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...

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: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.patreon.com/thoetp www.ko-fi.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party services...

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: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.ko-fi.com/thoetp www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following...

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...

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 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:...

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...

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...

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. Support the podcast at: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.ko-fi.com/thoetp www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party...

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 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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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? Support the podcast at: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.ko-fi.com/thoetp www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...