By Philip Rowe
4.9
3131 ratings
The podcast currently has 179 episodes available.
Episode 138:
Over the course of speaking about English Renaissance Plays and Shakespeare I have had cause to mention the play ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’ several times. Most latterly because it is thought to include references to ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ and ‘Titus Andronicus’ and prior to that, in the season on the Early Renaissance Theatre it had a mention as one of the plays performed at the Rose Playhouse as recorded in Henslowe’s Diary. Having been reminded of it while writing about the early Shakespeare plays I thought that it deserved a little time in the spotlight on it’s own as it gives us a little snapshot of the plays, and particularly comedies other than Shakespeare and Jonson, that was circulating at the time of the earliest of Shakespeare’s plays. So, here is a little interlude of an episode all about ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’.
A quick word on ‘Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers’ by Darren Feebury-Jones, which is published in October 2024 and on Henry Porter and his possible involvement with ‘Dr Faustus’.
The performances of ‘A Knack to Know a Knave’ as reported in Henslowe’s Diary
The mystery of the low takings for repeated performances in a second run of the play
The printed quarto edition of the play
A summary of the plot
The (possibly) missing parts of the play, including Kempe’s extemporising
How the fools of Gotham folk tale is worked into the play
The allusions to other plays in the text
The final lines of the play
If you would like to read the text of A Knack to Know a Knave, you can find it on google books here
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www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
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Episode 137:
The dating of the play
Printing in the First Folio
The sources for the play and the nature of the text
A brief synopsis of the play
The major themes of the play
How the status and youth of Valentine and Proteus helps to understand their actions in the play
The role of Speed and how the play features the embryo of Shakespearean wordplay
The role and values of Lance, and Crab the dog, as a comparison to Proteus
Some well-regarded verse from the play
Different readings of the theme of love
The problematic rape and forgiveness scene
The play as a courtly romance
The play as a parody of past cultural norms
Is the text more corrupt than is generally thought?
How our understanding of male relationships at the time might affect our view of the play
The performance history of the play
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 136:
Having given you my own thoughts on ‘Titus Andronicus’ last time I’m pleased to say that for this special guest episode I was able to take the discussion even further with Eleanor Conlon, a fellow podcaster and a theatre professional as you will hear Eleanor has a lot to say about the play and insights that, in some cases, go in different directions from what I was able to say about the play.
Eleanor Conlon is an actor, director, and award-winning writer based in Sussex.
After completing her BA in English Literature at Goldsmiths, University of London, Eleanor earned her MA in Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama at Kings College and Shakespeare’s Globe. While at The Globe, Eleanor worked dramaturgically on productions by Dominic Dromgoole Matthew Dunster and Jeremy Herrin, and with Jenny Tiramani on the Original Practices Costume Archive.
After achieving success with her theatre company The Barefoot Players in the late 2000s and early 2010s, with which she produced plays including Tis Pity She’s a Whore, Doctor Faustus and The Alchemist, the latter two of which she also directed, as well as productions of several of Shakespeare’s works, plays by Ibsen, Oscar Wilde, and others, she founded her current and much acclaimed theatre company Rust & Stardust.
Writing over a dozen plays rooted in English folklore, Eleanor has worked with her puppet-maker partner Katie Sommers to tour Rust & Stardust’s shows all over the UK, including their plays The Wild Man of Orford, Black Shuck, The Marsh Demons of Iken, and Doctor Dee’s Daughter and the Philosopher’s with celebrated recorder quartet Palisander.
In addition to recent adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays including The Tempest and Macbeth with Trinity Theatre in Tunbridge Wells, in 2023 she launched the Three Ravens Podcast with her partner Martin Vaux – also a writer and actor – which explores history, legends, and diverse aspects of folk culture.
Featuring original stories each week based on the lore of England’s 39 historic counties, Three Ravens quickly rose into the Top 1% of podcasts globally. It currently sits in the Top 50 UK Fiction Podcasts, with 4.9/5 star ratings on iTunes, Apple Podcasts and Spotify and a passionate fanbase across social media.
