Episodes

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 cult...

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 por...

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 spac...

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 lyric...

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 th...

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 Di...

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....

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 t...

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.brooklinebook...

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 constant...

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 ...

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 controversy 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. Support the podcast at: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.patreon.com/thoetp www.ko-fi.com/thoetp Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/p...

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 Richar...

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 ...

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 r...

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...

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 ...

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 la...

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 portr...

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 p...

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 pla...

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 Shakesp...

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. S...

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 com...