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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Aug. 17, 2025

Henry V: ‘A Valiant Flea That Dare Eat His Breakfast on The Lip of a Lion’

Episode 182: Although it feels like a while since Shakespeare had produced a history play, we must remember that all the plays I have discussed so far were written and played in a very compressed timescale. If we take Henry ...

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Aug. 10, 2025

Leicester's Men: A Conversation with Laurie Johnson

Episode 181: For today’s guest episode it’s a pleasure to welcome Laurie Johnson to the podcast. Laurie’s book ‘Leicester’s Men and their Plays’ is a fascination study of one of the most influential of the playing troupes of...

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Aug. 3, 2025

Much Ado About Nothing: A College of Wit-Crackers Cannot Flout Me Out of My Humour

Episode 180: Much Ado About Nothing remains one of the more popular comedies where the characters of Benedick and Beatrice are usually thought of as the leading characters, but this play is much more of an ensemble piece than...

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July 27, 2025

Jonson’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Episode 179: For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our second conversation Kay discusses Jonson’s world view and how it differed from Shakespeare’s, which we discussed in our first ...

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July 20, 2025

Every Man Out of his Humour: ‘Art Hath an Enemy Called Ignorance’

Episode 178: Ben Jonson's humours play 'Every Man in His Humour' was a big success and Jonson chose to name his next comedy in a very similar way, just substituting ‘in’ for ‘out’, no doubt to capitalise on the success of the...

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July 13, 2025

Shakespeare’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Episode 177: For today’s guest episode it is a warm welcome for Kay Daly to the podcast. In our conversation Kay took the opportunity to give an overview of Shakespeare’s world view as seen through his earlier plays and part...

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July 6, 2025

Every Man in his Humour: ‘Learn to be Wise and Practice How to Thrive’

Episode 176: In ‘Every Man In His Humour’ Jonson pays a debt to Roman comedy, but also shows us, in an almost fully formed way, his very own style. This is not the biting satire of many of his plays, but something a little g...

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June 29, 2025

Shakespeare on the Radio: A Conversation with Andrea Smith

Episode 175: On today’s guest episode we welcome Andrea Smith to the podcast. Andrea’s book ‘Shakespeare on the Radio’ has just been published and she kindly agreed to come on and give us some highlights from her very detail...

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June 22, 2025

The Case is Altered: ‘It Is the Pleasure of Our Fates That We Should Thus Be Wracked on Fortunes Wheel’

Episode 174: Ben Jonson's erliest play. Here we have the bricklayer’s son trying to make his way in the theatre and with the court. Until James came to the throne, he was pretty unsuccessful in the latter and as far as we ca...

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June 15, 2025

Nothing Goes to Plan in Love’s Labour’s Lost: A conversation with Eleanor Conlon

Episode 173: For this guest episode it is a very welcome return for Eleanor Conlon, who you will remember discussed Titus Andronicus with me in Episode 22 of this season. Having picked over the brutal actions of that play wi...

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June 8, 2025

Love’s Labour’s Lost: ‘Assist Me, Some Extemporal God of Rhyme’

Episode 172: Following on from 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' the refined courtly comedy that is ‘Love’s Labour’s Lost’ might seem quite unrelated, but both plays are, in their own way, concerned with the use and abuse of langu...

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June 1, 2025

Shakespeare in the Restoration: A Conversation with Stephen Watkins

Episode 171: For today’s guest episode it is a warm welcome to Stephen Watkins who is going to take us a little way forward in the timeline to the world of Restoration England where after fourteen years of closures theatres w...

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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

Henry V: ‘A Valiant Flea That Dare Eat His Breakfast on The Lip of a Lion’

Leicester's Men: A Conversation with Laurie Johnson

Much Ado About Nothing: A College of Wit-Crackers Cannot Flout Me Out of My Humour

Jonson’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Every Man Out of his Humour: ‘Art Hath an Enemy Called Ignorance’

Shakespeare’s World View: A Conversation with Kay Daly

Every Man in his Humour: ‘Learn to be Wise and Practice How to Thrive’

Shakespeare on the Radio: A Conversation with Andrea Smith

The Case is Altered: ‘It Is the Pleasure of Our Fates That We Should Thus Be Wracked on Fortunes Wheel’

Nothing Goes to Plan in Love’s Labour’s Lost: A conversation with Eleanor Conlon

Love’s Labour’s Lost: ‘Assist Me, Some Extemporal God of Rhyme’

Shakespeare in the Restoration: A Conversation with Stephen Watkins

Recent Blog Posts

The Peacham Drawing: Titus Andronicus

New Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Mystere des Trois Doms

About the Host

Philip Rowe