Johnson and Nashe’s play ‘The Isle of Dogs’ as part of Jonson’s life story and ‘The Case Is Altered’ probably pre-dates those events. What we can be sure of is that by 1597, the most likely date for ‘The Case Is Altered’ Jonson was working for Pembroke’s Men and that they probably performed the play in May or June that year.

The complications of the printing history of the play

The origins of the title

Jonson borrows from Plautus to create a romantic comedy

The satire of Anthony Munday

A brief summary of both strands of the plot

The structural issues with the play and purely comic scenes

The theory of the Humors

The character of Count Ferneze

The character of Jacques the miser

The concealment of the gold

The slight characters of the three female roles

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Nothing Goes to Plan in Love’s Labour’s Lost: A conversation with Eleanor Conlon

Mon, 16 Jun 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 173:

For this guest episode it is a very welcome return for Eleanor Conlon, who you will remember discussed Titus Andronicus with me in Episode 22 of this season. Having picked over the brutal actions of that play with Eleanor I was pleased to hear that she was interested in a return visit and to discuss the very different piece that is Love’s Labour’s Lost. As you will her Eleanor has a great love of this play and brings all the enthusiasm about it to our conversation that you as might expect. If you have not already done so I would recommend listening to my previous episode on Love’s Labour’s Lost before starting on this one, which adds a lot to what I said in that episode.

Eleanor Conlon is an actor, director, and award-winning writer based in Sussex.

After completing her BA in English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, Eleanor earned her MA in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at Kings College and Shakespeare’s Globe. While at The Globe, Eleanor worked dramaturgically on productions by Dominic Dromgoole, Matthew Dunster, and Jeremy Herrin, and with Jenny Tiramani on the Original Practices Costume Archive.

As an academic, her research focused on Renaissance Magic, Gender and Culture in Early Modern London, though for more than a decade her career has been less theoretical and more practical. After achieving success with her theatre company ‘The Barefoot Players’ in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with which she produced plays including ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore’, ‘Doctor Faustus’ and ‘The Alchemist’, the latter two of which she also directed, as well as productions of several of Shakespeare’s works, plays by Ibsen, Oscar Wilde, and others. She founded her current theatre company ‘Rust & Stardust’ where working with her puppet-maker partner Katie Sommers Eleanor has written over a dozen plays rooted in English folklore and toured these shows all over the UK.

In addition to all this, and as you are about to hear, in 2023 she launched the Three Ravens Podcast with her partner Martin Vaux – also a writer and actor – which explores history, legends, and diverse aspects of folk culture.

Link to Three Ravens Podcast website: www.threeravenspodcast.com

For the Three Ravens Folktales Book:

Link to Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Three-Ravens-Folk-Tales-half-forgotten/dp/1803999683

Link To Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Three-Ravens-Folk-Tales-half-forgotten-ebook/dp/B0CW1GB63M/ref=sr_1_1

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Love’s Labour’s Lost: ‘Assist Me, Some Extemporal God of Rhyme’

Mon, 09 Jun 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 172:

The dating of the play

The early publication history of the play

The sources for the play

A synopsis of the play

A play that explores language and it’s limits

The opening scene

Constable Dull

The central ‘reveal’ scene and it’s poetry

The character and behaviour of Costard

The longest word in the Shakespeare cannon

The pageant of the nine worthies

The character of Jacquenetta

Shakespeare’s parody and homage to previous literary forms

The meaning of the title of the play

The concept of ‘the academy’ and comparisons with Elizabeth’s court

The critical reception of the play

The performance history of the play

Support the podcast at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeare-Restoration-Repertory-Elements-Performance/dp/1009324136/ref=sr_1_1?

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Shakespeare in the Restoration: A Conversation with Stephen Watkins

Mon, 02 Jun 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 171:

For today’s guest episode it is a warm welcome to Stephen Watkins who is going to take us a little way forward in the timeline to the world of Restoration England where after fourteen years of closures theatres were again legally opened and where, as we shall hear, performance of Shakespeare plays formed a significant part of the repertoire, and this discussion does focus very much on Shakespeare in the Restoration, we will, of course, get to a look at the other playwrights and players of that period all in good time.

Stephen Watkins is a writer and researcher working mainly on Shakespeare and Early Modern literature, with a particular focus on how writers and theatre makers recycle, adapt and remediate source texts to both register and resist historical and cultural change. He has published widely on Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare and the important figure of that time, William Davenant. His book ‘Shakespeare and the Restoration Repertory’, as part of the Cambridge University Press, ‘Elements in Shakespeare Performance’ series was published in February 2025. In it Stephen demonstrates how Davenant’s adaptations of Shakespeare were shaped as much by the transformed commercial and repertorial logics that came to govern the patent companies in the 1660s as they were by shifting aesthetic and political concerns in the period. Stephen has taught English at the Universities of Oxford, Nottingham, and Derby, and is currently based at the University of Greenwich.

https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Restoration-Repertory-Elements-Performance-ebook/dp/B0F29S1NJ1/ref=sr_1_1?

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The Merry Wives of Windsor: ‘Wives May be Merry and Yet Honest Too’

Mon, 26 May 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 170:

The dating of the play

The tradition of the queen Elizabeth commission

The tradition of the connection to the Garter Ceremony

The Question of who played Falstaff

A summary of the plot

The early publication history of the play in short quarto editions

The sources for the play

The very specific location of the play

The character of Falstaff

The way the dominating prose of the play is used to define characters

The change in Mistress Quickly and her use of language

The stereotypical comedy of foreigners in Dr Caius and Parson Evans

Was the play written for one audience, but then changed to fit another?

The play as a city comedy and how Shakespeare subverts the genre

The influence of Queen Elizabeth’s position as a female ruler on the play

The later performance history of the play

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Lead Author of The Play About the Antichrist (Ludus de Antichristo): A Dramaturgical Analysis, Historical Commentary, and Latin Edition with a New English Verse Translation

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Performing Medieval Theatre: A Conversation with Kyle Thomas

Mon, 19 May 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 169

A welcome return for Kyle Thomas to the podcast where we discussed Kyle’s work on preparing three of the York Cycle plays for performance this summer in Toronto. As you will hear Kyle is part of a team that are going to perform the fifty-play cycle on the 7th June 2025 in the grounds of the University of Toronto.

Link to the York Cycle Plays performed at Toronto University in June 2025: https://www.yorkplays.ca

Link to Kyle’s projects:

Ensemble Member: Stage Left Theatre

Reviewer for ChicagoOnStage.com

Chief Editor of ROMARD: Research on Medieval and Renaissance Drama

Featured Expert on Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America (Discovery Channel)

Link to my blog post about the Valenciennes Illustration https://www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/blog/the-stage-set-from-valenciennes-1547/

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Henry IV Part 2: ‘We Have Heard the Chimes at Midnight’

Mon, 12 May 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 168:

Although Shakespeare's completion of the events of Henry IV’s reign is very much a continuation of the story from part one it is a play with a very different vibe. The vigour of the battle scenes and the exuberance of prince Hal and Falstaff’s relationship are replaced in part two with a more sombre and elegiac tone. The effects of old age and the passing to time hang over the play and even at its ending, where the coronation of Henry V could have been treated as a big party full of hope, it is the final rejection of Falstaff that dominates as once again Shakespeare provides an ending that many would have found surprising.

The dating of the play

The early publishing history of the play

The early performance history of the play

Shakespeare’s sources for the play

A Synopsis of the plot

How the play functions without much dramatic action

Was the play a hurriedly written sequel?

Foreshadowing and references to history

The presence of the king and his illness in the play

The nature of the comedy in the play

The final split with Falstaff

Falstaff the dangerous conman

The Justices Shallow and Silence

Mistress Quickly and the other comic characters

The Epilogue

Support the podcast at:

Lead Author of The Play About the Antichrist (Ludus de Antichristo): A Dramaturgical Analysis, Historical Commentary, and Latin Edition with a New English Verse Translation

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The Origins of Medieval Theatre: A Conversation with Kyle Thomas

Mon, 05 May 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 167

A conversation with Kyle Thomas where we discussed the long transition period between Roman theatre and medieval theatre. As you may remember from my episodes on the medieval theatre this is a very opaque period where details are few and far between. In my episodes in season three of the podcast I mostly followed the view that medieval theatre grew out of parts of the church liturgy that became dramatized as very simple, short plays. As you will hear in our conversation Kyle puts a more nuanced perspective on that and also speaks to the role of the education system of the time in that process.

Links to Kyle’s projects:

Ensemble Member: Stage Left Theatre

Reviewer for ChicagoOnStage.com

Chief Editor of ROMARD: Research on Medieval and Renaissance Drama

Featured Expert on Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America (Discovery Channel)

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Henry IV Part 1: ‘Nothing Can Seem Foul to Those Who Win’

Mon, 28 Apr 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 166:

As with 'Richard II' 'Henry IV part 1' handles some complex English history as it examines the relationships between the King, his son and the powerful Percy family. After the deposition of Richard II Henry ruled for fourteen years until his death. Having ended 'Richard II' with Henry’s accession to the throne and Richard’s death in prison Shakespeare opens this play just a few years later, but with a vision of a tired king and a country dissatisfied with his rule.

The setting for the play

A brief synopsis of the play

The dating of the play

The early performance history of the play

The publication history of the play

The sources for the play

The balance of history and comedy

The historical accuracy of the play

The play as an examination of the father/son relationship

The character of Hotspur as a medieval knight

The portrayal of Glendower as a mystic leader

The role of the aristocratic ladies

Prince Hal as a new sort of leader

Falstaff, ruler of his own sort of court and a king of everyman

The historical figure of Sir John Oldcastle

The later performance history of the play

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Shakespeare’s Tutor: A Conversation with Darren Freebury-Jones

Mon, 21 Apr 2025 05:00:00 GMT

Episode 165

In today’s guest episode it is a very welcome return to the podcast for Darren Freebury-Jones. Darren appeared previously to discuss his book ‘Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers’ and I asked him back on this occasion because his earlier book ‘Shakespeare’s Tutor: The Influence of Thomas Kyd’ is now published in a paperback edition by Manchester University Press, making it a much more accessible resource for any enthusiast of early modern theatre. In our conversation about the book Darren mentions a few points, like the detail of verse structure and characters like Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe that we discussed in more detail in our earlier encounter. If you would like to listen to that again it is still out there on the podcast feed as episode 126, that’s season six episode thirteen.

Dr Darren Freebury-Jones is author of the monographs: Reading Robert Greene: Recovering Shakespeare’s Rival, Shakespeare’s Tutor: The Influence of Thomas Kyd, and Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers. He is also Associate Editor for the first critical edition of The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd since 1901. He has investigated the boundaries of John Marston’s dramatic corpus as part of the Oxford Marston project and is General Editor for The Collected Plays of Robert Greene, also published by Edinburgh University Press. His findings on the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries have been discussed in national newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, and The Independent as well as BBC Radio. His debut poetry collection, Rambling, was published by Broken Sleep Books in 2024. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of his contributions to historical scholarship.

Amazon UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shakespeares-Tutor-Influence-Thomas-Kyd/dp/1526182610/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0

Amazon US Link: https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-tutor-influence-Thomas-Kyd/dp/1526182610/ref=sr_1_1?

Manchester Universty Press link: https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182616/

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The Merchant of Venice: ‘The Quality of Mercy is not Strained’

Mon, 14 Apr 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 164

Fate, as in Romeo and Juliet, plays a large part in ‘The Merchant of Venice’, as do deep seated grudges, but these are more societal than familial. We are still in Italy, but no longer in close knit Verona, but mercantile and outward looking Venice. As Shakespeare wrote this play London was becoming orientated around increasing global trade and English trading ships were regularly making their way to Venice as a major trading hub, so perhaps it is no surprise that Venice, with its eyes on commerce and profit, was a suitably exotic setting for this tale of greed, love and a clash of cultures.

The dating of the play

The printed history of the play

The sources of the play including earlier theatrical ‘Jew’ plays

A brief outline of the plot

The different views of the character of Shylock – stereotype or sympathetic

The Jewish experience in Elizabethan London

The comic elements of the play

The character of Antonio

Portia’s role in the play

Portia’s ‘mercy’ speech

The performance history of the play

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A Statue in Verona: The Afterlife of Romeo and Juliet

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 163

My background reading while preparing the episode on Romeo and Juliet took me to many stories about and thoughts on the afterlife of the play and its continuing influence on western culture, what follows is just a few stories and thoughts that illustrate that continuing influence.

Verona and Juliet’s Statue

Juliet’s tomb

Cibber’s Juliet

Franco Zeffirelli’s film for the ‘love generation’

West Side Story

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Romeo and Juliet:‘These violent delights have violent ends.’

Mon, 31 Mar 2025 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 162

In today’s episode I look at Shakespeare’s early tragedy and one of his enduringly popular plays ‘Romeo and Juliet’.

The dating of the play

The early printings of the play in quarto editions

The origins of the story and Shakespeare’s direct sources

The opening chorus

Violence and the hand of fate underlying the action

The opening brawl and the threat of violence to women

The calming voice of women in the play

Romeo as a Petrarchan hero

Juliet as an innovative character who drives the plot

Romeo and Juliet’s shared sonnet

The motivations of Friar Lawrence and Juliet’s nurse

A brief performance history of the play

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https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/poor-naked-wretches

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Poor Naked Wretches: A Conversation with Stephen Unwin

Mon, 24 Mar 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 161

In today’s guest episode I will be discussing Shakespeare’s characterisations of the lower classes and looking at the role they play with Stephen Unwin, who’s book ‘Poor Naked Wretches’ explores the variety of working people in Shakespeare's plays as well as a vast range of cultural sources from which they were drawn and argues that the robust realism of these characters makes them so much more than mere Comic Relief.

Stephen Unwin is an award-winning British theatre and opera director. He has directed almost 100 professional productions and worked with many well-established actors and singers, as well as developing the careers of many younger ones. He studied at the University of Cambridge.

In the 1980s Stephen worked at the Almeida Theatre, London, the Traverse in Edinburgh, in repertoire theatre and at the National Theatre Studio. In 1993, he founded English Touring Theatre, for whom he directed more than 30 productions of classical and new plays, many of which transferred to London. In 2008, he became Artistic Director of the new Rose Theatre in Kingston, which he ran until January 2014. He has worked extensively at the Theatre Royal Bath and has directed more than 20 operas. Ten of his productions have been seen in the West End.

Stephen has taught in conservatoires and universities in Britain and America and written 10 books on theatre and drama, including ‘Poor Naked Wretches’. He has also written five original plays: ‘All Our Children’ was premiered at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2017 and staged in New York in 2019, and ‘Laughing Boy’ opened at Jermyn Street in 2024 and also played at the Theatre Royal Bath.

