The History of European Theatre Podcast
A chronological history of the development and practice of theatre, tracing the emergence from ancient Greece through to the present day.
The History of European Theatre looks at the places where theatre was made and the people who made it happen. More than just dates and lists of plays we’ll share the social, political and historical context that fostered the creation of dramatic art.
Latest Episodes
Medieval Conclusions
Episode 62With the Reformation came the final end of the great Religious plays of the medieval period. The episode sumarises the great trends of medieval theatre and charts the final end as Europe descended into [...]
For the Money: The Medieval Commercial Theatre
Episode 61Once the medieval theatre had moved out of the confines of the church and away from religious obligation a form of commercial theatre began, but how was money spent and income generated and was [...]
Just For Fun: Medieval Secular Theatre
Episode 60Religious theatre dominated the Medieval period, but there are some examples of works written just for fun and entertainment.How celebrations like The Feast of Fools, The Boy Bishop and The Feast of Asses developed [...]
Full Episode Listing
Everyman: Dutch Morality
Episode 59
Everyman is the most well known of all the Morality plays and probably an English adaptation of a Dutch original.
Different types of Morality Plays
The Morality play in Europe and how they differed from the […]
The Castle of Perseverance
Episode 58
The Castle of Perseverance is a great example of how difficult it can be to discuss the form of a play separately from the content and in this case we have an illustration that […]
Virtues Vs Vices: The Morality Play
Episode 57
The Morality play is a type of play that for all its similarities and shared heritage with the Corpus Christi cycle plays brought something new to the world of drama and had […]
Hell Harrowed, the World Flooded
Episode 56
The history of the Harrowing of Hell and the way it was portrayed in the cycle plays, including some thoughts on how it would have been staged and how the play comes alive when […]
While Shepherds Watched
Episode 55
The Second Shepherds play is considered the best of the medieval cycle plays. In this episode I take a look at not only the second shepherds play, but the first play as well, which […]
The Home of the Cycle Plays: York, Chester, Coventry and Wakefield
Episode 54
In this episode we look at the way the cycle plays developed in the four major centres from where we have complete versions of the cycle: York, Chester, Coventry and Wakefield.
The development of the […]