Episodes

Season 4 Trailer: European Renaissance Theatre www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com Twitter: @thoetp Patreon: www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://charta...

Episode 63 In a coda to season 3 somewhere in England an acting troupe travels through a cold December at the tale end of the Medieval period, in search of an audience. A fictional account using the facts and assumptions disc...

In this bonus episode we get an introduction the the diary of Philip Henslowe, theatre owner and businessman during the end of the Tudor period and beginning of the Stuart period. Elements from the diary will feature on upcom...

A bonus episode featuring Salome by Oscar Wilde. In summer 2021 I was fortunate to see the Lazarus Theatre production at the Southwark Playhouse in London. In this episode I give a brief version of the Oscar Wilde story, look...

Episode 62 With the Reformation came the final end of the great Religious plays of the medieval period. The episode sumarises the great trends of medieval theatre and charts the final end as Europe descended into religious di...

Episode 61 Once the medieval theatre had moved out of the confines of the church and away from religious obligation a form of commercial theatre began, but how was money spent and income generated and was it profitable? The r...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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...

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...

Season 3 Trailer: Medieval Theatre This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy

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...

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 ...

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...