Stay ConnectedA podcast tracing the development of theatre from ancient Greece to the present day through the places and people who made theatre happen. More than just dates and lists of plays we’ll learn about the social. political and historical context that fostered the creation of dramatic art.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable – https://chartable.com/privacy
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Copyright: © Copyright 2021 Philip Rowe
In this special episode I discuss historic and recent audience behaviour in the Theatre and how that behaviour reflects changes in society, with some particular reference to recent events in society and at some theatrical performances.
Kirsty Sedgman is a theatre academic at the University of Bristol who specialises in studying audiences. She has spent her career studying how we construct and maintain our competing value systems, working out how people can live side by side in the same world yet come to understand it in such totally different ways. The author of On Being Unreasonable: Breaking the Rules and Making Things Better (Faber 2023), she has spoken about her research around the world, and has seen her work featured in outlets like BBC Front Row, the Guardian, and the New York Times.
Links to books by Dr Kirsty Sedgman on Amazon (other retailers are available)
Link to the Manchester Evening News article on audience disruption at a performance of 'The Bodyguard'
Link to Wikipedia article about government advisor Dominic Cummins and his breaking of lockdown rules during the Covid-19 pandemic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_Cummings_scandal
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Episode 96:
The life and works of Thomas Nashe
Early Life
Cambridge University and ‘Terminus et non Terminus’
Nash moves to London and joins the ‘University Wits’
Pamphlets and work for the Archbishop of Canterbury
Nashe’s style and pseudonyms
Disagreements with the Gabriel brothers
Nash’s Dildo
Pearse Penniless
Summers Last Will and Testament, his only surviving solo-authored play
The Unfortunate Traveller
Christ’s Tears Over Jerusalem and Imprisonment
Terrors Of the Night
The Isle Of Dogs and the closure of theatres in the summer 1597
Nash’s Lentern Stuff and his final years
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To celebrate Shakespeare's birthday a special episode with guest Colin David Reese, actor, author and performer of 'Shakespeare Unbound', a one man play about the creation of the First Folio Edition of Shakespeare's plays, which was published 400 years ago this year.
David spoke to me previously (see bonus episode 'Shakespeare Unbound') about his play and the creation of the first folio and he makes a welcome return here to further discuss our continuing fascination with Shakespeare, how we view his genius, and what the truth really is behind that image.
Find out more about David's work and 'Shakespeare Unbound' at www.shakespeareunbound.com
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Episode 95:
The life and plays of some of the lesser known playwrights of the Tudor period.
George Gascoigne - his shady life story and his Italian translations into English prose.
Robert Greene - how he carved out a professional writers life from an unpromising start, his plays, and that notorious comment about Shakespeare.
Thomas Lodge - a prodigious talent who sought out an adventurous life and wrote two verse plays.
Thomas Preston - A Fellow of Cambridge University who wrote plays in many different styles.
Collaboration in the Tudor period.
George Peele - part of the 'university wits' set, best known for 'The Araynment of Paris' and 'The Battle of Alcazar', but 'The Old Wife's Tale' is the most thought provoking.
John Lily - A son of the establishment Lily produced plays for the court performed by the boy acting troupe at St Paul's School. His work is remembered for it's carefully crafted language that remained influential, but he never crossed over into the mainstream of the public playhouse.
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Nick Bromley has had a long career as a Stage Manager and Company Stage Manager and has worked on many UK tours and West End shows. He recently collated his acquired knowledge into a dictionary of theatrical terms, myths and stories called 'Theatre Lore'. He kindly agreed to come and talk to me about his life and career and his book.
You can order a copy of 'Theatre Lore' direct from Nick at his website https://lnpbooks.co.uk/
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
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Episode 94:
Gorboduc the first tragedy in blank verse
The lives of the co-authors Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville
The plot of the play including the description of the opening dumb show
The origins of the Gorboduc story
The political message of the play
How the play incorporates ideas and style from Seneca, Aristotle, and the medieval traditions
The use of allegorical characters
The problems whit the play as good drama
The play as an academic debate
The second printing of the play
The innovation of bank verse
The highpoint of the play
How satisfactory , or not, is the ending of the play?
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
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A Bonus episode featuring a sample of the content available to members subscribed to The History Of European Theatre on Patreon. To join up go to: www.patreon.com/thoetp
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
www.patreon.com/thoetp
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Episode 93:
The earliest extant plays from the Tudor period include comedies and a historical morality, which give an insight into how theatre developed.
A summary of the elements that came together to make Tudor theatre a very special development.
Students and Masters become playwrights looking to Seneca
Nicolas Udal, schoolmaster and writer of the earliest surviving comedy
A summary of Ralph Roister Doister
The problem of the authorship of Gammer Gurton's Needle
A summary of Gammer Gurton's Needle
John Bale and the manuscript of King Johan
A summary of the plot of King Johan
How King Johan works as a morality play, a history play and a tragedy.
Support the podcast at:
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www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
www.patreon.com/thoetp
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There are just a few very well-known names from the theatre of the 18th century – Sheridan, Goldsmith, Garrick and some other, less well known. One playwright you have probably never heard of is John Borgoyne – well not as a playwright anyway. In his biography of Burgoyne ‘From the Battlefield to the Stage’ Professor Norman Poser unpicks the often scarce and conflicting sources and tells the story of Burgouyne from his beginnings, through his military career and his theatrical successes. I spoke to Professor Poser on Zoom from his home in New York.
About the author: Norman S. Poser is the author of From the Battlefield to the Stage: The Many Lives of General Burgoyne (the first biography of the Georgian general and socialite to explore his plays in detail). Prof. Poser’sprevious historical books are Lord Mansfield: Justice in the Age of Reason, also published by McGill-Queen’s University Press,and The Birth of Modern Theatre: Rivalry, Riots, and Romance in the Age of Garrick (Routledge). An Emeritus Law Professor at Brooklyn Law School, he lives with his wife in New York. Before retiring and becoming a full-time author passionate about the Georgian era on both sides of the Atlantic, he was an internationally respected academic for many years. Prior to this, he was Chief of the Office of Regulation and an Assistant Director at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He was also a consultant to the World Bank in Central America, the Central Bank of Brazil and the Ministry of Finance in India.
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
www.patreon.com/thoetp
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Episode 92:
Elizabeth’s reign is seen as the golden age of theatre where many great playwrights, and one genius in particular, flourished. But did that happen because of the freedoms they were granted, or because of the constraints they worked under?
The situation in theatre as Elizabeth ascended to the throne.
The revision of the Act of Uniformity.
The renewal of the ban on Interludes and censorship play printing.
Rules introduced to combat the spread of plague.
Attempts to ban plays on moral grounds.
The arguments against stage plays performed on Sunday.
Touring companies in the north and continued performances of Corpus Christi plays.
Tightening control after the rebellion in the north and the execution of Mary.
The Earl of Leicester’s Men are granted a royal patent.
The reaction of the City of London to the royal patent.
The Revels Office and it’s effective third master, Edmund Tilney.
Censorship in the control of the Revels Office extended to all plays, play-makers and playhouses.
The limiting of official playhouses and troupes in London.
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
www.ko-fi.com/thoetp
www.patreon.com/thoetp
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