Stephen is a campaigner for the rights and dignities of learning-disabled people and ‘Beautiful Lives: How We Got Learning Disabilities So Wrong’, is published by Wildfire Book in June 2025.

This is only a shortened version of Stephen’s achievements and I would encourage you to visit his website for much more information.

You can find him at www.stephenunwin.uk

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lWn99STB1o

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King John: ‘New Made Honour Doth Forget Men’s Names’

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 160

A synopsis of the play

The sources and dating of the play

The problems with a historical drama in verse

The historical accuracy of the play

King John as neither a hero nor anti-hero

Philip the bastard as a central character in the play

The theme of self-identity and changing fortune in the play

Blanche as a representation of innocence manipulated

Queen Eleanor as the power behind the throne

Constance in grief and, maybe, madness, but eloquent

Movement towards the personal in the second half of the play

The confusion over the character of Hubert

The fate of the king as a metaphor for England

The performance history of the play

Link to the silent film from 1899 of the death of king John

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The Theatre Couple in Early Modern Italy: A Conversation with Serena Laiena

Mon, 10 Mar 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 159

For today’s guest episode we are going back to the Italian renaissance theatre and the world of the Commedia Dell’arte. You will remember that I covered the Commedia and other early Italian theatre in season five of the podcast, but in this conversation with Serena Laiena we have much more detail about a particular theatrical couple and the world of 16thcentury Italian theatre. In her book ‘The Theatre Couple in Early Modern Italy: Self-Fashioning and Mutual Marketing’ Serena looks at the birth of a phenomenon, that of the couple in show business where she focuses on the mutually beneficial promotional strategies devised by two professional performers and husband and wife team, Giovan Battista Andreini and Virginia Ramponi.

Serena Laiena is Assistant Professor in Italian and Ad Astra Fellow at University College Dublin. Her research focuses on early modern Italian theatre, especially commedia dell’arte. Most of her time is devoted to the understanding of the social and cultural role of the first professional actresses in modern history. The award-winning monograph that is the basis of our discussion today was published in 2023 by the University of Delaware Press. Currently, she is working on a book-length project focusing on the correspondence by and about professional actresses to bring to light the managing roles they performed within theatre companies.

For more details on Serena's book:

UK link to Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theatre-Couple-Early-Modern-Italy-ebook/dp/B0C9F9T6RX/ref=sr_1_1?

US link to Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Theatre-Couple-Early-Modern-Italy/dp/1644533154/ref=sr_1_1?

Link to publisher's website: https://udpress.udel.edu/book-title/the-theatre-couple-in-early-modern-italy-self-fashioning-and-mutual-marketing/

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Richard II: ‘Sad Stories of the Death of Kings’

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 158

Picking up the journey through Shakespeare's plays with 'Richard II'

A brief summary of the play

The early performance history of the play

The early print history of the play

The variations in the quarto editions concerning the deposition scene

The sources for the play

The role of the play in the Essex rebellion

The historical accuracy of the play

The dramatic arcs travelled by Richard and Bolingbroke

The political represented in the personal through the female roles

The significant role of minor characters

How verse is used in the play to distinguish the noble characters

The question of the divine right of kings and how it affects Richard’s character

The end of the play, Bolingbroke’s regrets, and how we might feel about them

The later performance history of the play

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Woke Shakespeare: A Conversation with Ian McCormick

Mon, 24 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In the fifth part of this short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon I had the chance to speak with Dr Ian McCormick about the collection of essays he edited, which pulls together recent Shakespeare criticism in the framework of woke and anti-woke culture and the culture wars of recent years. It is a wide ranging and thought provoking collection.

Ian McCormick, was a Professor in the Department of English for the School of Cultural Studies at the University of Northampton, where he taught Shakespeare, Renaissance Literature, 18th-century Literature, and Literary Theory. He has edited and contributed to books in various fields including sexuality and gender studies; modern and postmodern literature; teaching and learning strategies; drama education and critical theory. He has contributed to many academic publications, written a novel inspired by 18th century epistolatory novels and in the past he has organized two major international conferences for the British Society for Eighteenth-century Studies, at St John's College (University of Oxford). For the full details of Ian's biography please see the guest page on the podcast website.

Links to 'Woke Shakespeare':

Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Woke-Shakespeare-Rethinking-New-Era/dp/B0DQYB2TS5/ref=sr_1_1?

Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Woke-Shakespeare-Rethinking-New-Era/dp/B0DQYB2TS5/ref=sr_1_1?

If you are interested in being considered to make a contribution to the next volume ‘Shakespeare: New Voices’, you have until the 30th June 2025 to make an application via the Penn State University call for papers page, where some details of the requirements are explained https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2023/05/18/shakespeare-new-voices

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Trackers of Oxyrhincus: A Reprised Conversation with Jimmy Walters

Mon, 17 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In the fourth part of this short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon today’s episode is a repeat of episode 32 of the podcast, first released in late 2020. Having just produced an episode on satyr play on the main podcast and another on the papyologists who rediscovered the play Trackers for the fledgling Patreon account I was very pleased to be able to talk to theatre director Jimmy Walters who have produced a revival of the play The Trackers of Oxyrhincus by Tony Harrison. To hear from first-hand experience what it was like to produce a modern adaptation of a Greek play, especially something as rare as the satyr play was a real treat. It is, I think, worthy of another listen if you heard it at the time, or a first listen if you have only joined us for the later theatrical periods.

Jimmy Walters has been a professional actor and then director for almost twenty years. In his directing career he has presented work at most of London’s most prestigious off-west end venues, including the Finborough Theatre, Southwark Playhouse and the Jermyn Street Theatre and at other venues around the UK. Since 2022 he has been Education Practitioner for Shakespeare’s Globe leading Shakespeare workshops onsite for children of all ages.

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Boy Actors: A Conversation with Roberta Barker

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

In the third part of this series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon, we are going deep into the world of the renaissance period boy actors, or perhaps, as they should more properly be called, apprentice players. The habit of the period of young actors playing female roles is well known, but when I had the chance to talk to Roberta Barker about her study of apprentice players it soon became very clear that there is a lot more to their position in the playing company than that and we get to meet some of them as personalities in their own right.

Roberta Barker is a member of the Joint Faculty of King’s College, London, where she is Professor of Theatre teaching in the Foundation Year and Early Modern Studies programs, and Dalhousie University, Halifax Nova Scotia, where she teaches Theatre in the Fountain School of Performing Arts. Her research interests centre upon the relationship between performance and the social construction of identity and has explored such topics as the representation of gender and class in early modern tragedy, the early modern careers and modern afterlives of Shakespeare’s boy players, and (most recently) the role played by the performance of illness on the nineteenth-century stage in the evolution of realist style. She is also a theatre and opera director.

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The Development of Roman Theatre: A Reprised Conversation with Dr Elodie Palliard

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 154

As you know form last week’s episode I’m running a short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon. Today’s episode is a repeat of episode 30 of the podcast, first released in late 2020. At the time I was discussing the early theatre of Rome and with the Ancient Greek theatre already under my belt I had started to reach out to academics and authors who could add depth and colour to the research that I had been able to do. This episode with Dr Elodie Palliard was, I thought, particularly helpful in describing the likely developments in theatre in the murky period between the end of recorded Athenian theatre and early Roman theatre. It is, I think, worthy of another listen if you heard it at the time, or a first listen if you have only joined us for the later theatrical periods.

Dr Elodie Paillard is currently an Honorary Associate in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney, and a Partner Investigator in the Australian Research Council discovery project 'Theatre and Autocracy in Ancient Greece'. She is also a Project Leader at the University of Basel, financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation. After completing a PhD thesis on the staging of socio-political groups in Sophocles, and a postdoc on Greek theatre in Early Imperial Rome and Campania, Elodie is now working on Greek theatre in Republican Italy (500-27BC). She is also a member of the editorial board of the journal Mediterranean Archaeology.

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Playing with Shakespeare: A Conversation with Charles Moseley

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 06:00:00 GMT

Episode 153

Today’s guest episode serves as a great precursor to what is to come. The discussion that you are about to hear with Charles Mosely focusses on Shakespeare as a man of the theatre and discusses how the plays were created for and affected by the Theatre, the Audience and the conventions of the time. And that brief description does not do this wide ranging and detailed discussion any sort of justice. I think all of the thoughts that Charles discusses are well worth holding I mind as we work through the plays of Shakespeare and Jonson over the coming months.

Charles Moseley is a difficult man to summarise in a few words. He is a historian, literary critic and travel writer, but that only touches on part of his extensive output and experience. Most relevant for our purposes today are his years as College Lecturer in English

at Magdalene College, Cambridge, then Director of Studies in English (and later Fellow) of Wolfson College, and finally Senior Tutor and Director of Studies in English at Hughes Hall, Cambridge. The depth of knowledge and enthusiasm that Charles holds for his subject is, I think, quite self-evident and I am sure you will enjoy every moment of this, just as I did.

To see more about Charles, his publications, and other writings, including a fuller biography you can go to www.charlesmoseley.com

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UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Conversation With Rachel Aanstad

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 06:30:21 GMT

Episode 152

Following on from my thoughts on A Midsummer Night’s Dream last time I’m very pleased to welcome back Rachel Aanstad to the podcast for further thoughts on the play. You may remember from our previous conversation about Twelfth Night that Rachel has devoted a lifetime to both the study and presentation of Shakespeare plays and as with Twelfth Night she has written an Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia on ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’. This includes a complete rendition of the play along with a detailed glossary of terms, scene by scene analysis, an examination of characters and themes and practical advice for anyone directing, acting in or producing the play. I found it invaluable in helping me to solidify my thoughts about the play and highly recommend it, whatever your interest in the play.

Rachel Aanstad is a writer, artist, historian and self-confessed Shakespeare nerd. She has an MFA in theatre and is the former Artistic Director of Rose City Shakespeare Company. She lives in the pacific Northwest from where she writes books about Shakespeare’s plays. For our purposes today she is supremely well qualified to discuss ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ as, apart from her lifelong love of the play and her academic study, she has directed three productions of the play, one that was circus based, one that was burlesque based and one audio production.

Links to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia':

US link : https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

Support the podcast at:

UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘Man Is but An Ass If He Go About to Expound This Dream’

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 06:30:00 GMT

Episode 151

Having finished with Ben Jonson’s biography we can now go back in time just a little to work through Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays in more detail. By the early 1590s was then the man of the theatrical moment, no longer the young upstart, but the proven playmaker and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ surely did nothing but enhance that reputation and it has been popular ever since.

A brief synopsis of the play

The dating of the play

Suggested settings for the play as a wedding celebration

The sources for the play

Biblical influences

Publication of the play

The central themes of the play

The darker elements of the play

Theseus and Hippolyta and the setting of the play

The blindness of desire and passion

The question of the nature of attraction

The four lovers as exemplars of romantic love

The significance of the play within the play

The role of the rude mechanicals

How the play within the play tells us something about theatre practice at the time

Barriers to love – including a wall

A brief performance history of the play

Links to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia' by Rachel Aanstad:

US link : https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

Support the podcast at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=270NMNCDMCX6J&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tVcWzIabdRqiYBHGeNEcEPE_eYeRCTf2qEk6LRL3xtSgV8Xm38761BsX6tFKvqjKVi4kgv9kswwDFah3JLS67KX0r09uWKDy68AO_XpCOAQ.4HjwcRalbW8x65UhvPQl4quprJrQQPJUaajyTm9xVYs&dib_tag=se&keywords=r+k+aanstad&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1735475971&sprefix=r+k+aanstad%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-2

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A Bawdy Twelfth Night: A Conversation with Rachel Aanstad

Mon, 06 Jan 2025 06:00:48 GMT

Episode 150:

For this very appropriately timed guest episode, which is released on the 6th January, Rachel Aanstad kindly agreed to come on the podcast and talk about the Elizabethan twelfth night traditions and Shakespeare’s play of the same name. As you will hear our discussion became very much more wide ranging than that, as is often the way when we talk about Shakespeare. Rachel’s close study of the play came about not only because she has written on the play in her book 'A Bawdy Twelfth Night or What You Will an Encyclopaedia & Dramaturgical Handbook', but because she has directed productions of the play. You will hear more on both those subjects as part of our conversation. Rachel Aanstad is a writer, artist, historian and self-confessed Shakespeare nerd. She has an MFA in theatre and is the former Artistic Director of Rose City Shakespeare Company. She lives in the pacific Northwest from where she writes books about Shakespeare’s plays and is currently writing about Shakespeare’s Influences for Pen and Sword which is to be published in 2026.

Link to Twelfth Night or What You Will an Encyclopaedia & Dramaturgical Handbook:

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The Life of Ben Jonson Part Six: ‘Posterity Pays Every Man His Honour’

Mon, 30 Dec 2024 06:00:04 GMT

Episode 149

The life story of Ben Jonson concludes with events after the publication of his first folio to his death in 1637.

‘Bartholomew Fair’, a different sort of Jonson play.

The finances of the court become more problematic, and Jonson earns and spends money.

The trend for ‘projectors’ and Jonson becomes involved with Sir Willian Cockayne.

‘The Devil is an Ass’ satires money making projects.

Jonson is honoured by Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Jonson devotes a decade to poetry and scholarship.

‘The tribe of Ben’ forms at the Apollo Room.

Jonson’s library burns in a house fire.

Jonson’s health begins to decline.

The death of King James and the marriage and coronation of Charles 1st.

‘The Staple of the News’, Jonson’s first play for a decade.

Jonson’s health declines further.

Jonson is appointed as Chronologer to the City of London.

Jonson complains of poverty and receives money from supporters.

The late Jonson plays fail to impress at the playhouse.

‘A Tale of a Tub’.

A posthumous play, a play fragment and a collaboration.

Jonson dies in 1637 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Appreciation of Jonson since his death.

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Will, Ben & Tom at Christmas: An Affectionate Pastiche

Tue, 24 Dec 2024 06:30:11 GMT

'Will, Ben and Tom at Christmas' is an affectionate pastiche, with my very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year.

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The Life of Ben Jonson part Five: ‘Tis the House of Fame, Sir’

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 06:30:39 GMT

Episode 148:

The life of Ben Jonson continues after he is released from prison after the publication of 'Eastward Ho!'

Jonson’s possible involvement in the gunpowder plot and it’s aftermath.

Jonson writes a masque for the marriage of Frances Howard and Robert Devereaux.

Jonson defends his religious position in the face of recusancy fines.

‘Volpone’ is performed at The Globe as Jonson continues to produce masques.

‘Epicene or the Silent Woman’ is performed at the Whitefriars Theatre.

‘The Alchemist’ is performed at Oxford in a time of plague.

The club at the Mermaid tavern.

The return to the Anglican Church.

