Beyond Shakespeare

A Looking Glass for London and England (Epilogue) - Epic Epilogues
Performances of the epilogue to A Looking Glass for London and England by Robert Greene and Thomas Lodge - a sort of late style morality tale (c1589ish) to show the people of England a cautionary tale that they might learn from.
The epilogue is performed (a few times) by Fiona Thraille - a British voice actor, narrator and audio producer who has worked in voiceover, podcasts, and who has narrated and produced over a dozen audiobooks through Audible. She is the founder and producer of Dashing Onions Audio - an audio drama podcast, was co-host and producer of the Audio Drama Production Podcast for a year, and has given lectures and presentations on aspects of audio drama podcast creation.If you'd like to make us to do a full audio production of this play, join us on patreon and choose this play at the next vote. www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare or you can follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes - or go to our website beyondshakespeare.org
The episode is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.
Additional sound effects from the wonderful people at http://www.freesfx.co.uk

Exploring: The Tragedy of Antony (Act 2)
From our pre-production Exploring sessions, where we read through the text of this play for future use towards an audio/stage show.
The Tragedy of Antony is a translation of Robert Garnier's play, done into English by Mary Sidney, or Mary Herbert (Countess of Pembroke), in 1592. These are recordings of various readers and actors working through the the bulk of Act 2, as we tried to find a route into the play. It's the first step in a journey to understand and produce the play, with a plain text and full cast audio adaptation coming soon.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole and Alan Scott – with cast member Leigh McDonald, and the inevitable host, Robert Crighton. No cats were harmed in the making of this podcast.
There are a few editions of the play available both in print and online (one online version can be found here http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/antonie.html) - we're very fond of the Three Tragedies by Renaissance Women, Penguin Renaissance Dramatists edition edited by Diane Purkiss; as well as the Renaissance Drama by Women, Routledge, edited by S.P. Cerasano and Marion Wynne-Davies. At least one other edition exists, but we haven't looked at it yet.
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 follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or even go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org

Fragments: Processus Satanae - Or, Satan Vs God (Case Number 666)
It's cue script time again - the text known as Processus Satanae is mostly the dialogue for the character God, with a few words as cues for the lines. It's a tricky one to date - somewhere around 1560 is the best guess, but it could come anywhere between 1500-80. The plot is simple. Satan sues God for ram raiding hell and stealing Adam, Eve and the rest of the Old Testament. This is a recording of a live presentation, recorded on Halloween 2019 at the Farmers Club in Bury St Edmunds, followed by our initial exploring session from earlier that year.
You can follow a version of this text here: https://archive.org/details/p3collections02malouoft/page/238
LIVE: Rob Myson was God, Heydn McCabe was Satan, and presenter/everyone else was Robert Crighton.
Exploring: The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars were Richard Fawcett as God, with Maria Walker as mostly Angels, and Mark Scanlon as Satan. Your Host is Robert Crighton.
Support the podcast by going to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare and pledge something – or by leaving a review on itunes or whichever podcasting service you use. Or follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or check out our website at www.beyondshakespeare.org - you can even email us if you feel so inclined - [email protected]Update Description

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. We start with Play 1, following the story of the fall of Lucifer. It's a super short play and it moves into play 2 very swiftly - and we'll be coming back to this play in a few weeks time for more work.
You can compare this play with our work on other fall of Lucifer plays - an Exploring session of Chester https://audioboom.com/posts/2158551-chester-plays-1-1-the-fall-of-lucifer (there's a part two, too) or our rough full cast audio adaptation here https://audioboom.com/posts/3529283-the-fall-of-lucifer-chester-mystery-cycle More variations exist and we'll get to them anon.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Richard Fawcett, Mark Scanlon, 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. https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-1-creation-of-heaven-fall-of-lucifer

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 want to give us some feedback, email us at [email protected], follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org

What's Past is Prologue: Tamburlaine the Great, Part 2 - a quick look at the prologue to the slightly murdery play by Christopher Marlowe.

Tamburlaine the Great was so great it seems that Marlowe had to write a sequel, with a prologue telling us that the first part was so great it required the play the audience were about to witness. As it were. 
The prologue is performed by the fabulous Sarah Golding, voice actor and audio producer extraordinary - you can hear Sarah Golding all over the podcasting world as a voice actor, and as the creator of MADIVA Podcast (or MODERN AUDIO DRAMA INDIE VOICE ACTING PODCAST) @QuirkyVoices

DO YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE? If you'd like to make us to do a full audio production of this play, join us on patreon and choose this play at the next vote. www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare or you can follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes - or go to our website beyondshakespeare.org
The episode is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.
Additional sound effects from the wonderful people at http://www.freesfx.co.uk

