Welcome to The History of European Theatre Podcast Website and thanks for joining me through millennia of theatrical history.

The History Of European Theatre

A 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 u...

Recent Episodes

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March 30, 2025

Romeo and Juliet:‘These violent delights have violent ends.’

Episode 162 In today’s episode I look at Shakespeare’s early tragedy and one of his enduringly popular plays ‘Romeo and Juliet’. The dating of the play The early printings of the play in quarto editions The origins of the sto...

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March 23, 2025

Poor Naked Wretches: A Conversation with Stephen Unwin

Episode 161 In today’s guest episode I will be discussing Shakespeare’s characterisations of the lower classes and looking at the role they play with Stephen Unwin, who’s book ‘Poor Naked Wretches’ explores the variety of wor...

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March 16, 2025

King John: ‘New Made Honour Doth Forget Men’s Names’

Episode 160 A synopsis of the play The sources and dating of the play The problems with a historical drama in verse The historical accuracy of the play King John as neither a hero nor anti-hero Philip the bastard as a central...

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March 9, 2025

The Theatre Couple in Early Modern Italy: A Conversation with Serena Laiena

Episode 159 For today’s guest episode we are going back to the Italian renaissance theatre and the world of the Commedia Dell’arte. You will remember that I covered the Commedia and other early Italian theatre in season five...

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March 3, 2025

Richard II: ‘Sad Stories of the Death of Kings’

Episode 158 Picking up the journey through Shakespeare's plays with 'Richard II' A brief summary of the play The early performance history of the play The early print history of the play The variations in the quarto editions ...

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Feb. 24, 2025

Woke Shakespeare: A Conversation with Ian McCormick

In the fifth part of this short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon I had the chance to speak with Dr Ian McCormick about the collection of essays he...

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Feb. 17, 2025

Trackers of Oxyrhincus: A Reprised Conversation with Jimmy Walters

In the fourth part of this short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon today’s episode is a repeat of episode 32 of the podcast, first released in late...

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Feb. 10, 2025

Boy Actors: A Conversation with Roberta Barker

In the third part of this series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon, we are going deep into the world of the renaissance period boy actors, or perhaps, as ...

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Feb. 3, 2025

The Development of Roman Theatre: A Reprised Conversation with Dr Elodie Palliard

Episode 154 As you know form last week’s episode I’m running a short series of guest episodes before we get back to continuing the journey through the Shakespeare and Jonson cannon. Today’s episode is a repeat of episode 30 ...

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Jan. 27, 2025

Playing with Shakespeare: A Conversation with Charles Moseley

Episode 153 Today’s guest episode serves as a great precursor to what is to come. The discussion that you are about to hear with Charles Mosely focusses on Shakespeare as a man of the theatre and discusses how the plays were...

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Jan. 20, 2025

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Conversation With Rachel Aanstad

Episode 152 Following on from my thoughts on A Midsummer Night’s Dream last time I’m very pleased to welcome back Rachel Aanstad to the podcast for further thoughts on the play. You may remember from our previous conversatio...

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Jan. 13, 2025

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘Man Is but An Ass If He Go About to Expound This Dream’

Episode 151 Having finished with Ben Jonson’s biography we can now go back in time just a little to work through Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays in more detail. By the early 1590s was then the man of the theatrical moment, ...

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Recent Blog Posts

Sept. 16, 2024

The Peacham Drawing: Titus Andronicus

'Titus Andronicus' is notable for being the subject of the only contemporary illustration of a Shakespeare play. Known as the Peacham drawing, and currently in the Library at Longleat House in Wiltshire, the seat of the Marquis of Bath, the dr…

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July 7, 2024

New Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Featured in episode 123: The History of New Place Here are three images to help you visualize Shakespeare’s house in Stratford-Upon-Avon, New Place. The first is a view of the site as it stands today. The side of the house you can see i…

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July 7, 2024

Mystere des Trois Doms

Featured in episode 61: For the Money: The Medieval Commercial Theatre Ever wondered what a medieval play script looks like? This image is a page from the script for ‘Mystere des Trois Doms’. This play was produced in 1509 at Roma…

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The History Of European Theatre

Recent Episodes

Romeo and Juliet:‘These violent delights have violent ends.’

Poor Naked Wretches: A Conversation with Stephen Unwin

King John: ‘New Made Honour Doth Forget Men’s Names’

The Theatre Couple in Early Modern Italy: A Conversation with Serena Laiena

Richard II: ‘Sad Stories of the Death of Kings’

Woke Shakespeare: A Conversation with Ian McCormick

Trackers of Oxyrhincus: A Reprised Conversation with Jimmy Walters

Boy Actors: A Conversation with Roberta Barker

The Development of Roman Theatre: A Reprised Conversation with Dr Elodie Palliard

Playing with Shakespeare: A Conversation with Charles Moseley

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: A Conversation With Rachel Aanstad

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: ‘Man Is but An Ass If He Go About to Expound This Dream’

Recent Blog Posts

The Peacham Drawing: Titus Andronicus

New Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Mystere des Trois Doms

About the Host

Philip Rowe