Parliament’s financial settlement for the King curtails the expense on masques

‘Catiline his Conspiracy’ gets a rocky reception.

Jonson works as a tutor for the Sydney family.

The ‘grand tour’ with Wat Raleigh.

The scandal of Robert Carr and Frances Devereaux.

Johnson is granted a pension.

The first folio of ‘The Works of Benjamin Jonson’.

For your copy of ‘Cakes and Ale: Mr Robert Baddeley and his 12th Night Cakes’ by Nick Bromley go to www.lnpbooks.co.uk. The special offer price of £9.99 including UK postage is available until 6th January 2025

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'The Divas Gift': A Conversation With Pamela Allen Brown

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 06:30:03 GMT

One of the generally accepted facts about theatre in the time of Shakespeare and Jonson is that boy actors took female roles and women were banned from appearing on the stage. This is in fact only partly true and my guest for today’s episode has made a study of how early modern actresses, from traditions on the European continent, influenced the English stage. During out conversation we covered aspects of European theatre from the early 1500’s, and Commedia Dell’arte in particular. You will find my take on this in season three of the podcast and if you have already listened to that hopefully some of the names will still sound familiar. We also talked about the influence of actresses on playwrights and plays from the period and hopefully you will remember Lilly, Marlowe and Kyd and The Spanish Tragedy from season four of the podcast. All those episodes are still out there on your podcast feed if you need a refresher.

Pamela Allen Brown is Professor Emerita of English, University of Connecticut. Her monograph The Diva’s Gift to the Shakespearean Stage: Agency, Theatricality, and the Innamorata was published by Oxford in 2021. With Julie Campbell and Eric Nicholson, she edited and translated Isabella Andreini's Lovers' Debates for the Stage, The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe (Iter, 2022). Previous books include Better a Shrew than a Sheep: Women, Drama and the Culture of Jest in Early Modern England; As You Like It: Texts and Contexts (co-authored with Jean E. Howard); and Women Players in England 1500-1650: Beyond the All-Male Stage (co-edited with Peter Parolin). She is a founding member of Theater Without Borders, a working group of scholars of early modern transnational drama, and she recently joined the New Books Network as a podcast host. Her poetry has appeared in Epiphany, First Literary Review East, New Square, Visual Verse, Public, Out of Sequence, and P/rose. For more on her work see:

https://www.pamelaallenbrown.com/

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The Life of Ben Jonson part Four: The Playhouse, the Court, and ‘The Masque of Blackness’

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 06:30:03 GMT

Episode 146:

The banning of printed satire.

‘Every Man Out of His Humour’ is produced by The Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

‘Cynthia’s Revels’ is performed at court but is not well received.

‘Poetester’ is performed at the Blackfriars and sparks ‘the war of the poets’ with Dekker and Marston.

‘Sejanus: His Fall’ fails to impress.

Jonson cultivates friendships with nobility close to the Stuart dynasty.

The death of Elizabeth.

Entertainments for the arrival of Queen Anne in England.

Jonson’s contribution to the official entry of King James into London.

Jonson is ejected from court on Twelfth Night 1604.

The Court Masque.

‘The Masque of Blackness’.

‘Eastward Ho’ causes Jonson another spell in prison.

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The Life of Ben Jonson part Three: ‘There is no Greater Hell Than to be a Prisoner of Fear’

Mon, 25 Nov 2024 06:30:18 GMT

Episode 145:

Continuing the story of Ben Jonson’s life from the point where just as he starts to make his mark in the theatre scene everything goes very badly wrong for him.

‘The Isle of Dogs’ at the Swan Theatre

The closure of the London Theatres

Jonson in prison

How the London theatres reopened

The Swan and Pembroke’s Men

Speculation on the content of ‘The Isle of Dogs’

Jonson’s other early work for the theatre

Jonson and the Lord Chamberlin’s Men

Jonson’s duel with Gabriel Spencer

Jonson in prison again

The conversion to Catholicism

Jonson’s trial and taking ‘the benefit of the clergy’

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Shake-Scene Shakespeare: A Conversation With Lizzie Conrad-Hughes

Mon, 18 Nov 2024 06:30:08 GMT

Episode 144:

On several occasions through the story of the renaissance theatre I have touched on how the players made use of cue sheets rather than full scripts as they rehearsed and performed plays, so I was fascinated to see that there is a company of actors working today who produce plays by Shakespeare and other renaissance playwrights using cue sheets. Although we don’t have documentary evidence about exactly how they were used at the time and therefore how the rehearsal process worked, what better way to get an understanding of how they might have been used and what impact they had on productions than to produce plays using them and work through the practical issues and artistic choices that become involved.

Shake-Scene Shakespeare have produced work for live and on-line presentation since 2017 and continue to do so today, so I was very pleased when Lizzie Conrad-Hughes, founder, company Director and book holder for the company agreed to come and talk about the experience of producing cue-based theatre for a modern audience.

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The Life of Ben Jonson Part Two: He That is Taught Only by Himself Has a Fool for a Master

Mon, 11 Nov 2024 06:30:19 GMT

Episode 143:

The second part of the life of Ben Jonson takes him from his birth, through his years at school and onto working as a bricklayer. He then briefly joined the army before returning to become a player, a poet and a playwright.

Jonson’s Scottish ancestry.

His father’s loss of position under queen Mary.

His Stepfather Robert Brett, bricklayer.

Life for the Brett/Jonson family on Christopher Lane

Jonson’s education at Westminster school.

Theatre at the Westminster School.

The influence of school master William Camden.

Jonson the bricklayer’s apprentice.

Jonson briefly attends Cambridge university – maybe.

Jonson the soldier and his service in the war in the Netherlands.

The Lord Mayor’s procession and the involvement of the Guild companies

Jonson’s contribution to the Lord Mayor’s procession.

Jonson the player for Pembroke’s men.

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The Culture of The Shrew in Early Modern Europe: A Conversation with Dr Natalia Pikli

Mon, 04 Nov 2024 06:30:25 GMT

Episode 142

Dr Natália Pikli discusses the changing view of the 'The Shrew' in Medieval and Early Modern European culture and how women are represented in Shakespeare's early comedies,

She then goes on to outline how Shakespeare became part of national Hungarian culture and how the plays have been treated in translation.

Dr Natália Pikli is Associate Professor at the Department of English Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She teaches medieval and early modern culture and literature and is Head of the relevant PhD Program. She also teaches contemporary popular culture, as well as theatre history and theatre reviewing for students majoring in Theatre Studies. She has published extensively on Shakespeare, early modern popular culture, theatre, iconography, and on the reception of Shakespeare in our days, with a focus on contemporary theatre. Her book chapters and articles appeared in, for instance, Shakespearean Criticism (Thomson-Gale, 2004), Shakespeare's Others in 21st-century European Performance (Bloomsbury, 2021), and in academic journals: European Journal of English Studies, Journal of Early Modern Studies (Florence) Shakespeare Survey (Cambridge), Theatralia (Brno). She (co-)edited five books and is the author of two monographs, The Prism of Laughter: Shakespeare’s ’very tragical mirth’ (VDM Verlag, 2009) and Shakespeare’s Hobby-Horse and Early Modern Popular Culture (Routledge, 2022). In her free time, she directs amateur student performances and writes theatre reviews.

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The Life of Ben Jonson Part One: It’s Complicated

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 06:30:52 GMT

Episode 141:

In this episode I set us up for a look at the life of Ben Johnson discussing some of the sources for information about his life and how far we can trust them – it’s complicated.

Jonson’s 1618 visit to Scotland and why he might have undertaken the journey on foot.

His conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden.

Jonson’s opinions on other writers as reported by Drummond and thoughts on their validity.

Descriptions of Jonson by Aubery and Dekker.

The Johnson portrait.

How Johnson might have revealed himself in his work.

How his poems appear to be self-referencing but may not be as straightforward as they seem.

How his plays possibly include some self-revealing aspects.

Admiration of Johnson as equal to, or greater than, Shakespeare.

The modern reader and the problems with Jonson.

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https://stgeorgesguildhall.com

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The Kings Lynn Medieval Stage: A Conversation With Tim Fitzhigham

Mon, 21 Oct 2024 05:30:04 GMT

In October 2023 the story of the discovery of a stage floor that dated from before the Elizabethan period in St George’s Guildhall in Kings Lynn hit the news. The attrition to the headline writers was the fact that that very stage had probably supported Shakespeare as he acted as part of a playing troupe on stage. Of course, that is a great hook for the story as the interest in Shakespeare goes well beyond those of us immersed in the history of theatre and the idea that we can still share a space like that across four hundred years is a beguiling one. I remember standing on the original floor of Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford Upon Avon and feeling a very similar thrill, but there is much more to the story of St George’s Guild Hall at King’s Lynn, a venue for theatre for not just four hundred years, but at least six hundred, making it the UK’s oldest working theatre. So, I was very pleased when Tim Fitzhigham, Creative Director of the Guildhall Theatre agreed to come onto the podcast and talk about St George’s Guildhall and that stage.

Links to the St George's Guildhall Website

and Instagram Account

https://www.instagram.com/stg.guildhall/

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The Comedy of Errors: ‘Hand in Hand, Not One Before the Other.’

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 05:30:15 GMT

Episode 139:

Last time ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ gave us a look at second comedy from Shakespeare’s early phase as a playwright. As you heard certain elements in the plotting of the play and execution of its denouement make it problematic, but nevertheless it showed early promise. The lyrical nature of much of the language used in that play is quite typical of the earliest comedies and it is probably not coincidental that this was around the time that Shakespeare was writing his long lyrical poem ‘Venus and Adonis’, so we might assume that his mindset at the time was that of a lyrical poet, and maybe we see that influence still in his probable next work, the much more accomplished play ‘The Comedy of Errors’, which has remained one of the more popular Shakespeare comedies since its first performance.

The Source for the play and changes Shakespeare made to it

The original text of the play

The dating and earliest performances of the play

Foul Papers

The setting as a Roman street with three houses

A Synopsis of the play

The serious and long opening exposition.

The importance of a dramatic opening scene

Social commentary in the play

Adriana as a well-developed character for a light-hearted farce

Antipholus of Ephesus as an unpleasant character, but toned down from the source material

Antipholus of Syracuse as a more sympathetic character

The punishment of the Dromio twins

The view of authority in the play

The problems with the plot (if we take it too seriously)

The soliloquies of Antipholus of Syracuse

Luciana and the expression of the value of tradition

What should we read into the very ending of the play?

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A Knack to Know a Knave: ‘Laugh at the Faults and Weigh it as it is.’

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 05:00:47 GMT

Episode 138:

Over the course of speaking about English Renaissance Plays and Shakespeare I have had cause to mention the play ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’ several times. Most latterly because it is thought to include references to ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘Titus Andronicus’ and prior to that, in the season on the Early Renaissance Theatre it had a mention as one of the plays performed at the Rose Playhouse as recorded in Henslowe’s Diary. Having been reminded of it while writing about the early Shakespeare plays I thought that it deserved a little time in the spotlight on it’s own as it gives us a little snapshot of the plays, and particularly comedies other than Shakespeare and Jonson, that was circulating at the time of the earliest of Shakespeare’s plays. So, here is a little interlude of an episode all about ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’.

A quick word on ‘Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers’ by Darren Feebury-Jones, which is published in October 2024 and on Henry Porter and his possible involvement with ‘Dr Faustus’.

The performances of ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’ as reported in Henslowe’s Diary

The mystery of the low takings for repeated performances in a second run of the play

The printed quarto edition of the play

A summary of the plot

The (possibly) missing parts of the play, including Kempe’s extemporising

How the fools of Gotham folk tale is worked into the play

The allusions to other plays in the text

The final lines of the play

If you would like to read the text of A Knack to Know a Knave, you can find it on google books here

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Two Gentlemen of Verona: ‘O Heaven, Were Men but Constant.’

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 05:00:17 GMT

Episode 137:

The dating of the play

Printing in the First Folio

The sources for the play and the nature of the text

A brief synopsis of the play

The major themes of the play

How the status and youth of Valentine and Proteus helps to understand their actions in the play

The role of Speed and how the play features the embryo of Shakespearean wordplay

The role and values of Lance, and Crab the dog, as a comparison to Proteus

Some well-regarded verse from the play

Different readings of the theme of love

The problematic rape and forgiveness scene

The play as a courtly romance

The play as a parody of past cultural norms

Is the text more corrupt than is generally thought?

How our understanding of male relationships at the time might affect our view of the play

The performance history of the play

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Words, Language and Actions in ‘Titus Andronicus’: A Conversation with Eleanor Conlon.

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 05:00:59 GMT

Episode 136:

Having given you my own thoughts on ‘Titus Andronicus’ last time I’m pleased to say that for this special guest episode I was able to take the discussion even further with Eleanor Conlon, a fellow podcaster and a theatre professional as you will hear Eleanor has a lot to say about the play and insights that, in some cases, go in different directions from what I was able to say about the play.

Eleanor Conlon is an actor, director, and award-winning writer based in Sussex.

After completing her BA in English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, Eleanor earned her MA in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at Kings College and Shakespeare’s Globe. While at The Globe, Eleanor worked dramaturgically on productions by Dominic Dromgoole Matthew Dunster and Jeremy Herrin, and with Jenny Tiramani on the Original Practices Costume Archive.

After achieving success with her theatre company The Barefoot Players in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with which she produced plays including Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Doctor Faustus and The Alchemist, the latter two of which she also directed, as well as productions of several of Shakespeare’s works, plays by Ibsen, Oscar Wilde, and others, she founded her current and much acclaimed theatre company Rust & Stardust.

Writing over a dozen plays rooted in English folklore, Eleanor has worked with her puppet-maker partner Katie Sommers to tour Rust & Stardust’s shows all over the UK, including their plays The Wild Man of Orford, Black Shuck, The Marsh Demons of Iken, and Doctor Dee’s Daughter and the Philosopher’s with celebrated recorder quartet Palisander.

In addition to recent adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays including The Tempest and Macbeth with Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, in 2023 she launched the Three Ravens Podcast with her partner Martin Vaux – also a writer and actor – which explores history, legends, and diverse aspects of folk culture.

Featuring original stories each week based on the lore of England’s 39 historic counties, Three Ravens quickly rose into the Top 1% of podcasts globally. It currently sits in the Top 50 UK Fiction Podcasts, with 4.9/5 star ratings on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify and a passionate fanbase across social media.

For Three Ravens contact:

Website: https://www.threeravenspodcast.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threeravenspodcast/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threeravenspodcast

X: @threeravenspod

For Rust + Stardust Theatre

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleanorstardust/

Website: https://www.rustandstardust.co.uk

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Titus Andronicus: 'Vengeance Is In My Heart, Death In My Hand'

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 05:30:05 GMT

Episode 135:

Is Shakespeare’s early tragedy more than just a gore-fest?

