For many of the performances we know Shakespeare performed at Whitehall Palace, including staging “Twelfth Night” in 1602, he would have performed at Banqueting House. Unfortunately, the original Banqueting House burned down after Shakespeare died, and while rebuilt in 1622 by the famous Inigo Jones for James I , the structure there today is not the original site where Shakespeare’s company would have performed. Nevertheless, the name Banqueting House reminds us that for Queen Elizabeth the banquet was a large affair, full of all the pomp and circumstance you might expect from the Queen of England. After all, these state occasions were often used to welcome and entertain visiting dignitaries as well as to mark special occasions, such as royal birthdays or the Christmas season. But what was Shakespeare’s role at these banquets? We know he was there, but was he just a performer, there to put on a play, or was he allowed to be a guest at the lavish dinners as well? And what were the standard aspects of a royal banquet in the 16th century that would have been seen and heard in the Palace of  Whitehall or Hampton Court Palace those years that Shakespeare was performing there?

Here to take us back to Shakespeare’s lifetime and help us experience the formal banquet through the eyes of Shakespeare is our guest, Julia Lupton.