Exploring: The Tragedy of Antony (Act 1 into 2)
From our pre-production Exploring sessions, where we read through the text of this play for future use towards an audio/stage show.
The Tragedy of Antony is a translation of Robert Garnier's play, done into English by Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke in 1592. These are recordings of various readers and actors working through the first Act, and part of Act 2, as we tried to find a route into the play. It's the first step in a journey to understand and produce the play, with a plain text and full cast audio adaptation coming soon.
The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Mark Scanlon, and Alan Scott – with cast members Heydn McCabe and Rob Myson, and the inevitable host, Robert Crighton.
There are a few editions of the play available both in print and online (one online version can be found here http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/antonie.html) - we're very fond of the Three Tragedies by Renaissance Women, Penguin Renaissance Dramatists edition edited by Diane Purkiss; as well as the Renaissance Drama by Women, Routledge, edited by S.P. Cerasano and Marion Wynne-Davies. At least one other edition exists, but we haven't looked at it yet. 
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 follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or even go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org

Discussing Jack Drum's Entertainment by John Marston - with Sam Plumb, director of a production of the play with the Young Actors Company in 2016. Host Robert Crighton has a lengthy chat about the play, their production, working with youth theatre, and the nature of an Entertainment. And there's a bonus recording of the pre-show introduction, with Rob Myson as the Tireman. You can watch a recording of the discussed production on YouTube here - https://youtu.be/EbrxKFULTGk and there's more on the John Marston Project and the play here https://johnmarston.leeds.ac.uk/the-works/jack-drums-entertainment/
Support this podcast by going to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare, or follow us @BeyondShakes on Twitter, or visit our website www.beyondshakespeare.org

Happy New Year, if it is New Year yet, it probably is somewhere... anyway. Here's a little (fairly rambly) catch up from host Robert Crighton about the podcast at the end of the year, into the next, and projecting into the future. There's also a little bit on A Game at Chess, which is our five year plan. And an appeal to get involved - by joining us in Exploring A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton.
Support the podcast by going to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare and pledge something – or by leaving a review on itunes or whichever podcasting service you use. Or follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or check out our website at www.beyondshakespeare.org - you can even email us if you feel so inclined - [email protected]

The Stage-Players Complaint by Anonymous (printed 1641)
This is a performance of a dialogue between two players, Cane of the Fortune and Reed of the Friars, complaining that the plague has closed the playhouses. Of course, we know from afar that there's worse to come for the theatre in a very short time. The times are a changing, and not for the better. Amidst the general hope for employment is a call for clemency for the stage itself. It will not be heard, and within a year of the printing of this dialogue the theatres will be closed, and then pulled down - a subject for covered in other texts available on this podcast - The Actors Remonstrance and An Ordinance for the Utter Suppression and Abolishing of All Stage Plays and Interludes (available in this playlist https://audioboom.com/playlists/4620467-down-with-this).Performed by Robert Crighton as Cane - who is called Quick presumably for the speed of his tongue - and Rob Myson as Reed - who is called Light, because of the nimbleness of his feet.
The text for this pamphlet can be found variously online - there's a nice neat and tidy version here. http://www.luminarium.org/renascence-editions/player2.html
Support the podcast by going to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare and pledge something – or by leaving a review on itunes or whichever podcasting service you use. Or follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or check out our website at www.beyondshakespeare.org - you can even email us if you feel so inclined - [email protected]

The Life and Death of Jack Straw by the Unknown - A Full Cast Audio Adaptation

The Peasants Revolt has begun! Jack Straw and his fellow rebels head to London to demand an end to unfair taxes from the king. The fourteen year old king Richard II and his counsellors are completely unprepared for the revolt that quickly spirals out of control. 
"We owe God a death, and we can but die!"

Jack Straw is played by Pollie Hall, Wat Tyler by Leigh McDonald, Tom Miller by Hugh Weller-Poley, John Ball by Rob Myson and Nobs by Sarah Golding. 
King Richard II is played by Nemonee Stone, the Archbishop by Adam Thurkettle, the Lord Mayor by Simon Nader, Sir John Morton by Geir Madland, Sir John Newton by Heydn McCabe, the Queen Mother by Gillian Horgan and the Usher by Pamela Flanagan.
The Tax Collector is played by Robert Crighton, Hob Carter by Andy Barrett, the Messenger by Mark Scanlon, the Southwark Men by Alan Scott.
Other parts played by members of the company. 
Music composed and recorded by Jack Lawson.
Technical presentation by Robert Crighton. 
Special thanks to the Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars, the Quay Theatre Quiz Night, Chris Hapka, Stephen Longstaffe, Tony Tambasco of Bad Quarto Productions, the Geese who live next door our studio.
Additional sound of water from the lovely people at zapsplat.com

A detailed look through the play can be found via our !Spoilers! episodes, where we look at the complete text, which is presented uncut and without additional production. 

You can follow the text online - though some texts are better than others. There are, to our current knowledge, only two modern editions - the print on demand acting edition published by Groundling Press which can be found at their website http://www.groundlingpress.com/, and the almost impossible to get edition edited by Stephen Longstaffe (Mellen Critical Editions, 2002). 
Online versions exist - there is a copy of a facsimile at archive.org, which serves as a foundation https://archive.org/details/cu31924013324540/page/n9
Other online versions can and should be searched for. 
Support the podcast by going to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare and pledge something – or by leaving a review on itunes or whichever podcasting service you use. Or follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or check out our website at www.beyondshakespeare.org - you can even email us if you feel so inclined - [email protected]