The first performance of the play, maybe

The three playing troupes involved with the play

Is the play a collaboration with George Peele?

The popularity of violence in plays

The sources for the play

A brief summary of the play

The establishing of characters in the first act

The justifications for Titus’ desire for revenge

The role of young Lucius

The flaw in Titus’ character that leads to tragedy

Family life as represented in the play

The contrasts drawn between Lavinia and Tamora

The portrayal of fatherhood in the play

The use of Ovid’s ‘Metamorphosis’

Shakespeare’s use of personification, borrowed from medieval morality plays

The extreme violence in the play

The Peacham Drawing

Support the podcast at:

https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041379/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/

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Adventures In Theatre History - Philadelphia: The Book

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 05:30:11 GMT

A short word from my good podcasting friend Peter Schmitz, he of the ‘Adventures In Theatre History Philadelphia’ podcast, who has written a book on that very subject and I’m sure that it will be as informative, as amusing and generally as fascinating as his podcast episodes always are. What is even better is that Peter has produced a short audio that gives you all the information you need about the book and how you can get hold of it. These links might be useful:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Theater-History-Peter-Schmitz/dp/1955041377/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FQHNN2ZJG5SE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8oSl8huLrCxYxe1gR-WgMTKb62F56xPJLXJ49C4eLW52Njy6h53qTfk_QyAlISrCS1nBtjE5fP18rp_sk3gIYoPR7RAWKCe1UItqgZQpd-9PXkMqKB8ftKvQb9JhK0iqaMPdFPSCfo8AyM-8tvFcwNkejTFM0ThPPZlfC0KousFlD-3ZYd4wH6TjhApBJSBVy125ksgHOGMFVNkzSDVWzIz0g_2hLt5zWxDV81pmrfs.pPMmYdPY47WYuKoK1DNaM-yz5JQz_DXXrrqyiIMM2Zg&dib_tag=se&keywords=adventures+in+theatre+history&qid=1726229400&sprefix=adventures+in+theatre+history%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Theater-History-Peter-Schmitz/dp/1955041377/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CNUES6XNBNLW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IxlWUqR1nThHNR-GNJvuEjIo6f36mo82bS9_8A4Sx2PBGFys45ykLfXSgWrSIMpHJ0mn7qGooCMBFwWMv2nZqMK8rKgLgx9kTpDPQhHmqxigZbGPTyZ83Q5H5P2GQscDk4bNo7HYgM_9jXyO9EXcBSn0HZEqFpQmV_RWMmCXUSL4ld_Z22rnfxbih_CgyVUrMPqutRrwuii1_Hxe1fxx4hszZpQbw9dLxGUkrYUu2-Q.lr0Eg8P1HNDd9nfK-0DQttltOiAQaSpi0unC8HFtmZg&dib_tag=se&keywords=adventures+in+theater+history+philadelphia&qid=1726229447&sprefix=adventures+in+theatre+history+%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-1

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Shakespeare, the Bible and Dorothy L Sayers: A Conversation with Jem Bloomfield

Mon, 09 Sep 2024 05:30:39 GMT

Episode 134:

Author Jem Bloomfield joins us to talk about his recently published book, ‘Allusion in Detective Fiction’, which looks at how and why allusion to Shakespeare and the Bible was used by the masters, or I should say mistresses, of golden age detective fiction. This may not seem like an obvious area when considering the pervasive influence of Shakespeare, but as you will here the connections that Jem has made can tell us a lot about how knowledge and use of Shakespeare is constantly changing.

Warning – Spoilers present!

Jem discusses major plot points of several classic detective novels, but we thought that they can hardly be counted as spoilers up to about a century after they were first published, but you have been warned.

Link to Jem's book on the publishers website:

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-58339-1

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The Taming of the Shrew: ‘No Profit Grows Where No Pleasure Is taken’

Mon, 02 Sep 2024 05:30:51 GMT

Episode 133:

The complications with dating the play and it’s relationship with a similar Elizabethan play

The sources for the play

A short summary of the play

The Christopher Sly framing device

Switching of roles in the play

The disguise motif

The motivations of the leading characters

The implication of the falconry images in the play

The Elizabethan idea of a proper wife and correct behaviour

Similarities with Elizabethan ‘wife taming’ ballads

The play as an inheritor of Roman comedy

The protagonists as stock characters

Katherine’s imbalance of the humours

Are Petruchio and Katherine a matched couple?

Do the three marriages resolve the play?

Does the play make a serious point about gender relationships in Elizabethan England?

The ‘difficult’ final speech by Katherine

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Richard 3rd at Shakespeare's Globe

Mon, 26 Aug 2024 05:30:48 GMT

Episode 132

My thoughts on seeing a recent production of Richard 3rd at Shakespeare's Globe, starring Michelle Terry in the titular role. The production and the cotrovercy that surrounded it raises questions about gender fluid casting, the nature of leadership and the casting of able bodied actors in this famous portrayal of deformity.

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Richard 3rd: 'And Thus I Clothe My Naked Villainy'

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 05:30:27 GMT

Episode 131: Richard 3rd: ‘And Thus I Clothe My Naked Villainy.’

Shakespeare dramatises the life of the last Plantagenet king and create one of theatre's most spectacular villains.

The dating of the play

The quarto editions of the play

When is a history play a tragedy, or not?

The sources of the play

The influence of Seneca

Other contemporary versions of the Richard 3rd story.

The centrality of the character of Richard

A brief plot summary

The boldness of Richard’s actions

Richard as prologue and then guide in the play

Lady Anne and her reaction to Richard’s proposal

The influence of Marlowe on Richard 3rd

The role of the female characters in the play

How should we view the presence of Margaret in the play?

The curses and prophecy of Margaret

How deformity and old age can be seen to link Richard and Margaret

Richard afflicted by guilt

The theatricality of the play

Does our liking for Richard affect the morality of the play

What the lay can tell us about players and changes in Tudor society

Support the podcast at:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twenty-first-Century-Shakespeare-Gleanings-Taplin-ebook/dp/B0CC633JY2/ref=sr_1_1?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.UlnFY8UInwIYfhuJf0AiXmtXTQSRHcN9Ativ9cOIX_PGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.4xAoLuO1JQQ2o0LumK9U_Hjq703MON6NOQVolv2BSr4&dib_tag=se&qid=1721225584&refinements=p_27%3AJohn+Taplin&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=John+Taplin

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The search for Richard 3rd: A Conversation with Mathew Morris

Mon, 12 Aug 2024 05:30:23 GMT

Episode 130:

Mathew Morris talk to me about the archaeological dig that resulted in the discovery of the final remains of Richard 3rd, which serves as a prelude to the next episode which will be all about Shakespeare’s take on the final Yorkist king. Towards the end of our conversation, we spoke about the differences between the Richard of the play and what the skeletal remains that were uncovered tell us about the real-life king, but most of the conversation is about how the remains were discovered, recovered for analysis, and how they were proved to be the remains of Richard 3rd.

Mathew Morris is a Project Officer at the University of Leicester Archaeological Service with over a decade of archaeological experience, having excavated a wide range of rural and urban archaeology across the Midlands, from the prehistoric period through to the Second World War. His specialisms include urban archaeology, community archaeology and Roman and medieval archaeology.

Mathew graduated from the University of Leicester in 2003 with a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Landscape Studies, joining ULAS in 2004. Notable projects include a massive multi-period urban excavation at Highcross in Leicester that included excavation of Roman town houses, commercial buildings, two lost medieval churches and medieval cemeteries and a Roman cemetery at Western Road in Leicester, and, of course in 2012 he directed the successful archaeological search for the lost grave of King Richard III. Recently, he has been digging up more Roman buildings and mosaics in Leicester, at the former Southgates Bus Depot and All Saints' Brewery sites and is currently leading the archaeological work for the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project.

He has co-authored the most comprehensive book ever written on the archaeology of Leicester - 'Life in Roman and Medieval Leicester' (2021) and three popular archaeology books: 'Visions of Ancient Leicester' (2011), 'Richard III: The King under the Car Park' (2013) and 'Roman Leicester: Life in the Roman World' (2018). He is actively involved in promoting archaeology to the general public, regularly providing talks to local societies, and is a Committee member of the Leicestershire Fieldworkers, and a Branch Leader for the Leicestershire Young Archaeologists’ Club. He also currently leads the Castle Hill Community Archaeology Dig and the Bosworth Links Community Dig.

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Henry 6th part 3: ‘How sweet a thing it is to wear a crown.’

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 05:30:35 GMT

Episode 129:

A brief recap on the dating and sources of the play

A brief synopsis of the play

The problem of multiple battlefield scenes and the depiction of violence

How language in the play is used to underline the changing fortunes of the two sides.

The depth of strong characterisation in the play

Warwick, the would-be kingmaker

Henry as an early humanist

Fathers and sons at war with each other

The revenge motive running through the play

A brief recap on the role and character of Margaret

The development of the character of Richard

The question of the extent if Richard’s deformity

Did the play resonate with the contemporary audience?

Support the podcast at:

www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

www.patreon.com/thoetp

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John Hall of Stratford-Upon-Avon: A Conversation with John Taplin

Mon, 29 Jul 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 128:

Author John Taplin discusses researching the Stratford families of Shakespeare's time and particularly the ancestry of John Hall, Shakespeare's son-in-law.

John Taplin spent the majority of his career in management in the telecommunications industry until 2001 when he joined the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust at Hall’s Croft and Nash’s House/New Place in Stratford-upon-Avon, until retiring in 2010. A historian, genealogist and biographer, he has published articles on Shakespeare, his contemporaries and associates in and around Stratford, including the families directly associated with New Place.

Shakespeare’s Stratford home, before and after Shakespeare’s lifetime. In 2011 he published his book Shakespeare’s Country Families - A Documentary Guide to Shakespeare’s Country Society. He was a member of the Advisory Board for the Trust’s Dig for Shakespeare project at New Place between 2010-2015, and in 2018 he published a revised and updated edition of his 2011book. He has a Masters degree in historical studies from the University of Leicester.

Links to John's ebook:

Support the podcast at:

www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

www.patreon.com/thoetp

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

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Henry 6th part 2: ‘The Fox Barks Not When He Would Steal the Lamb’

Mon, 22 Jul 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 127:

A recap of Henry VI part one and the potential involvement of Christopher Marlowe

A word on methods of authorship attribution in the context of Shakespeare and Marlowe

The dating and sources of the play

A synopsis of Henry VI part two

The characterisation of the War of the Roses

The decline of England mapped out in the play

The main characters in the play

The weakness of the king as portrayed in the play

The powerplay between Gloucester, York and Margaret

Margaret as a central character in the play

The use of language to define different characters

The contrast between Henry and Margaret

The Jack Cade rebellion and the utopia of a classless society

Gloucester and the view of justice-based government

How the world depicted in the play might have been viewed by the first audiences

The historical accuracy of the play

The arrival of Richard, future king, on stage

The performance history of the play

Support the podcast at:

www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

www.patreon.com/thoetp

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

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Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers: A Conversation with Dr. Darren Freebury-Jones

Mon, 15 Jul 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 126:

A conversation with Dr. Darren Freebury-Jones, author of 'Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers' about the influence of early modern playwrights on Shakespeare where we talk about Marlowe, Kyd, Greene and others and the role of data analytics in modern author attribution studies.

Dr Darren Freebury-Jones is author of several works on early modern theatre including:

Reading Robert Greene: Recovering Shakespeare’s Rival

Shakespeare’s Tutor: The Influence of Thomas Kyd

and his latest work Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers, will be published in October 2024.

Darren is Associate Editor for the first critical edition of The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd since 1901. He has also investigated the boundaries of John Marston’s dramatic corpus as part of the Oxford Marston project and is General Editor for The Collected Plays of Robert Greene published by Edinburgh University Press. His findings on the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries have been discussed in national newspapers in the UK and on BBC Radio. His debut poetry collection, Rambling published by Broken Sleep Books, was published in 2024. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of his contributions to historical scholarship.

Links to 'Shakespeare's Borrowed Feathers'

https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526177322/shakespeares-borrowed-feathers/

https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeares-borrowed-feathers-playwrights-greatest/dp/1526177323/ref=sr_1_1?crid=94S4BGF6FW1K&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pfj-18kdWvHO-sbFvYC3sw.Bx51-kXl5CIuz42hJHAOTCZs4KerccNu9A8tK9wC0Tc&dib_tag=se&keywords=shakespeare%27s+borrowed+feathers&qid=1720274180&sprefix=shakespeares+borrowed+feathers%2Caps%2C163&sr=8-1

Link to Darren's on-line talk on Robert Greene 22nd July 2024 in aid of the Rose Playhouse

https://www.trybooking.com/uk/events/landing/63856?

Support the podcast at:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Henry 6th part 1: ‘My Thoughts Are Whirled Like a Potter's Wheel’

Mon, 08 Jul 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 125:

A detailed look at the first Shakespearean history play 'Henry 6th part 1'

The problems with dating 1 Henry VI

How much of the play did Shakespeare write?

The relationship of the play to parts 2 and 3

The sources of the play

A brief summary of the play

The play in relation to other history plays of the time

Criticism of the battle scenes

The theme of the loss of the English Empire and the end of chivalry

The portrayal of Joan and the French

The portrayal of the English aristocracy

Problems with the structure of the play

Support the podcast at:

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'To Gender or Not to Gender': A Conversation With Margaret Oakes

Mon, 01 Jul 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 124:

A conversation with Margaret Oakes about the book 'To Gender or Not to Gender: Casting and Characters for 21st Century Shakespeare’ which explores ways in which gender is being reinterpreted by British and North American productions since the turn of the millennium. After an initial chapter outlining recent gender theory, which is very useful to a newcomer to this as an academic study, like myself, the rest of the book uses examples of recent productions to illustrate different possibilities in cross gender casting, and the questions that this approach can lead to. I found it to be an absolutely fascinating read, driven by Margaret’s enthusiasm for her subject, which you can also hear in our conversation.

