Beyond Shakespeare

First of our Christmas specials - a return to Old Christmas, a fragment we've already looked at with another room, and Christmas, His Masque by Ben Jonson - our first masque, and our first complete work by Jonson. Which is nice.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Eric Karoulla as Gluttony, New Year; Liza Graham as Riot, Gambol, Offer; Emma Kemp as Good Order, Carol, Cupid; Sarah Blake as Prayer, Venus.
The host was Robert Crighton.
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible.
The journey continues with play ten, the Marriage of Mary and Joseph - and, boy, is this a weird one.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Mark Scanlon, Richard Fawcett, Alan Scott and Maria Walker – with host, Robert Crighton.
There are various online and purchasable versions of the text available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste.
A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-10-marriage-of-mary-and-joseph

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live (apart from N-Town) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Exploring: A Merry Play between John Johan the husband, Tyb his wife, and Sir Johan the Priest.
This is a cross over episode with our YouTube channel, where most exploring sessions now live, because we want to make sure all the John Heywood material lives on the podcast. You can watch all the John Heywood videos on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoKffZtkgZ7mUYF_d1mD72fr
Other John Heywood material on the podcast can be heard here - https://audioboom.com/playlists/4620013-the-plays-of-john-heywood
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Lisa Hill-Corley as John John; Eric Karoulla as Sir John; Emma Kemp as Tib
With guest host Liza Graham - the episode is introduced by Robert Crighton.
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible.
The journey continues with play nine, the presentation of Mary at the Temple - there's a fair amount of run up to the Nativity in N-Town, and we really get some Mary: The Early Years action - or singing.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Mark Scanlon, Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton.
There are various online and purchasable versions of the text available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste.
A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-9-presentation-of-mary-in-the-temple

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live (apart from N-Town) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Discussing: Edward II by Christopher Marlowe - with Dr. Kit Heyam
This episode host Robert Crighton discusses a new book - The Reputation of Edward II, 1305-1697: A Literary Transformation of History by Kit Heyam. We delve into the changing story of Edward, what Marlowe does with the figure, and why the answer is never a red hot poker.
The book is available to order from Amsterdam University Press now - https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463729338/the-reputation-of-edward-ii-1305-1697

Watching Edward II - there are two audio versions available - one stand alone that can be found on Audible, and another that is part of Vivat Rex! - both from the BBC. There is a DVD of a BBC Television broadcast of a stage production with Ian McKellen, which is definitely available in Region 1, maybe other regions as well. And last, but not least is the Derek Jarman film.

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible.
The journey continues with play eight, Joachim and Anna, or the Conception of Mary - there's a fair amount of run up to the Nativity in N-Town, and we go full on prequel here.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton.
There are various online and purchasable versions available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste.
A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-8-joachim-and-anne

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live (apart from N-Town) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

The Harrowing of Hell - A full cast audio adaption of one of the earliest surviving Biblical dramas in English, with bonus material of our first exploring read through of the text.
In the Harrowing of Hell - the Narrator was played by Geir Madland, Jesus by Robert Crighton, Satan by Pamela Flanagan, the Gatekeeper by Mark Scanlon, Adam by Simon Nader, Eve by Gillian Horgan, Abraham by Geir Madland, King David by Mark Scanlon, John by Seb Ranson and Moses by Rob Myson.
Technical presentation by Robert Crighton, with additional sound effects from zapsplat.com
The Exploring Session readers were Richard Fawcett, Liz Cole, Alan Scott, and Maria Walker.
A modern production of the play with an updated script was directed and adapted by Dr. Jeff Dailey in 2019 - you can catch it on this video here. https://youtu.be/DjN-ki2S6WM

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

The Rising to the Crown of Richard the Third written by himself via Giles Fletcher - read by David Ault.
This is a narrative poem about, as the title says, the rise of Richard III - it's part of a mini season of work on the various narratives on Richard that existed in the early modern period.
We have also on the podcast looked at:
The True Tragedy of Richard III - https://audioboom.com/posts/7664659-the-true-tragedy-of-richard-iii-induction
The Ghost of Richard III - discussion thereof - https://audioboom.com/posts/7633017-discussing-the-ghost-of-richard-iii-by-christopher-brooke
And a stage adaptation on YouTube - https://youtu.be/G0DblYYO8cQ
David is a voice actor and mathematician based in North Yorkshire. You may know him from NoSleep, Shadows at the Door, Byron Chronicles or the White Vault. If not, or indeed if so, more information can be found at www.davidault.co.uk.

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible.
The journey continues with play seven, a prophets play - a bit of a breather before we get to the opening of the Nativity sequence.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Mark Scanlon, Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton.
There are various online and purchasable versions available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste.
A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-7-root-of-jesse

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org

What's Past is Prologue: The True Tragedy of Richard III, by someone for the Queen's Men.
The True Tragedy of Richard III is a a truly disturbing piece of Brechtian theatre, several centuries early, and one we'd like to do one day. Here's just the prologue/opening to tantalise and moderately annoy you.
The opening is performed by Geir Madland as the ghost of Clarence, Pamela Flanagan as Truth, and Seb Ransom as Poetry.
Our little recording is followed by a read through from our YouTube exploring sessions - you too can join in, updates on our website - https://beyondshakespeare.org/get-involved-exploring-in-isolation/
The contributors for the exploring session on Richard III were: Francis Cox as Poetry; Sarah Blake as Truth and Helen Good, Tamara Ritthaler, Alan Scott, Aliki Chapple, Liza Graham, Elizabeth Amisu, Ruth Evans, Simon Nader and Jitka Stollava. You can watch all the exploring sessions on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoLqof8eUWJU5EEJXr93e56y

The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
The episode is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.
Additional sound effects from the wonderful people at http://www.freesfx.co.uk