For Three Ravens contact:
Website: https://www.threeravenspodcast.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/threeravenspodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/threeravenspodcast
X: @threeravenspod
For Rust + Stardust Theatre
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eleanorstardust/
Website: https://www.rustandstardust.co.uk
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 135:
Is Shakespeare’s early tragedy more than just a gore-fest?
The first performance of the play, maybe
The three playing troupes involved with the play
Is the play a collaboration with George Peele?
The popularity of violence in plays
The sources for the play
A brief summary of the play
The establishing of characters in the first act
The justifications for Titus’ desire for revenge
The role of young Lucius
The flaw in Titus’ character that leads to tragedy
Family life as represented in the play
The contrasts drawn between Lavinia and Tamora
The portrayal of fatherhood in the play
The use of Ovid’s ‘Metamorphosis’
Shakespeare’s use of personification, borrowed from medieval morality plays
The extreme violence in the play
The Peacham Drawing
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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A short word from my good podcasting friend Peter Schmitz, he of the ‘Adventures In Theatre History Philadelphia’ podcast, who has written a book on that very subject and I’m sure that it will be as informative, as amusing and generally as fascinating as his podcast episodes always are. What is even better is that Peter has produced a short audio that gives you all the information you need about the book and how you can get hold of it. These links might be useful:
https://www.brooklinebooks.com/9781955041379/adventures-in-theater-history-philadelphia/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adventures-Theater-History-Peter-Schmitz/dp/1955041377/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1FQHNN2ZJG5SE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8oSl8huLrCxYxe1gR-WgMTKb62F56xPJLXJ49C4eLW52Njy6h53qTfk_QyAlISrCS1nBtjE5fP18rp_sk3gIYoPR7RAWKCe1UItqgZQpd-9PXkMqKB8ftKvQb9JhK0iqaMPdFPSCfo8AyM-8tvFcwNkejTFM0ThPPZlfC0KousFlD-3ZYd4wH6TjhApBJSBVy125ksgHOGMFVNkzSDVWzIz0g_2hLt5zWxDV81pmrfs.pPMmYdPY47WYuKoK1DNaM-yz5JQz_DXXrrqyiIMM2Zg&dib_tag=se&keywords=adventures+in+theatre+history&qid=1726229400&sprefix=adventures+in+theatre+history%2Caps%2C83&sr=8-1
https://www.amazon.com/Adventures-Theater-History-Peter-Schmitz/dp/1955041377/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3CNUES6XNBNLW&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IxlWUqR1nThHNR-GNJvuEjIo6f36mo82bS9_8A4Sx2PBGFys45ykLfXSgWrSIMpHJ0mn7qGooCMBFwWMv2nZqMK8rKgLgx9kTpDPQhHmqxigZbGPTyZ83Q5H5P2GQscDk4bNo7HYgM_9jXyO9EXcBSn0HZEqFpQmV_RWMmCXUSL4ld_Z22rnfxbih_CgyVUrMPqutRrwuii1_Hxe1fxx4hszZpQbw9dLxGUkrYUu2-Q.lr0Eg8P1HNDd9nfK-0DQttltOiAQaSpi0unC8HFtmZg&dib_tag=se&keywords=adventures+in+theater+history+philadelphia&qid=1726229447&sprefix=adventures+in+theatre+history+%2Caps%2C140&sr=8-1
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Episode 134:
Author Jem Bloomfield joins us to talk about his recently published book, ‘Allusion in Detective Fiction’, which looks at how and why allusion to Shakespeare and the Bible was used by the masters, or I should say mistresses, of golden age detective fiction. This may not seem like an obvious area when considering the pervasive influence of Shakespeare, but as you will here the connections that Jem has made can tell us a lot about how knowledge and use of Shakespeare is constantly changing.
Warning – Spoilers present!
Jem discusses major plot points of several classic detective novels, but we thought that they can hardly be counted as spoilers up to about a century after they were first published, but you have been warned.