Margaret J. Oakes is a Professor of English at Furman University, a liberal arts college in Greenville, South Carolina. She specializes in early modern British poetry and drama and detective fiction. She holds a B.A. in English and a J.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an M.A. in English from Northwestern University, and a Ph.D. in English and Humanities from Stanford University. She has published on George Herbert, Francis Bacon, J.K. Rowling, Sara Paretsky, and Dorothy L Sayers.

https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/to-gender-or-not-to-gender/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gender-Not-Casting-Characters-Shakespeare-ebook/dp/B0D76WMZZK/ref=sr_1_1?crid=11CZZNA8QVXMS&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Fihl0uzGo8sTOhBH_I4U8wOKjYHyDayfQRaiJC8DtmU2ys8o2ElWldOC_VbzQCTL8m9pHSr8AoWvS-DvPKEK95JDT0OLndsd1tmX0761a0mRVME0k2kAiYP2gv6iazDe_eDgN3NATv9tYPQW2r5F3odhSC2oKCtn9O8jhT_SDIZm4-SSu4y_Rn_KxtwO4aRTW3gap_sqUj1T_nfvUY_3VQXB04ieAYtntSqU7UrZq9k.QIlJWmZhVaV9c6eAKS1TbJIl5tUJlRuDAD4RIRn2fpM&dib_tag=se&keywords=to+gender+or+not+to+gender&qid=1718710353&s=books&sprefix=to+gender+or+not+to+gender%2Cstripbooks%2C87&sr=1-1

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Hunt, Grenfell and the Satyr Play

Mon, 24 Jun 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Bonus Episode 36:

Sometimes things conspire against the podcaster, as has happened to me in the last couple of weeks, meaning that I have not been able to get the promised episode up to scratch in time. To make up for this and fill the gap I have created an episode that goes back to Greek theatre. It looks at that most mysterious of the ancient Greek forms, the satyr play and two of the men who were instrumental in vastly increasing our knowledge of these things.

The place of the satyr play in the history of Ancient Greek theatre

The satyr play as part of the Dionysia festival

The satyr play as a counterpoint to tragedy

The later history of the satyr play

‘Cyclops’ by Euripides

The discovery of ‘Trackers’ by Sophocles

The paperologists Hunt and Grenfell

The finds at Oxyrhincus

Arthur Hunt’s speech to the Egyptian Exploration Society

(including the plot of Trackers)

The Hypsipyle tragedy by Euripides, also in the Oxyrhincus finds

The Bacchae as a satyr play

Support the podcast at:

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William of Stratford, a Coda: The History of New Place

Mon, 17 Jun 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 123:

The Origins of New Place

The Clopton’s of Stratford-Upon-Avon

The first house at New Place

Hugh Clopton and his support for Stratford

William Clopton

William Bott and murder at New Place (maybe)

William Underhill sells New Place to Shakespeare

William Underhill and his son Faulk (another murder)

The New Place of Shakespeare’s time

The question of how much time Shakespeare spent in New Place

The gardens of New Place

The house passes through Shakespeare’s family after his death.

New Place is rebuilt

Shakespeare and the New Place mulberry tree

Francis Gastrell’s eventful time at New Place

Jame Halliwell-Phillips purchases New Place and commences archaeological works

The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is created

Further Archaeological work and the renewal of the site in the 21^st century

Support the podcast at:

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William of Stratford part 4: ‘With Mirth and Laughter Let Old Wrinkles Come.’

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 122:

The fourth and final part of the biography of Shakespeare.

The rise of Shakespeare as actor and playwright for the Lord Chamberlain’s Men.

‘The Comedy of Errors’ performed at Grey’s Inn, ‘the night of errors.’

The influence of the inns of court.

Plays for special occasions.

Francis Meres’ comments on Shakespeare.

Shakespeare’s involvement in a legal summons.

The move from The Theatre to The Globe.

The opening of The Globe.

The sharers at The Globe.

Shakespeare lodging on Silver Street and his involvement with the Mountjoy family.

Shakespeare’s interests in Stratford-Upon-Avon.

The death of Hamnet Shakespeare.

New Place – Shakespeare’s home in Stratford.

Shakespeare’s business interests in Stratford.

The accession of James 1^st and the creation of the King’s Men.

The King’s Men’s record of performance at Court.

The King’s Men take on the indoor Blackfriars Theatre.

Shakespeare buys a house near the Blackfriars Theatre.

The last works with collaborators.

The burning down and rebuilding of The Globe.

The last years in Stratford.

The death of Shakespere.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway: A Conversation with Prof Katherine Scheil

Mon, 03 Jun 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 121:

For this episode I’m very pleased to welcome Katherine Sheil, Professor of English at the University of Minnesota for the second part of our conversation about Anne Hathaway, based around her book ‘Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway’.

In this part we went on to talk about the different views of Anne in fiction and non-fiction through the centuries. The breadth of views are quite astounding and we try to unpick how some of these at lease could have come about.

Katherine is a leading expert on Anne Hathaway and her legacy to history so, following on from the recent episodes about Shakespeare’s ancestry and early life in Stratford and London this was a perfect opportunity to talk to Katherine, and if you have not done so already you should probably listen to all the preceding season six episodes before returning here.

Katherine Scheil is Professor of English at the University of Minnesota. She is the author of several books about Shakespeare, including The Taste of the Town: Shakespearean Comedy and the Early Eighteenth-Century Theatre; Shakespeare/Adaptation/Modern Drama (with Randall Martin); She Hath Been Reading: Women and Shakespeare Clubs in America; Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway; Shakespeare & Biography (with Graham Holderness); and Shakespeare & Stratford. She is finishing a book on the history of women and Stratford-upon-Avon, and a book about Shakespeare and biofiction, called Father Shakespeare. She was one of the co-editors of the recent Annethology: Poems Re-Presenting Anne Shakespeare. Her work on the epitaph of Anne Shakespeare in Holy Trinity Church will be coming out later this year with Cambridge University Press.

Links to Katherine's latest books, available from any bookshop.

www.cambridge.org/9781108404068

https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/anne-thology

Support the podcast at:

www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

www.patreon.com/thoetp

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

William of Stratford Part 3: ‘Would I Were in an Alehouse in London’

Mon, 27 May 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 120:

The lost years of Shakespeare’s early life have given space for some myths and legends to grow over the centuries, before we can trace a few facts of his early life in London.

The myth of Shakespeare and the Crab-tree.

The myth of Shakespeare the deer slayer.

Nicholas Rowe – the first editor of Shakespeare.

The Queen’s men in Stratford.

The myth of Shakespeare’s early days in London.

Was Shakespeare’s first London home in Shoreditch?

Tracing Shakespeare’s moves through London via tax records.

London in the late 15^th century.

The ‘upstart Crow’ comment

Shakespeare’s growing popularity with the Henry 6^th plays and others.

Shakespeare the poet: Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece.

Shakespeare finds a patron – The Earl of Southampton

The formation of the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and Shakespeare’s part in it.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: A Conversation with Prof Katherine Scheil

Mon, 20 May 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 119:

For this episode I’m very pleased to welcome Katherine Sheil, Professor of English at the University of Minnesota. Katherine is Author of several books about Shakespeare, but today we particularly talk about her book about Shakespeare’s wife called ‘Imagining Shakespeare’s Wife: The Afterlife of Anne Hathaway’. It is a fascinating examination of the known facts of Anne’s life and of how her persona has been used and abused through the centuries, as a means of examining and justifying views of Shakespeare, but also about how Anne has been viewed in her own right.

Katherine is a leading expert on Anne Hathaway and her legacy to history so, following on from the last podcast episode about Shakespeare’s early life and marriage this was a perfect opportunity to talk to Katherine, who adds much nuanced thought and detail to the subject of Anne’s life, which adds to the basic facts I detailed last time, so if you have not listened to that episode yet it’s probably a good idea to do so before returning here.

Links to Katherine's latest books, available from any bookshop.

www.cambridge.org/9781108404068

https://www.brokensleepbooks.com/product-page/anne-thology

Support the podcast at:

www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com

www.ko-fi.com/thoetp

www.patreon.com/thoetp

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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William of Stratford Part 2: 'He Wears The Rose of Youth Upon Him'

Mon, 13 May 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 118:

Shakespeare's youth, his school days, religious life and marriage.

A couple of corrections to the last episode on John Shakespeare

The Shakespeare family's domestic set up.

Religion and the life of a child in the late 1500's

Examples of how William's education in Stratford may have looked.

Anne Hathaway and her family history.

William and Anne's marriage and the many speculations about anomalies in the records.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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That Shakespeare Life: A Conversation with Cassidy Cash

Mon, 06 May 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Bonus Episode 35:

A conversation with Cassidy Cash, producer and host of 'That Shakespeare Life', the podcast that interviews expert historians to explore people, events, and objects that were living or happening in Shakespeare’s lifetime.

Cassidy Cash is a Shakespeare historian, historical map illustrator, and host of That Shakespeare Life, That Shakespeare Life is currently ranked the #2 Shakespeare history podcast in the world. In addition to podcasting, Cassidy creates independent films about 16-17th century history and illustrated history maps that diagram life in turn of the 17th century England. Her documentary shorts and animated films about Shakespeare's history have won international film awards for both history and animation. Cassidy is a member of the National Council on Public History, The American Historical Association, the Renaissance Society of America, the Shakespeare Association of America, and most recently she was elected Associate Fellow at the Royal Historical Society for her contributions to history. Her work and historical map ilustrations have been published in multiple academic journals and on major history platforms including History Magazine, HistoryHit, Tudor Places Magazine, and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Connect with Cassidy and hear current episodes of That Shakespeare Life at www.cassidycash.com

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William of Stratford Part 1: 'To You Your Father Should Be As a God’

Mon, 29 Apr 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 117:

‘To you your father should be as a God’.

- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Act 1 Scene 1

The first of a series of episodes covering the biography of William of Stratford.

Richard Shakespeare – William’s grandfather

Richard Shakespeare – William’s uncle

John Shakespeare – William’s father

His move to Stratford Upon Avon

His trade as a glover

The question of the midden heap

Marriage to Mary Arden

The elder children of John and Mary Shakespeare

The question of William’s birthdate

The effect of the plague in Stratford that summer

The younger children of John and Mary Shakespeare

The business interests of John Shakespeare

The legal activates of John Shakespeare

The rise to become Mayor of Stratford

The application for a coat of arms

Accusations of usury

Financial worries

The withdrawal from the council and church

Final years and death

Support the podcast at:

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Polish Theatre Revisited: A Conversation with Dr Agata Luksza

Mon, 22 Apr 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Bonus Episode 34:

Guest Dr Agata Luksza discusses her book 'Polish Theatre Revisited' where she examines theatre fan culture in Warsaw in the late 19th century.

Dr Agata Luksza is an assistant professor at the Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw. She graduated with honors from the University of Warsaw in cultural studies and journalism and holds a PhD from the same university in cultural studies..

You can read more about Agata on her website: https://agataluksza.com/

And find 'Polish Theatre Revisited' here (and elsewhere, of course):

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Polish-Theatre-Revisited-Nineteenth-Century/dp/1609389298/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3HT9FGNPEEQI8&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Qf-MRSi4sGLLFZx-XBpEssnEJBTM-1t_UQHc_d_-vVXcazzGXKqmKy6X-9T_3V2Xo1cQ9yUObOikIUweIBVtM6peRVqg96Hu4Dve2vtK0s4.6qxWVrD2_Mx3DPP9RqOut2VZnsQLeYGigyklgV8t_W4&dib_tag=se&keywords=polish+theatre+revisited&qid=1711967031&sprefix=polish+theatre+revisited%2Caps%2C496&sr=8-1

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Shakespeare In His Time

Mon, 15 Apr 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 116:

As an introduction to the season on Shakespeare this episode gives a timeline of events in Shakespeare's life. The focus is on the best estimates for the dates of all his plays and the reasons for those estimates, but also includes the milestones of his life and other significant events of the time that occurred in England.

Support to podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Dionysus and Xanthias: The First Double Act

Mon, 08 Apr 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 115:

A dive back into Ancient Greek theatre with a look at 'The Frogs' by Aristophanes.

A recap on the life and plays of Aristophanes.

A summary of the plot of the play.

Analysis of the main points raised by the play.

A short word on a recent production of the play by 'Spymonkey' played at the Kiln Theatre, London in February and March 2024.

Support the podcast at:

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From the English Renaissance to Shakespeare and Jonson

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 114:

As an introduction to season six of the podcast in the first part of this episode I lay out the aims for the next season and the approach I will be taking to the monoliths of early English theatre tha tare Shakespeare and Jonson.

In the second part of the Episode I give a quick recap of Season Five to get you and I back in the zone for all the detail that will follow on Shakespeare and Jonson.

Support the podcast at:

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Adventures In Theatre History Philadelphia with Peter Schmitz

Tue, 09 Jan 2024 05:30:00 GMT

A bonus episode where Peter Schmitz of the 'Adventures In Theatre History - Philadelphia' podcast takes us through an overview of the development of theatre in Philadelphia.

Peter Schmitz is an actor, dialect coach, and teacher of Theater History who lives in the Philadelphia area. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, he got his BA in History from Yale University, and his MFA in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program. Over the past 35 years, he has performed with many American regional theaters, including the Yale Rep in New Haven CT, the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis MN, the Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul MN, and the Folger Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC. In New York City, he did everything from children's theater to Off-Broadway shows, and was a member of the Broadway company of My Fair Lady in 1994. In Philadelphia, he has appeared with the Arden Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre, the Philadelphia Theatre Company, the Lantern Theater Co., the Wilma Theater, the Act II Playhouse - and many shows at the Walnut Street Theatre. And he even had a small role in the movie Fargo, for which he leaned to speak Minnesotan. As a theatrical dialect coach in the Philadelphia region, he has worked with many of Philadelphia's theater companies, both small and large. At present, Peter is an Adjunct Professor in the Theater Department of Temple University in Philadelphia, teaching courses in writing, dramatic literature . . . and the History of theatre.

Find more information about Peter and his podcast at https://www.aithpodcast.com/

on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AITHpodcast

and on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/aithpodcast/

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Schedule Announcement

Tue, 02 Jan 2024 05:30:00 GMT

A short New Year message and about the timing for the start of season six of the podcast.

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Coda: The Life of Augustine Phillips

Tue, 26 Dec 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 113:

As a coda to season 5 this episode is a potted history of the life of Augustine Phillips, player in the Lord Chamberlin's Men, with the details taken from documented records.

Support the podcast at:

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English Renaissance Conclusions (sort of)

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 112:

To close season five of the podcast I pick up three items I dropped in the previous narrative and then offer some concluding thoughts:

Thomas Watson – the life and works of the possible co-author of ‘Arden of Faversham.

Henry Chettle – the life and works of the prolific collaborator.

Thomas Heywood – the life and works of a playwright now better remembered for his commentary on others rather than for his own work.

Drawing some conclusions on:

The public playhouses

The players

The State vs. the theatre

The growth of education

Pamphlets, prose, and poetry

Christopher Marlowe

The city of London

The lesser known playwrights

Support the podcast at:

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Arden of Faversham and the Domestic Tragedy

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 111:

The true story behind 'Arden of Faversham'

The plot outline of the play

Is the domestic tragedy really tragedy?

