Episodes
Oct. 30, 2023
The Star Players: Kemp. Alleyn and Burbage
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. W...
Oct. 16, 2023
Thomas Dekker: London's Playwright
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’ - th...
Oct. 2, 2023
Thomas Dekker: Gulls, Gallants and the London Playhouse
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 - wi...
Sept. 18, 2023
Henslowe’s Diary
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 159...
Sept. 11, 2023
Drag: A British History - A Conversation with Jacob Bloomfield
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 a...
Sept. 4, 2023
Thomas Kid and the Spanish Tragedy
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 ...
Aug. 21, 2023
Two Globes, a Fortune, a White Friar and Hope: The London Playhouses 1587 – 1642 part 2
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 Thea...
Aug. 7, 2023
Two Blackfriars, a Curtain, a Rose and a Swan: The London Playhouses 1587 – 1642 part 1
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 S...
July 24, 2023
The Elizabethan Playing Troupes
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 ...
July 10, 2023
Edward 2nd & The Jew of Malta: The Rest of Marlow
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 p...
July 3, 2023
400 Years of the First Folio: Part 3 The Folio In The World
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 ...
June 26, 2023
Dr Faustus: Wisdom, Power, and the Immortal Soul
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...
June 19, 2023
400 Years of the First Folio: Part 2 Creating the Folio
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 t...
June 12, 2023
The Two parts of Tamburlaine the Great
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 ...
June 5, 2023
400 Years of the First Folio: Part 1 The Folio on Display
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 copi...
May 29, 2023
Marlowe’s Mighty Line
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 playwr...
May 22, 2023
Stage Ghosts and Haunted Theatres: A Conversation With Nick Bromley
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 re...
May 15, 2023
The Short Life and Strange Death of Christopher Marlowe
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 o...
May 8, 2023
The Reasonable Audience: A Conversation With Dr Kirsty Sedgman
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 per...
May 1, 2023
Thomas Nashe: Satirist, Pamphleteer & Playwright
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 st...
April 23, 2023
The Genius of Shakespeare with Colin David Reese
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, wh...
April 17, 2023
A Sextet of Tudor Playwrights
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 professi...
April 10, 2023
Theatre Lore: A Conversation With Nick Bromley
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 ...
April 3, 2023
Gorboduc: The Tragedy of Ferrex and Porrex
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 Th...