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

View all

Sept. 28, 2025

As You Like It: ‘I Can Suck Melancholy Out of a Song as a Weasel Sucks Eggs’

Episode 188: Following on from the last episode before the run of summer guest conversations we take a sharp swerve from ‘Henry V’ to ‘As You Like It’. Although we cannot be quite sure about the chronology in which Shakespea...

Listen to the Episode

Sept. 21, 2025

Who is King Henry?: A Conversation with Ricky Dukes

Episode 187: This episode is both an ending and a beginning. An ending because it is the last of the recent run of consecutive guest episodes – next time we will be returning to Shakespeare, Jonson and their plays – but it i...

Listen to the Episode

Sept. 14, 2025

Robert Armin – Shakespeare’s Other Clown: A Conversation with Tim Fitzhigham

Episode 186: In this continuing series of guest episodes, it is a very welcome return to the podcast for Tim Fitzhigham. You may remember I spoke to Tim in episode 140 about his work at the Kings Lynn Guildhall where the Eli...

Listen to the Episode

Sept. 7, 2025

‘The Shakespeare Ladies Club’: A Conversation with Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth

Episode 185: For today’s guest episode it’s a warm welcome to the podcast for Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth, co-authors of the recently published book ‘The Shakespeare Ladies Club’. Their book explores the lives of four l...

Listen to the Episode

Aug. 31, 2025

‘A Trojan Woman’: A Conversation with Sara Farrington

Episode 184: Today’s episode is part of my summer run of guest episodes and feels very special as rather than talking about a long dead playwright I got to talk to a living one. Sara Farrington is a New York based playwright...

Listen to the Episode

Aug. 24, 2025

The Dream Factory: A Conversation With Daniel Swift

Episode 183: Today’s episode is the first of a short run of guest episodes to see us through the end of the English summer and first up is Daniel Swift, author of ‘The Dream Factory: London’s First Playhouse and the making of...

Listen to the Episode

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 ...

Listen to the Episode

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...

Listen to the Episode

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...

Listen to the Episode

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 ...

Listen to the Episode

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...

Listen to the Episode

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...

Listen to the Episode

View all Episodes

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…

Read the Blog Post

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…

Read the Blog Post

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…

Read the Blog Post

View all posts

The History Of European Theatre

Recent Episodes

As You Like It: ‘I Can Suck Melancholy Out of a Song as a Weasel Sucks Eggs’

Who is King Henry?: A Conversation with Ricky Dukes

Robert Armin – Shakespeare’s Other Clown: A Conversation with Tim Fitzhigham

‘The Shakespeare Ladies Club’: A Conversation with Christine and Jonathan Hainsworth

‘A Trojan Woman’: A Conversation with Sara Farrington

The Dream Factory: A Conversation With Daniel Swift

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

Recent Blog Posts

The Peacham Drawing: Titus Andronicus

New Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon

Mystere des Trois Doms

About the Host

Philip Rowe