The main themes of the play

The domestic eating of the play

The low characters

The role of destiny in the play

Questions of authorship

Other surviving domestic tragedies -

'A Warning for Faire Women'

'Two Tragedies'

'A Yorkshire Tragedy'

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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The Play’s the Thing: Elizabethan Acting Style and Stage Conventions

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 110:

The problems of the lack of evidence about conventions and acting style.

How a player learned his craft.

The rhetorical or performance style of acting.

Theatre as a poetic form.

The rhetorical style is overtaken by a more naturalistic style.

Stage sets and costume.

Thomas Hayward’s thoughts on a player’s skills.

Hayward on players as scholars.

The impact of Iambic Pentameter.

Hayward on Alleyn and Perkins playing Barabas in ‘The Jew of Malta’.

The convention of the soliloquy.

The convention of the aside.

The convention of eavesdropping.

The convention of boy players and female roles.

The convention of the play within the play.

The convention of the masque.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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The Star Players: Kemp. Alleyn and Burbage

Mon, 30 Oct 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 109:

We don't know a lot about individual players of the Elizabethan and Jacobean stage, but there are three stars of the day that we have some information about.

Richard Tarlton, the Queen’s favourite comic player.

Will Kempe’s origins and early career.

‘A Knack to Know a Knave’ and ‘Fools of Gotham’.

Did Kempe fall out with Shakespeare?

‘Kempe’s Jig’ and last days.

Edward Alleyn’s family and early life.

Touring with the Earl of Worcester’s Men.

Return to London and success with the Admiral’s Men.

Praise of Alleyn from Ben Johnson.

Marriage and events in London while on tour.

Semi-retirement from acting.

Business partnership building the Fortune Playhouse and other entertainments.

Alleyn’s wealth and founding of Dulwich College.

Remarriage and death.

Richard Burbage’s family and early life.

Early career in several troupes.

Leading roles with the Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

Burbage as a character actor.

His continuing long career and death.

Mourning and praise on the death of Burbage.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Thomas Dekker: London's Playwright

Mon, 16 Oct 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 108:

The second part of the story of Thomas Dekker and his works

'Old Fortunas' - Dekker's first known play

‘The Honest Whore’, a good example of what was good and bad in Dekker’s work.

‘The Civil Wars in France’ - three parts, an introduction and a bit of a mystery.

Dekker's debt to the Lord Chamberlin's Men and rescue by Henslowe.

How Henslowe's Diary shows Dekker's incredible work rate.

The Play of Sir Thomas Moore - including a word on Shakespeare's contribution.

'The Shoemaker's Holiday', Dekker's best surviving work

The Bishop's Ban of 1599 and a theatrical spat.

Dekker's account of the failure of 'The Whore of Babylon'.

Later works, the Lord Mayor's pageant and prison.

Last years and death in poverty.

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Thomas Dekker: Gulls, Gallants and the London Playhouse

Mon, 02 Oct 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 107:

In the first of two episodes on Thomas Dekker I discuss his earliest life and his prose works.

Dekker's early life and first forays into the playhouse.

His prose work 'The Wonderful Year'

The Gull's Handbook - with some extensive quotes from and explanation of his piece on behaviour in the playhouse

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Henslowe’s Diary

Mon, 18 Sep 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 106:

We have the detail about the way a London playhouse functioned thanks, in a large part, to one document. Theatre owner Philip Henslowe kept a record of many aspects of his enterprise at the Rose theatre from 1591 to 1609. A large part of the diary comprises of daily records of the takings at the box office, which plays were performed, if they were new or revivals, and various other details about expenses, costumes and matters related to the running of The Rose.

This episode looks at activity at The Rose for two months through the eyes of Henslowe's Diary

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Drag: A British History - A Conversation with Jacob Bloomfield

Mon, 11 Sep 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Bonus Episode 31

Guest Jacob Bloomfield discusses his book 'Drag: A British History', with particular reference to Arthur Lucan (AKA Old Mother Riley), the drag review shows that came out of both WW1 and WW2 concert parties and the demise of theatre censorship in the UK through the lens of drag performances.

Jacob Bloomfield is Zukunftskolleg Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Konstanz and Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Kent. His research is situated primarily in the fields of cultural history, the history of sexuality, and gender history. He is currently working on a book about the historical reception to musician Little Richard in the United States and Europe.

'Drag: A British History' is available here in the UK

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drag-British-History-Berkeley-Studies/dp/0520393325/ref=sr_1_1?crid=IUQICBCBTYJ8&keywords=drag+a+british+history&qid=1693586351&sprefix=drag+a+british+history%2Caps%2C230&sr=8-1

Here in the US

https://www.amazon.com/Drag-British-History-Berkeley-Studies/dp/0520393325/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1194T6PB8E6C9&keywords=drag+a+british+history&qid=1693586422&sprefix=drag+a+britiah+history%2Caps%2C154&sr=8-1

and from all good bookshops.

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Thomas Kid and the Spanish Tragedy

Mon, 04 Sep 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 105:

The life of Thomas Kyd, including a word on Elizabethan schooling.

Thomas Nashe on Kyd.

Kyd and the London playwright set.

Kyd and Lord Strange.

Questions over the first performances of ‘The Spanish Tragedy’.

Is ‘The Spanish Tragedy’ a sequel?

Cornelia, Kyd’s other surviving play.

The Ur-Hamlet and other plays and collaborations.

Kyd and Marlowe.

The publication of the ‘The Spanish Tragedy’

A synopsis of ‘The Spanish Tragedy’

The power of the plotting of the story.

Similarities to ‘Hamlet’.

The weaknesses of Kyd’s verse.

The strengths of Kyd’s visual and dramatic settings.

The body strewn stage at the end of the play.

Why Kyd is no Shakespeare.

The significance of ghost of Andreas and the personification of Revenge.

The role of Bel-Imperia and the growing impact of female characters of stage.

The morality of revenge debate.

Kyd as the father of ‘revenge tragedy’.

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Two Globes, a Fortune, a White Friar and Hope: The London Playhouses 1587 – 1642 part 2

Mon, 21 Aug 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 104:

Continuing the story of the Elizabethan theatre buildings.

The construction of The Globe

Master carpenter Peter Street

The death of The Globe

The Fortune - Henslowe's replacement for The Rose

The Whitefriars Theatre

The Hope - Henslowe's replacement for his bear garden, almost.

The second Globe Playhouse

The Globe reimagined.

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Two Blackfriars, a Curtain, a Rose and a Swan: The London Playhouses 1587 – 1642 part 1

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 103:

The story of the next phase of theatre building in Elizabethan London featuring the indoor and outdoor playhouses.

The First Blackfriars Theatre

The Curtain

Philip Henslowe

The Rose

Francis Langley

The Swan

The Second Blackfriars Theatre

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The Elizabethan Playing Troupes

Mon, 24 Jul 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 102:

The sources of information on the playing troupes.

The Earl of Leicester’s Men – the earliest recorded acting troupe.

How troupes operated under the patronage of their master.

The royal patent and how it changed the way troupes operated.

The sumptuary laws and protections that actors were given.

The decline of the Earl of Leicester’s Men.

Lord Strange’s Men.

The merging of Lord Strange’s Men and The Admiral’s Men

Lord Strange’s Men become touring players.

The Earl of Sussex’s Men and complications at The Rose Theatre.

The Queen’s Men at The Rose Theatre (briefly).

Lord Hudson’s Men become the Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

The Lord Chamberlin’s Men at Newington Butts.

The Lord Chamberlin’s Men move from The Theatre to The Curtain.

The leading men of The Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

The ‘sharer’ system of the Elizabethan theatre.

The Lord Chamberlin’s Men become The King’s Men’.

The Earl of Pembroke’s Men and the perils of touring.

The Earl of Pembroke’s Men and ‘The Isle of Dogs’.

The history of The Admiral’s Men – a troubled start, but with later success.

The Fortune Theatre and the insight it gives us into the profits available in theatres.

Support the podcast at:

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Edward 2nd & The Jew of Malta: The Rest of Marlow

Mon, 10 Jul 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 101:

How Marlowe’s other plays differ from Tamburlaine and Dr Faustus.

The plot of ‘The Jew of Malta’.

The depiction of Barabbas the Jew and how it might have been received by the audience.

‘Edward 2nd’ as a history play rather than a tragedy.

The theme of homosexuality in Marlowe’s work.

The plot of ‘Edward 2nd’.

The slow burn of the play adding to it’s subdued nature.

The motif of the wheel of fortune.

Edward’s character and the difficulty of empathy.

The problem with the language in the play.

The character of Gaveston.

The symbolism of the manner of Edward’s death

The character of Isabella.

Mortimer the antagonist.

Comparisons between ‘Edward 2nd’ and ‘The Jew of Malta’.

A word on ‘The Massacre at Paris’.

Final thoughts on Christopher Marlowe

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400 Years of the First Folio: Part 3 The Folio In The World

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 05:30:00 GMT

As my own small contribution to the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the printing of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays in this third and final episode of a short mini-series I look at the printing and selling of the First Folio and the afterlife of some of the copies as they travelled the globe. This includes some history on the greatest collector of First Folios and the creation of the Folger Library.

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Dr Faustus: Wisdom, Power, and the Immortal Soul

Mon, 26 Jun 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 100:

Dr Faustus is one of the most influential plays of the Elizabethan period. Most commentators see this play as Marlowe’s masterpiece, and it is certainly the most performed of his plays through the centuries.

The two printed version of the play and how they may have come to be updated.

The Plot of ‘The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus’.

The source material for the play.

The effect of earning and wisdom.

Comparisons with Tamburlaine

The questioning of Christian doctrine.

The philosophical and religious debates in the play.

The impact of the comedic moments in the play.

How the scenes with the Pope would have been received

The play’s debt to medieval theatre.

Questions of the efficacy of repentance.

The ‘guest stars’ of the play.

A play for Marlowe’s time and all time.

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400 Years of the First Folio: Part 2 Creating the Folio

Mon, 19 Jun 2023 05:30:00 GMT

As my own small contribution to the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the printing of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays in this second episode of a short mini-series I look at the inspiration and motivations for the First Folio and how it was produced

What prompted the creator to produce the First Folio?

Ben Johnson’s First Folio

John Hemenge – Actor and Administrator

Henry Condell – Actor and friend of Shakespeare

Richard Burbage – Just a brief sketch

How the plays existed in print and manuscript and how they were collected

Financing the project

Edward Blunt, Bookseller and his previous work with Shakespeare’s plays

Willian Jaggard, printer and his previous work with Shakespeare’s plays and poems

Isacc Jaggard and his workshop

The printing method

Apprentices and printing errors

Decretive woodblocks

The engraved portrait

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The Two parts of Tamburlaine the Great

Mon, 12 Jun 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 99:

Marlowe’s ‘Tamburlaine the Great’ is a play in two parts, an early example of a writer responding to popular acclaim by giving his audience more of the same, but for all of that mercenary motivation, and the fact that the first part was conceived as a stand-alone piece, they do work well as a conjoined piece.

The history of the printed plays and the introduction by the printer Richard Jones.

A summary of the plot of part one of the play.

The relationship of the play to the historical Timor.

A summary of the plot of part two of the play.

The position and influence of God in the plays.

Marlowe’s attitude to his protagonist and how the audience might have received him.

Tamburlaine as violent and bloody theatre.

The themes of power and ambition in the plays.

Tamburlaine’s familial relationships and the psychological study of his motivations.

The mixing of the personal and the political as a focal point of the play.

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400 Years of the First Folio: Part 1 The Folio on Display

Mon, 05 Jun 2023 05:30:00 GMT

As my own small contribution to the celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the printing of the first folio of Shakespeare's plays in this first episode of a short mini-series I recount a recent journey to London to see copies of the first folio that are currently on display.

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Marlowe’s Mighty Line

Mon, 29 May 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 98:

Marlowe as a playwright at the beginning of the greatest period of Elizabethan creativity.

A short recap on Marlowe’s university life.

Marlowe moves to London.

The anonymity and earning power of Elizabethan playwrights.

‘Dido, Queen of Carthage’.

Thomas Nashe as co-author of ‘Dido, Queen of Carthage’.

Marlowe’s sexual preferences.

The Elizabethan attitude to sexuality.

Marlowe and religion.

The School of Atheism.

Marlowe’s use of rhetoric.

Marlowe, blank verse, and iambic pentameter.

Marlowe’s poetry.

Marlowe’s Mighty Line.

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Stage Ghosts and Haunted Theatres: A Conversation With Nick Bromley

Mon, 22 May 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Nick Bromley returns to discuss his book Stage Ghosts and Haunted Theatres. Stories of strange happenings in theatres abound and Nick has collected them together that takes you on a ghostly tour of London's West End and UK regional theatres.

Both of Nick's books are available through his website: www.LNPbooks.co.uk

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The Short Life and Strange Death of Christopher Marlowe

Mon, 15 May 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 97:

Christopher Marlowe was one of the giants of Elizabethan theatre, but he died young in mysterious circumstances. In this episode I try to unpick the mystery of why he died. Was it just an argument about the cost of a meal, or the result of some far more sinister goings-on in the world of Elizabethan espionage and court rivalry?

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The Reasonable Audience: A Conversation With Dr Kirsty Sedgman

Mon, 08 May 2023 03:00:00 GMT

In this special episode I discuss historic and recent audience behaviour in the Theatre and how that behaviour reflects changes in society, with some particular reference to recent events in society and at some theatrical performances.

Kirsty Sedgman is a theatre academic at the University of Bristol who specialises in studying audiences. She has spent her career studying how we construct and maintain our competing value systems, working out how people can live side by side in the same world yet come to understand it in such totally different ways. The author of On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the Rules and Making Things Better (Faber 2023), she has spoken about her research around the world, and has seen her work featured in outlets like BBC Front Row, the Guardian, and the New York Times.

Links to books by Dr Kirsty Sedgman on Amazon (other retailers are available)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Being-Unreasonable-Breaking-Making-Things-ebook/dp/B0B4M249LC/ref=sr_1_1?crid=WYQ904L9PAIX&keywords=kirsty+sedgman&qid=1682521965&sprefix=kirsty+sedgman%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Reasonable-Audience-Etiquette-Performance-Experience-ebook/dp/B07FKHDN77/ref=sr_1_2?crid=WYQ904L9PAIX&keywords=kirsty+sedgman&qid=1682521965&sprefix=kirsty+sedgman%2Caps%2C82&sr=8-2

Link to the Manchester Evening News article on audience disruption at a performance of 'The Bodyguard'

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/astonishing-moment-audience-member-screams-26658204

Link to Wikipedia article about government advisor Dominic Cummins and his breaking of lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings_scandal

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Thomas Nashe: Satirist, Pamphleteer & Playwright

Mon, 01 May 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 96:

The life and works of Thomas Nashe

Early Life

Cambridge University and ‘Terminus et non Terminus’

Nash moves to London and joins the ‘University Wits’

Pamphlets and work for the Archbishop of Canterbury

Nashe’s style and pseudonyms

Disagreements with the Gabriel brothers

Nash’s Dildo

Pearse Penniless

Summers Last Will and Testament, his only surviving solo-authored play

The Unfortunate Traveller

Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem and Imprisonment

Terrors Of the Night

The Isle Of Dogs and the closure of theatres in the summer 1597

Nash’s Lentern Stuff and his final years

Support the podcast at:

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The Genius of Shakespeare with Colin David Reese

Sun, 23 Apr 2023 05:30:00 GMT

To celebrate Shakespeare's birthday a special episode with guest Colin David Reese, actor, author and performer of 'Shakespeare Unbound', a one man play about the creation of the First Folio Edition of Shakespeare's plays, which was published 400 years ago this year.

