Episodes
Sept. 6, 2021
Just For Fun: Medieval Secular Theatre
Episode 60 Religious theatre dominated the Medieval period, but there are some examples of works written just for fun and entertainment. How celebrations like The Feast of Fools, The Boy Bishop and The Feast of Asses develope...
Aug. 30, 2021
Everyman: Dutch Morality
Episode 59 Everyman is the most well known of all the Morality plays and probably an English adaptation of a Dutch original. Different types of Morality Plays The Morality play in Europe and how they differed from the English...
Aug. 23, 2021
The Castle of Perseverance
Episode 58 The Castle of Perseverance is a great example of how difficult it can be to discuss the form of a play separately from the content and in this case we have an illustration that shows how the play might have been pr...
Aug. 16, 2021
Virtues Vs Vices: The Morality Play
Episode 57 The Morality play is a type of play that for all its similarities and shared heritage with the Corpus Christi cycle plays brought something new to the world of drama and had a profound effect on the future developm...
Aug. 9, 2021
Hell Harrowed, the World Flooded
Episode 56 The history of the Harrowing of Hell and the way it was portrayed in the cycle plays, including some thoughts on how it would have been staged and how the play comes alive when the demons and devils take to the sta...
Aug. 2, 2021
While Shepherds Watched
Episode 55 The Second Shepherds play is considered the best of the medieval cycle plays. In this episode I take a look at not only the second shepherds play, but the first play as well, which is often overlooked. Why are ther...
July 19, 2021
The Home of the Cycle Plays: York, Chester, Coventry and Wakefield
Episode 54 In this episode we look at the way the cycle plays developed in the four major centres from where we have complete versions of the cycle: York, Chester, Coventry and Wakefield. The development of the York Plays Fur...
July 12, 2021
Medieval Stage Effects
Episode 53 Stage sets, costuming and special effects became quite sophisticated in the cycle plays during the sixteenth century. This episode looks at the examples of stage sets that we have from Valenciennes. You can see the...
July 5, 2021
Medieval Performance and Rehearsal
Episode 52 This episode looks at how the Corpus Christi plays were organised and staffed with actors, tradesmen and other organisers and supporters. How rehearsals were organised and what was expected of actors, including det...
June 30, 2021
Ian McKellen’s Hamlet: A Return to Theatre
A short bonus episode celebrating Hamlet in a production by Sean Mathias, staring Sir Ian McKellen, which marked my return to live theatre after more than a year. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analy...
June 28, 2021
Corpus Christi: New Feast Day, New Plays
Episode 51 The instigation of the Corpus Christi feat day too theatre out of the church and into the town and village. This episode looks at the development of the celebration of the new feast day and how the new trades guild...
June 21, 2021
Synods Tropes Asses and Fools
Episode 50 The Synod of Winchester issued direction on the performance of the Trope in 960 and the door was open for further developments on other feast days. Then a look at other church festivals with dramatic elements. The ...
June 14, 2021
Uncomfortable Bedfellows: Theatre and Worship
Episode 49 The story of how theatre found it's way into the church service on the most important days in the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. For a long time drama was a small elaboration to the massif the...
June 7, 2021
From Roman to Medieval
Episode 48 To open season three a summary of how theatre and dramatic activity survived despite the restrictions placed on it from the growing influence of the Christian Church. This podcast uses the following third-party ser...
May 31, 2021
Season Three Trailer: Medieval Theatre
Season 3 Trailer: Medieval Theatre This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy
May 24, 2021
Lazarus Theatre: A conversation with Ricky Dukes
A conversation with Ricky Dukes, artistic director of Lazarus Theatre. Find more about Lazarus Theatre at: https://www.lazarustheatre.com or on Twitter @LazarusTheatre www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com This podcast uses the...
May 17, 2021
Actors of Dionysus: A conversation with Tamsin Shasha
A conversation with Tamsin Shasha, Actor, Ariel Performer and artistic director of The Actors of Dionysus. Find out more about Tamsin's work here: www.actorsofdionysus.com Twitter: @aodtheatre For the official website of the ...
May 10, 2021
Greek Theatre and before: A conversation with Rosie Beech
A conversation about the earliest forms of theatre, the Greeks, Dionysus and more with performer and podcaster Rosie Beech. Rosie has a masters degree in Social Anthropology and applies the rigours of that subject to her know...
May 3, 2021
The First Birthday Episode
A special episode to make the First Birthday of the Podcast featuring five stories from the history of the London Theatre Charles 2nd and Nell Gwyn King George, the Prince of Wales, and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The ghost...
April 26, 2021
Website Announcement
A short episode to introduce the new website for the podcast and the Facebook Group. Find us on the web at: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com Find us as a Facebook Group as: The History of European Theatre Podcast Group Als...
April 23, 2021
Windows On A Shakespearean Life
A special bonus episode to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. Here, in seven parts, is a glimpse into a Shakespearean life: Birth, The School Room, The Players, Marriage, Poet, London and The Death...
April 12, 2021
Roman Places Of Seeing
Episode 47 To conclude the season on the theatre of Rome this episode imagines a resident of the city in 54BCE, recounting in a letter to a sick friend, a day spent travelling to the theatre of Pompey and the time spent there...
April 5, 2021
Roman Conclusions Part 2
Episode 46: The second and concluding part of a summary of Roman Theatre presented as my personal top ten of the most influential, interesting and surprising aspects of Roman Theatre. This episode goes from number 5 to number...
March 29, 2021
Roman Conclusions Part 1
Episode 45 The first part of a summary of Roman Theatre presented as my personal top ten of the most influential, interesting and surprising aspects of Roman Theatre. This episode goes from number 10 to number 6. The top 5 wi...