Link to Jem's book on the publishers website:
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-58339-1
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 133:
The complications with dating the play and it’s relationship with a similar Elizabethan play
The sources for the play
A short summary of the play
The Christopher Sly framing device
Switching of roles in the play
The disguise motif
The motivations of the leading characters
The implication of the falconry images in the play
The Elizabethan idea of a proper wife and correct behaviour
Similarities with Elizabethan ‘wife taming’ ballads
The play as an inheritor of Roman comedy
The protagonists as stock characters
Katherine’s imbalance of the humours
Are Petruchio and Katherine a matched couple?
Do the three marriages resolve the play?
Does the play make a serious point about gender relationships in Elizabethan England?
The ‘difficult’ final speech by Katherine
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 132
My thoughts on seeing a recent production of Richard 3rd at Shakespeare's Globe, starring Michelle Terry in the titular role. The production and the cotrovercy that surrounded it raises questions about gender fluid casting, the nature of leadership and the casting of able bodied actors in this famous portrayal of deformity.
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 131: Richard 3rd: ‘And Thus I Clothe My Naked Villainy.’
Shakespeare dramatises the life of the last Plantagenet king and create one of theatre's most spectacular villains.
The dating of the play
The quarto editions of the play
When is a history play a tragedy, or not?
The sources of the play
The influence of Seneca
Other contemporary versions of the Richard 3rd story.
The centrality of the character of Richard
A brief plot summary
The boldness of Richard’s actions
Richard as prologue and then guide in the play
Lady Anne and her reaction to Richard’s proposal
The influence of Marlowe on Richard 3rd
The role of the female characters in the play
How should we view the presence of Margaret in the play?
The curses and prophecy of Margaret
How deformity and old age can be seen to link Richard and Margaret
Richard afflicted by guilt
The theatricality of the play
Does our liking for Richard affect the morality of the play
What the lay can tell us about players and changes in Tudor society
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.patreon.com/thoetp
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 130:
Mathew Morris talk to me about the archaeological dig that resulted in the discovery of the final remains of Richard 3rd, which serves as a prelude to the next episode which will be all about Shakespeare’s take on the final Yorkist king. Towards the end of our conversation, we spoke about the differences between the Richard of the play and what the skeletal remains that were uncovered tell us about the real-life king, but most of the conversation is about how the remains were discovered, recovered for analysis, and how they were proved to be the remains of Richard 3rd.
Mathew Morris is a Project Officer at the University of Leicester Archaeological Service with over a decade of archaeological experience, having excavated a wide range of rural and urban archaeology across the Midlands, from the prehistoric period through to the Second World War. His specialisms include urban archaeology, community archaeology and Roman and medieval archaeology.
Mathew graduated from the University of Leicester in 2003 with a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Landscape Studies, joining ULAS in 2004. Notable projects include a massive multi-period urban excavation at Highcross in Leicester that included excavation of Roman town houses, commercial buildings, two lost medieval churches and medieval cemeteries and a Roman cemetery at Western Road in Leicester, and, of course in 2012 he directed the successful archaeological search for the lost grave of King Richard III. Recently, he has been digging up more Roman buildings and mosaics in Leicester, at the former Southgates Bus Depot and All Saints' Brewery sites and is currently leading the archaeological work for the Leicester Cathedral Revealed project.
He has co-authored the most comprehensive book ever written on the archaeology of Leicester - 'Life in Roman and Medieval Leicester' (2021) and three popular archaeology books: 'Visions of Ancient Leicester' (2011), 'Richard III: The King under the Car Park' (2013) and 'Roman Leicester: Life in the Roman World' (2018). He is actively involved in promoting archaeology to the general public, regularly providing talks to local societies, and is a Committee member of the Leicestershire Fieldworkers, and a Branch Leader for the Leicestershire Young Archaeologists’ Club. He also currently leads the Castle Hill Community Archaeology Dig and the Bosworth Links Community Dig.
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The podcast currently has 179 episodes available.
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