David spoke to me previously (see bonus episode 'Shakespeare Unbound') about his play and the creation of the first folio and he makes a welcome return here to further discuss our continuing fascination with Shakespeare, how we view his genius, and what the truth really is behind that image.

Find out more about David's work and 'Shakespeare Unbound' at www.shakespeareunbound.com

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A Sextet of Tudor Playwrights

Mon, 17 Apr 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 95:

The life and plays of some of the lesser known playwrights of the Tudor period.

George Gascoigne - his shady life story and his Italian translations into English prose.

Robert Greene - how he carved out a professional writers life from an unpromising start, his plays, and that notorious comment about Shakespeare.

Thomas Lodge - a prodigious talent who sought out an adventurous life and wrote two verse plays.

Thomas Preston - A Fellow of Cambridge University who wrote plays in many different styles.

Collaboration in the Tudor period.

George Peele - part of the 'university wits' set, best known for 'The Araynment of Paris' and 'The Battle of Alcazar', but 'The Old Wife's Tale' is the most thought provoking.

John Lily - A son of the establishment Lily produced plays for the court performed by the boy acting troupe at St Paul's School. His work is remembered for it's carefully crafted language that remained influential, but he never crossed over into the mainstream of the public playhouse.

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Theatre Lore: A Conversation With Nick Bromley

Mon, 10 Apr 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Nick Bromley has had a long career as a Stage Manager and Company Stage Manager and has worked on many UK tours and West End shows. He recently collated his acquired knowledge into a dictionary of theatrical terms, myths and stories called 'Theatre Lore'. He kindly agreed to come and talk to me about his life and career and his book.

You can order a copy of 'Theatre Lore' direct from Nick at his website https://lnpbooks.co.uk/

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Gorboduc: The Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex

Mon, 03 Apr 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 94:

Gorboduc the first tragedy in blank verse

The lives of the co-authors Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville

The plot of the play including the description of the opening dumb show

The origins of the Gorboduc story

The political message of the play

How the play incorporates ideas and style from Seneca, Aristotle, and the medieval traditions

The use of allegorical characters

The problems whit the play as good drama

The play as an academic debate

The second printing of the play

The innovation of bank verse

The highpoint of the play

How satisfactory , or not, is the ending of the play?

Support the podcast at:

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The History Of European Theatre on Patreon

Mon, 27 Mar 2023 05:30:00 GMT

A Bonus episode featuring a sample of the content available to members subscribed to The History Of European Theatre on Patreon. To join up go to: www.patreon.com/thoetp

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Comedy, History & Morality: Three Early Tudor Plays

Mon, 20 Mar 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 93:

The earliest extant plays from the Tudor period include comedies and a historical morality, which give an insight into how theatre developed.

A summary of the elements that came together to make Tudor theatre a very special development.

Students and Masters become playwrights looking to Seneca

Nicolas Udal, schoolmaster and writer of the earliest surviving comedy

A summary of Ralph Roister Doister

The problem of the authorship of Gammer Gurton's Needle

A summary of Gammer Gurton's Needle

John Bale and the manuscript of King Johan

A summary of the plot of King Johan

How King Johan works as a morality play, a history play and a tragedy.

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From The Battlefield To the Stage: A Conversation with Professor Norman Poser

Mon, 13 Mar 2023 05:30:00 GMT

There are just a few very well-known names from the theatre of the 18^th century – Sheridan, Goldsmith, Garrick and some other, less well known. One playwright you have probably never heard of is John Borgoyne – well not as a playwright anyway. In his biography of Burgoyne ‘From the Battlefield to the Stage’ Professor Norman Poser unpicks the often scarce and conflicting sources and tells the story of Burgouyne from his beginnings, through his military career and his theatrical successes. I spoke to Professor Poser on Zoom from his home in New York.

About the author: Norman S. Poser is the author of From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General Burgoyne (the first biography of the Georgian general and socialite to explore his plays in detail). Prof. Poser’s previous historical books are Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason, also published by McGill-Queen’s University Press, and The Birth of Modern Theatre: Rivalry, Riots, and Romance in the Age of Garrick (Routledge). An Emeritus Law Professor at Brooklyn Law School, he lives with his wife in New York. Before retiring and becoming a full-time author passionate about the Georgian era on both sides of the Atlantic, he was an internationally respected academic for many years. Prior to this, he was Chief of the Office of Regulation and an Assistant Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was also a consultant to the World Bank in Central America, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Ministry of Finance in India.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Battlefield-Stage-Lives-General-Burgoyne/dp/0228014530/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1L93O15O5VZEL&keywords=from+the+battlefield+to+the+stage&qid=1678272366&sprefix=from+the+battlefield+to+the+stage%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-the-battlefield-to-the-stage-norman-s-poser/1141220893?ean=9780228014539

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The State Vs the Theatre part 2: Elizabeth

Mon, 06 Mar 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 92:

Elizabeth’s reign is seen as the golden age of theatre where many great playwrights, and one genius in particular, flourished. But did that happen because of the freedoms they were granted, or because of the constraints they worked under?

The situation in theatre as Elizabeth ascended to the throne.

The revision of the Act of Uniformity.

The renewal of the ban on Interludes and censorship play printing.

Rules introduced to combat the spread of plague.

Attempts to ban plays on moral grounds.

The arguments against stage plays performed on Sunday.

Touring companies in the north and continued performances of Corpus Christi plays.

Tightening control after the rebellion in the north and the execution of Mary.

The Earl of Leicester’s Men are granted a royal patent.

The reaction of the City of London to the royal patent.

The Revels Office and it’s effective third master, Edmund Tilney.

Censorship in the control of the Revels Office extended to all plays, play-makers and playhouses.

The limiting of official playhouses and troupes in London.

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Shakespeare Unbound: A conversation With Colin David Reese

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 05:30:00 GMT

A special episode in conversation with actor and Shakespeare expert Colin David Reese who's one man play 'Shakespeare Unbound' tells of the production of the first folio edition of Shakespeare's plays and it's creator John Heminges.

You can own a copy of Shakespeare Unbound to stream, which is available at

www.shakespeareunbound.com

Registration for the streaming event - an extract from the play and Q & A discussion - is available at

www.eventbrite.com

See Colin's Bio at: www.shakespeareunbound.com/the-actor/

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The State Vs the Theatre part 1: Henry, Edward, & Mary

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 91:

By the 1530s the State was concerned with the regulation & censorship of plays. Here are the key moments of legislation under Henry, Edward & Mary.

The background of what made legislation necessary.

The end of the Corpus Christi Cycle Play.

The beginnings of actions against players

The Act For The Advancement of True Religion

Pammachius performed at Cambridge and the aftermath.

Early controls in London

The death of Henry 8th and changes under Edward

Repeated attempts to ban theatre.

The death of Edward and changes under Mary.

More bans are issued and the severity of punishments increases

The death of Mary

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Creating a Profession: The Development of the Stage-Player

Mon, 06 Feb 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 90:

The development of the profession of acting, of ‘stage-playing’ through the Tudor period.

How the professional stage player developed out of the medieval entertainer.

How travelling players became household players and then settled in the London playhouses.

The beginnings of an acting profession.

The Earl of Leicester’s Men.

The English Sumptuary laws.

The boy troupes.

The objections to players and playhouses.

The reputation of players.

Some examples of contemporary views of players.

The stars of the day – Burbage and Allen.

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Building Theatre: The Earliest Playhouses in London

Mon, 23 Jan 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 89:

As England emerged from the Medieval period theatre became established in London in purpose built theatres and in buildings adapted for the purpose. In this episode we look at those earliest theatres and their builders:

The Red Lion, a probably short lived theatre built by John Brayne

Four Inns that operated as theatres The Bel Savage, The Bull, The Bell, and the Cross Keys

The Theatre at Newington Butts

The Theatre - probably the first truly purpose built theatre since Roman times. The Story of how James Burbage and John Brayne acquired land, built The Theatre and kept it running is a story told through legal documents and The Theatre became the subject of various legal disputes.

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The Renaissance from Europe to England

Mon, 09 Jan 2023 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 88:

An introduction to season 5 of the podcast.

The theatrical links between England and Continental Europe in the 16^th Century. Some differences and similarities.

Why English theatre stands apart from that of continental Europe.

Sir Philip Sidney’s ‘Defence of Poetry’, his dislike of the stage and ideas on the power of poetic language.

The development of English as a language to be used poetically.

The slow rise of England out of the Medieval period.

Theatre and king Henry 8^th.

The rise of secular plays during the reformation period through the reign of Elizabeth 1st.

English scepticism about Continental culture.

The Playhouses, plays, playwrights and acting troupes.

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Pantomime: A conversation with Aaron Odom - part 2

Sat, 31 Dec 2022 05:30:00 GMT

The second part of my seasonal chat with guest Aaron Odom director Trident Theatre Company and Euripides Eumenides Podcast. We pick up the story of the history of the British Christmas Pantomime, going further back to the influence of Comedies Dell'arte and the bringing the story forward to it's zenith in the later Victorian period up to some of today's challenges for the modern Panto.

For more details about Aaron and his work: https://tridenttheatre.com/about/

The Euripides Eumenides Podcast is available on all good podcast apps or you can find details here: https://tridenttheatre.com/euripides-eumenides/

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Pantomime: A conversation with Aaron Odom - part 1

Sat, 24 Dec 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A seasonal episode with guest Aaron Odom director Trident Theatre Company and Euripides Eumenides Podcast where the main subject of the day is the phenomenon of the British Christmas Pantomime, but in a wide-ranging chat about theatre in general we also covered Aaron’s background and some of his current projects with Trident Theatre Company.

Part two of our conversation is following soon.

For more details about Aaron and his work: https://tridenttheatre.com/about/

The Euripides Eumenides Podcast is available on all good podcast apps or you can find details here: https://tridenttheatre.com/euripides-eumenides/

Support the podcast at:

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The Oberammergau Passion Play

Mon, 12 Dec 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A bonus episode on the origins, development and recent history of The Oberammergau Passion Play.

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Pericles & Aspasia: A Conversation With Yvonne Korshak

Mon, 28 Nov 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A conversation with author Yvonne Korshak about her novel 'Pericles and Aspasia'

The novel unfolds against the background of the arts and history of the Golden Age seen through the eyes of two individuals who lent their luster to make it “golden,” Pericles, the great orator and visionary of democracy and its most influential woman, Aspasia. Their story takes them from the Agora—Athens’ marketplace—to the Acropolis, from the mercantile, raunchy Athenian Port Piraeus across the Aegean Sea to East Greece. Pericles and Aspasia—together and apart—navigate treacherous paths from venal calculations to impassioned philosophical inquiry, from high-stakes sea battles to the passions of family life.

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Athens

Mon, 14 Nov 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Thoughts on a recent trip to the Greek capital, Athens a city resonating with ancient history

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The Bones Of Calderon de la Bacca

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A bonus episodes as a coda to the European Renaissance Theatre season following the story of what happened to the remains of Calderon de la Bacca after his death.

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Renaissance Places of Seeing: Life at the Corral Del Principe

Mon, 17 Oct 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 87:

A fictionalised account of a day in the life of one of Madrid's Renaissance period theatres, the Corral Del Principe, using some of the facts and assumptions discussed in the season about the European Renaissance Theatre.

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European Renaissance Conclusions

Mon, 03 Oct 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 86:

A summary to conclude the season on European Renaissance Theatre focussing on four aspects of the theatre that I have covered in the last twenty-two episodes:

The Italian Rebirth

The Parisian Theatre

Theatre in Spain

The Commedia Dell'arte

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Bernini and Others: Sculpture, Architecture and Plays

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 85:

We return to Italy, to the birthplace of the Renaissance, for one last visit in this theatrical age.

The Bernini family and their history as sculptors and architects.

The early life and career of the second-generation Bernini, Gian Lorenzo, and his place as a major sculptor and architect in Rome.

His work as a scenic designer in the theatre and the impact of his special effects.

Bernini as an all-round theatre practitioner and some examples of his work.

Bernini as a playwright and the nature of his plays.

The discovery of his one surviving play and the problems with the text.

The plot of his one surviving play ‘The Impresario’.

The Commedia Dell’arte elements in ‘The Impresario’ and how Bernini subverted them.

Giovanni Burnacini and his son Ludovichi, who worked for the Vienna Opera houses and the Holy Roman Emperor.

The use of multiple vanishing points in set design

The careers of three generations of the Galli-Bibienas in set design and architecture.

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Behind the Dikes: Renaissance Theatre in The Netherlands

Mon, 05 Sep 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 84:

Given the destruction of the thirty years war moving backwards and forwards across the Germanic and Flemish states of Europe between 1618 and 1648 it is a wonder that any art could flourish at all but in the Netherlands, there was something of an opposite effect.

A word on the lack of examples from the Netherlands in this period and a reminder of the lasting influence of ‘Everyman’.

The political and religious landscape that enables the Dutch Golden Age, a period of trade and expansion.

The slow emergence of Dutch theatre from the medieval period.

The Rhetoricians and their influence.

The annual carnival and the drama competition.

The life and work of Pieter Hooft

The farces and comedies of G A Brendero

The outline plot of ‘The Farce of the Cow’.

Definitions of theatrical genres by publisher Cornelis van der Plasse

Farce used to comment on the immigration of Germanic people into the Netherlands. The Moffenkluchten sub-genre.

Influences from England and Southern Europe

The life and work of Joost Van Der Vondel.

Vondel’s historical play and celebration of the city of Amsterdam ‘Gysbreght van Aemstel’.

Vondel’s religious semi-tragic plays, including ‘Jeptha, or the Promised Sacrifice’ and ‘Lucifer’

The decline of the Rhetoricians.

The Amsterdam Playhouse.

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Commedia Dell’arte: Players and Troupes

Mon, 22 Aug 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 83:

The Commedia Dell’arte tropes that operated in Italy and France were like many actors before them - travelling players operating if not exactly outside of society, then in their own niche within it.

