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
108
June 21, 2026
Anthony and Cleopatra: ‘Age Cannot Wither Her, Nor Custom Stale Her Infinite Variety’
Episode 221: Last time I took you into the world of the court masque with the help of Kristen Macdermott who, I think you will agree, painted a very detailed picture of that very particular theatrical form and the way the Stuart court embraced it. As we heard, masques were often written by playwrights and performed by actors who also wrote for and performed in the public playhouse, so it’s no surprise that a few plays feature masques. We have already encountered short masques in ‘Much Ado About
107
June 14, 2026
Masques of Difference: A Conversation with Kristen McDermott part 2
Episode 220: This is the second part of my conversation with Kristen McDermott about the court masque. In this part we discuss two masques and the later history of the art form. Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare his life and times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre. I have put a link in the show notes to Kristen’s website where you
106
June 7, 2026
The Origins and Development of Masques: A Conversation with Kristen McDermott part 1
Episode 219: In this episode I take a look at the court masques of the Jacobean period. To do this I’m very lucky to have the guidance of Kristen McDermott who edited and wrote an extensive introduction to a collection of Jonson’s Masques called Masques of Difference. It is a volume that has been in print for an impressive twenty years and one that I found immensely useful in aiding my understanding of the court masque, an art form that can seem very obscure to us now. In the first part of the c
105
May 31, 2026
King Lear Part 2: ‘Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise’
Episode 218: Last time I looked at the first part of ‘King Lear’ from the opening scene where Lear makes his disastrous decision to split his kingdom between his children, through to the renowned scene where the ex-king and his fool are caught in a raging storm on the moor and saved only by the loyalty of Kent. On the way I looked at the deliciously evil Edmund, the poor judgement of his father Gloucester, and the scheming of Lear’s oldest daughter Goneril. Now I will complete this look at the p
104
May 24, 2026
King Lear Part 1: ‘How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth it is to Have a Thankless Child!’
Episode 217: ‘King Lear’, the play that is now often regarded as Shakespeare’s finest and deepest work is most often compared to the other two great tragedies of this period in Shakespeare’s writing, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Othello’, and of course there are thematic comparisons that can be made with those plays, but it has to be pointed out that ‘King Lear’ is also a very different play in tone and structure. Whether we rate ‘King Lear’ as Shakespeare’s best play or not it is a play that has deeply affect
103
May 17, 2026
Reading Shakespeare’s Mind: A Conversation with Steve Sohmer
Episode 216: For today’s guest episode I had the pleasure of talking to Steve Sohmer, author of a book titled ‘Reading Shakespeare’s Mind’. In his book Steve examines how Shakespeare’s relationship with several contemporary authors is exposed in his plays. This involves a very close reading of the text and an endlessly enquiring mind and it’s fascinating to read through Steve’s thought processes to understand the conclusions he has come to. As I was preparing for the recording, which you will no
102
May 10, 2026
Timon of Athens: ‘Nothing Emboldens Sin So Much as Mercy’
Episode 215: Last time Ben Jonson regained his stride in the public theatre with his comedy ‘Volpone’, an at moments sparkling satire of greed and avarice. Just about the only parallel I can draw between this and Shakespeare’s next offering, ‘Timon of Athens’, is that the study of greed appears in both, but they are very different plays in tone, character and intent. Shakespeare not only continued in his recent sombre mood but deepened it significantly with this play. When reading around the pla
101
May 3, 2026
Much Ado About Numbers: A Conversation With Rob Eastaway
Episode 214: For today’s guest episode I was pleased to get the chance to talk to Rob Eastaway, author of a book all about Shakespeare and his relationship to numbers and mathematics. Rob’s book ‘Much Ado About Numbers’ is a very entertaining read, whatever your level of understanding maths might be and quite an eye opener when considering how much maths permeates into Shakespeare’s plays. This is not just about hard numbers and number crunching, but touches to the Elizabethan attitude towards d
100
April 26, 2026
Volpone: ‘What a Rare Punishment is Avarice to Itself’
Episode 213: In the spring of 1606, a new Ben Jonson play premiered, not on this occasion at the Blackfriars theatre performed by one of the child companies, but at the Globe and performed by the King’s Men. The reasons for why Jonson sold his play to the King’s Men are not completely clear. Having a play performed by the Kings Men was, of course, prestigious in itself, and some of his early plays had been performed by the Lord Chamberlin’s Men, but up to this point for his most recent plays Joh
99
April 19, 2026
Collecting Thomas Kyd: A Conversation with Darren Freebury-Jones
Episode 212: For today’s guest episode it is a warm welcome back to the podcast for Darren Freebury Jones. On this occasion Darren is here to discuss Thomas Kyd and the works that have been attributed to him in a new two-volume edition of his collected works, for which Darren is the associate editor. It is always a pleasure to talk to Darren and as a friend of the podcast he needs only the briefest of introductions: Dr Darren Freebury-Jones is author of several works on early modern theatre incl
98
April 12, 2026
All’s Well That Ends Well: ‘The Web of Our Life is of a Mingled Yarn’
Episode 211: Through the last few episodes on Shakespeare’s plays, we seem to have seen a playwright in a serious mood, even when he was writing comedies. ‘Twelfth Night’ and ‘Measure For Measure’ are often referred to as having an autumnal tone, something serious underlying the comedy and of course we also have the even darker worlds of the tragedies of ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Othello’. The next play we come to from Shakespeare fits well into this group, but I choose my words carefully there because I ca
97
April 5, 2026
What’s in a Name? A Conversation with Susan Amussen
Episode 210: In her new book ‘What’s in a name? How historians know Shakespeare was Shakespeare’ Susan Ammunsen sets out to show how that in early modern England it was entirely possible that a glover’s son could transform into a successful actor and playwright. She does so by detailing a society that was in a moment of flux and opportunity in many aspects of life. It is a compelling read, so I was very pleased to invite Susan onto the podcast to discuss her work. Susan D. Amussen is Distinguish
Recent Blog Posts
March 23, 2026
Podcast Announcement 16th March 2026 - Advertisments
A small announcement about the podcast. If you have listened to any episodes recently you will have noticed that advertisements are now playing at the start, middle and end each episode. Placing advertisements in the podcast is a way of…
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…
July 7, 2024
New Place, Stratford-Upon-Avon
Featured in episode 123: The History of New PlaceHere 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…
About the Host
Philip Rowe