The framework that Commedia Dell’arte troupes operated in and how little had changed for the travelling player since Roman and Medieval times.

The origins of the Gelosi Troupe via their first leader, Zan Ganassa and their second, long term director and main actor Flamminio Scala.

The travels of the Gelosi through Italy and then to France for performances before King Henry 3^rd, where they ran into some anti Italian feeling.

The Gelosi travel to Venice and England.

Francesco Andreini becomes leader of the Gelosi after a military career.

His marriage to Isabella Canali.

Their performance in Mantua and resulting problems.

An attempt to create a Commedia ‘super-troupe’.

The life of Isabella Andreini and her impact on Comedia Dell’arte playing madness and cross-gender roles.

The popularity of the Gelosi with the French court, the death of Isabella on tour and the memorials penned to her.

The disbandment of the Gelosi.

The life of Vittoria Piisimi and her time with the Gelosi.

The rivalry between Vittoria and Isabella.

The Accesi troupe under the lead of Tristano Martinelli.

The creation of Harlequin by Martinelli, maybe.

Martinelli’s increasing power under the duke of Mantua.

The popularity of the Commedia Dell’arte across Europe seen through the work of Martinelli and their time in Paris.

Martinelli’s final years.

The I Fedeli troupe formed by Giovanni Battista Andreini.

The behaviour of the star performers.

Flamminio Scala and ‘The Confident One’s’ troupe.

The role of the more minor troupes.

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Commedia Dell’arte: A Selection of Scenarios

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 82:

The characters of Commedia Dell’arte may have been used in every play over and over again until they became completely familiar, but the plays themselves were more varied that you might imagine.

The first preserved Commedia Dell’arte scenario from 1568.

How the play was created and the characters and players.

A first-hand account of the play.

A brief analysis of this history of the play

The play ‘Madness’ presented for a Medici wedding, performed by Isabella Andreinoi, of the Golosi troupe.

A summary of the plot of ‘Madness’

Why these two examples may not truly represent the form

The scenarios published as a collection by Flaminio Scala in 1611

The form of the scenarios in the collection

The continuing influence of Roman theatre on commedia Dell’arte

The reuse of classic stories in the scenarios, with a version of ‘The Menacmus Brothers’ as an example.

How misunderstanding, intrigue and comic business remained at the heart of Commedia Dell’arte.

‘The Mad Princess’, the only tragedy in the Scala collection.

The later development of the three-in-one play where three tenuously linked plays were presented together, a comedy, a pastoral, and a tragedy.

What the three-in-one play can tell us about the diversity within Commedia Dell’arte.

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Commedia Dell’arte: Characters and Masks

Mon, 25 Jul 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 81:

The development of common character types through the travelling troupes.

The hierarchy of character, the troupe, and how that reflected society in general.

The five main characters:

Pantalone

Il Dottore

Il Capitano

Pulchinello

Harlequin

Minor characters:

Brighella

Pedrolino

Columbine and other female characters

The young lovers

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Mountebanks, Charlatans, and the Origins of Commedia Dell’arte

Mon, 11 Jul 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 80:

The influence of Italian literary theatre can be seen in later works, but if there is one form that infiltrated the general consciousness of theatrical comedy on the continent it is the Commedia Dell’arte.

A definition of what we mean by Commedia Dell’arte as it emerged in the Italian renaissance, and the difficulties with this.

Professionalism, comedy, masks and the degree of improvisation, or not.

Theories about the origins of the Commedia Dell’arte.

From Roman mime and pantomime

From non-religious medieval drama

From religious medieval drama

The impact of the system of troupe patronage in the development of the Commedia Dell’arte and how actors escaped from it.

The continued low position of actors in society and their involvement with mountebanks and charlatans.

The description of theatricals in Venice in 1608 by English traveller Thomas Coryat.

Mountebanks and charlatans in Ben Johnson’s ‘Volpone’.

The differences between Italian and English theatre as seen by Coryat.

Why actors were associated with mountebanks and charlatans and the ongoing issues of professional begging.

How the quack doctor character becomes part of Commedia Dell’arte.

The earliest records of Commedia Dell’arte and Commedia Dell’arte troupes.

‘A Song for Buffoons and Parasites’ as the earliest example of Commedia Dell’arte.

The development of acting troupes from 1500 and then after 1550 when many new theatre buildings were constructed.

The continuing prohibitions against players

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Keeping It Real: Italian Theatre In Perspective

Mon, 27 Jun 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 79:

As things moved on in the early renaissance art - painting and sculpture - led the way and theatre soon followed. Artists tried to inject more realism into their work, showing their subjects as they really were, or as close as they could get. The colours of clothes, skin tones, fruit, countryside scenery and, well, whatever the artist’s subject was, became more subtle and realistic as artists looked at the different impacts of viewpoint, light and light sources in paintings and strived to show the world as it really was. The discovery of an understanding of one thing in particular made those working in the theatre sit up and take note – perspective in art had arrived.

Brunelleschi and the discovery of perspective painting.

1414 and the rediscovery of Vitruvius and ‘De Architectura’.

Leon Battista Alberti and the beginnings of theatrical perspective design .

Pellegrino de San Daniele and his perspective scenery at Ferrara.

Architect Sebastiano Serlio, his perspective designs and use of the raked stage and painted flats.

The development of wing space as an integral part of theatre design.

The problems with perspective scenery.

Aristotle de San Gallo and his reintroduction of the ‘periaktoi’.

The importance of the introduction of flats throughout theatres.

Lighting methods in Italian renaissance theatre.

The Teatro Olympico in Vicenza, designed by Andrea Palladio and completed by Vincenzo Scamozzi. This theatre was the panicle of perspective theatre design with seven arches at the back of the stage using perspective effect but had a short life.

Advances in stage machinery by Nicola Sabbatini, known for his flying effects and his fondness for the ‘periaktoi’. To improve this feature he designed mechanical ways of rotating the periaktoi.

Sabbatini’s wave form effect.

Giacomo Torelli and his mechanical decice for moving flats on and off stage, the ‘chariot pole system’.

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Entertaining Madrid: The Corral del Principe

Mon, 13 Jun 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 78:

Records about the second corral in Madrid tell us a lot about the theatre. In this episode we go through the details of what the different parts of the theatre on the Calle del Principe were like.

A short reminder of the history of the Corral in Spain as featured in episode 74.

The location building of the Corral del Principe as a rival to the original Madrid playhouse, the Corral de la Cruz.

The Facade wall on Calle del Principe

The doors in the facade and how they changed

The entrance and balcony for the ladies

The entrance hall

The view from the patio

The lateral stands and benches

The windows and balconies on the adjacent houses

The VIP rooms above the entrance

The Stage

The tiring room and backstage access

Beneath the stage

The roof awning

The capacity at the corral del Principe and how it has been calculated.

Rivalry between the Corral del Principe and the Corral de la Cruz

The dispute over the balcony fees and the pulling down of the Principe

The Principe and the Cruz today

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Life Is a Dream: Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Mon, 30 May 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 77:

The life of Pedro Calderon de la Barca who took Lope de Vega’s crown as the greatest living Spanish playwright after Lope’s death in 1635

His childhood, youthful brushes with the law, military service and early playwriting.

His best regarded play ‘Life Is a Dream’ from 1632.

A synopsis of the plot of ‘Life Is A Dream’

An analysis of the main themes of the play and it’s relationship to cloak and dagger plays.

Duty and honour

The philosophical aspects of the play

The question of reality and perception

The flaws and dissatisfactions in the play

Calderon’s later career as a court poet and creator of auto sacramental and full length religious plays

The priesthood and death

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A Master At Work: The Plays of Lope de Vega

Mon, 16 May 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 76:

A discussion of a sample of the plays by Lope de Vega

The Gardener's Dog: A Comedy The meaning of the title, a plot summary, the major themes.

Punishment Without Vengeance: A Tragedy. A plot summary, it's debt to Seneca, the ironic triangle of anti-heroes, the question of incest, and the violence of the honour culture. The historical context of the play.

Realism in the plays.

The plays of intrigue

The role of the leading female character, the 'Dama'

Sheep Well. The plot Summary. The communist reading of the play. Countryside Vs the city. The satisfaction of honour.

The lasting influence of Lope de Vega

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The Second Anniversary Episode

Tue, 03 May 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A special bonus episode to celebrate the second anniversary of the podcast. We step out of the timeline of the renaissance theatre as I tell the story of the venue that was the home to my first theatrical experiences - The Castle Theatre, Farnham

For much of the information in this episode I am indebted to Matthew Lloyd for the use of material. For information about many UK theatres and music halls go to: http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk

For further information about Waverley Abbey go to: https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/waverley-abbey/

For further information about Farnham Castle go to: https://www.farnhamcastle.com

For further information about Farnham and it's history go to: https://farnhamsociety.org.uk

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Lope de Vega: The World’s Most Prolific Playwright

Mon, 02 May 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 75:

The Life of Lope de Vega, greatest dramatist of the Spanish Renaissance Theatre. He had a very full life which was not just confined to writing plays, but his output was prolific on a scale that has not been matched before or since. This is his story.

Then a short overview of what was special about his plays, his attitude to Aristotle and his prescriptions on the use of poetry.

A word on the inevitable comparison with Shakespeare.

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Shakespeare: Wordsmith of the English Language

Sat, 23 Apr 2022 05:30:00 GMT

A special bonus episode to celebrate the Birthday of William Shakespeare which looks at the way he used and created the English Language.

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The Spanish Playhouse, its manager, his actors, and their audience

Mon, 18 Apr 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 74:

The development of Spanish theatre buildings, including the original, the Corral de la Olivera in Valencia.

Alberto Ganassa and the influence of his Comedia Dell Arte troupe.

The first theatre in Madrid the Corral de Pachea

The main points of the layout and characteristics of the Spanish playhouse.

The way plays changed to suit the playhouse, including the breaking of Aristotle’s rules.

The financial structures that were used to generate charitable income from the theatre and the impact that had.

The role of the theatre manager and changes as more permanent theatres were built in Spanish cities.

The use of music and dance to augment the theatrical entertainments.

How the acting troupes worked in the framework of the playhouse and its manager.

Women performing on stage and the reaction by the Church and State.

The impact of costumes on stage and the attempts to curtail excessive costume changes and expenses.

The actor’s life in Spain, which may have been a little more secure than elsewhere in Europe.

The establishment of the Actors Guild in 1631.

The continuation of court theatre.

Changes to the position of the dramatist during the period.

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Spanish Renaissance Theatre part 2: Before the Comedia

Mon, 04 Apr 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 73

Continuing the story of the development of theatre through the early Spanish renaissance via the life and works of the playwrights. With apologies for the slightly raspy 'post-covid' throat at the time of recording. I hope it does not spoil your enjoyment of the episode.

Gil Vicente, the only Portuguese playwright of the period, but one who worked across the Spanish peninsular and produced influential works.

Lope de Rueda took theatre to the masses and produced the first truly commercial theatre of the period.

Alonso de la Vega, an acting pulp of Rueda who advanced the mixing of secular and religious themes.

The role of the 'Auto Sacramental' in the development of tragedy from religious plays and the continuing influence of religious drama.

How tragedy in Spain developed through copying of classical models and Italian versions of Roman tragedy.

How tragedy developed with the introduction of local legends and myths into Spanish thetare

Cristobal de Virues and the development of the three act tragedy.

Juan de la Cueva advancing political and social messages through his tragendies and his contribution to the expansion of language on the Spanish stage.

Miguel de Cervantes and his place as the last of the playwrights before the advent of the Comedy in the Spanish Golden Age. His 'Don Quixote' invented the modern novel and changed the literary world. His impact on theatre was not quite so significant.

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Spanish Renaissance Theatre part 1: The Beginning of a National Drama

Mon, 21 Mar 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 72

The Situation in Spain prior to the Renaissance period with a summary of developments in the Roman and Medieval periods in Spain.

The merging of religious and secular theatre at the end of the medieval period.

The ‘autos’ and how it developed out of liturgical drama and the only surviving example ‘The Play of the Three Kings’.

From the 12th Century ‘Pamphylus in Love’.

The Spanish version of the cycle play.

The poetic dialogue and its influence on theatre.

The religious plays of Juan Ruiz

The use of rustic language for comedy in 15th century plays.

The beginning of the Spanish renaissance with the plays of Gomez Manrique.

Inigo de Mendoza spanning the medieval and the renaissance.

Fernando de Rojas and the influential play ‘Celestina’.

Juan del Encina and his three-stage career, which ended by producing some of the earliest plays of the renaissance in Spain.

The religious and pastoral plays of Lucas Fernandez.

Bartolome de Torres Naharro who mixed Plautus with his real-life experiences as a soldier and churchman in his comic and satiric plays.

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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French Renaissance Theatre part 2: Aristotle Rules, OK?

Mon, 07 Mar 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 71

The continuation of the story of Renaissance theatre in France.

The rise of the two theatres in Paris as travelling players were at last allowed to perform in the city.

Antoine de Montchrestien and his version of Greek tragedy.

The three farceurs Henri Legrand, Robert Guerin, and Hugues Gueru who made the Theatre du Bourgogne the venue in Paris for comedy.

The development of the Theatre du Bourgogne under the management of Valeran le Conte and the establishment of ‘Comediens Du Roi’.

The emergence of Alexandre Hardy and his prolific life as a playwright.

A life in the theatre for the actors of the time

Theophile Viaud and Jean Mairet - champions of the Aristotelian stage

Jean du Rotrou the last French renaissance playwright

Support the podcast at:

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This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

French Renaissance Theatre part 1:The Italian Influence

Mon, 21 Feb 2022 05:30:00 GMT

Episode 70

Catherine De Medici, her arrival in Paris for marriage to Henry, second son of Francis 1^st. Her cultural influence and role as wife of the King, and mother to three successive French rulers.

The Hotel De Bourgogne, the only playhouse in Paris

Mellin de Saint-Gelais the royal librarian who penned adaptations of Italian tragedy

Etienne Jodelle was hailed as the new Sophocles after his first play, but quickly fell out of favour after his second and some intemperate praise.

The strong adherence to Aristotelian rules of theatre

Jean de La Taille continues in Jodelle’s footsteps with Greek inspired tragedy and lighter pieces.

Jean Antoine de Baif gets concerned about playwrights straying from Aristotle

Robert Garnier’s influential plays, including an adaptation of Ariosto. Including an example of how Thomas Kyd was inspired by his work.

How the monopoly on theatrical performance of the Confraternity of the Passion was broken and a description of their playhouse, the Hotel De Bourgogne. The arrival of the second playhouse and the first professional actress of the Parisian stage.

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