Episodes

Episode 206 Last time I discussed the dating and sources for Shakespeare’s tragedy ‘Othello’, the early performance history, and some points about the structure and poetry in the play. Then I took you through the first part ...

Episode 205: Last time Ben Jonson’s retelling of a slice of Roman Imperial history failed to impress at the Globe theatre. As an actor in that play Shakespeare had first-hand experience of the way the audience in the theatre...

Episode 204: For today’s guest episode we welcome Robert Crighton to the podcast. Robert is the guiding light behind ‘Beyond Shakespeare’ a project that aims to shine a light on very early theatre through to Early Modern the...

Episode 203: We now stay in the world of the Elizabethan interpretation of classical history and myth with Ben Jonson’s next play ‘Sejanus His Fall’. Rooted more firmly in history than myth Jonson’s play uses the story of a ...

Episode 202: For today’s guest episode it is a very warm welcome back to Racheal Aanstad. You will remember that Racheal and I have discussed Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream on the podcast and now she returns to ...

Episode 201 ‘Troilus and Cressida’, is a challenging piece by pretty much everybody’s estimation. Although it is no surprise that Shakespeare looked to the Homeric tales for his next inspiration which part of that story he c...

Episode 200 For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return to the podcast for Stephen Unwin. I spoke to Stephen earlier in this Shakespeare and Jonson season to discuss his book ‘Poor Naked Wretches’ which examines the way...

Episode 199: The line I have used for the title of today’s episode is spoken by Feste the fool, a central character in ‘Twelfth Night’. Fools have already played significant roles in Shakespeare’s previous plays and as you w...

Episode 198: As Ben Jonson was writing ‘The Poetaster’ in 1601 the Elizabethan age was drawing to a close. Elizabeth would live until March 1603, but by 1601 any hope of a natural heir was long past and her court and council...

Episode 197: For today’s guest episode I had the pleasure of talking to Simon Sandys Winsch, author of the Illustrated Tudor Dictionary. Given Simon’s broad knowledge of the period I took the opportunity to talk to him about...

Episode 196: Following on from the humours plays ‘Every Man In His Humour’ and ‘Every Man Out of His Humour’ Johnson stayed with comedy for his next offering, but rather than returning to the public stage and the adult playin...

Episode 195 Last time I completed my review of ‘Hamlet’, although it is probably wrong to say that one’s thoughts on Hamlet are ever complete. I am not alone in finding that every time I see the play, and it is I think, as i...

Episode 194: Last time I left things hanging for Hamlet as, having seen the ghost of his father and resolved on revenge, he had seen his planning go awry as he mistakenly killed the old councillor Polonius while he hid behind...

Episode 193 For today’s guest episode it is a very welcome return to the podcast for Colin David Reese, who I last spoke to in early 2023, when we discussed his play ‘Shakespeare Unbound: A Gift to the Future’ and Shakespeare...

Episode 192: And so, we come to perhaps the biggest challenge in all of Shakespeare's work, ‘The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmark’. Over the next two episodes and a special guest episode I hope I can get close to doing th...

Episode 191: For today’s guest episode it is a welcome return to Ricky Dukes, artistic director of Lazarus Theatre Company. Following on from our conversation about ‘Henry V’ Ricky and I went on to discuss ‘Julius Caesar’. ...

Episode 190: 'Julius Caesar' has proved to be one of Shakespeare’s most malleable plays through the centuries as it’s political narrative has been applied to just about every period of history since it was first performed, ei...

Episode 189: For today’s guest episode it is my pleasure to welcome Dr Iman Sheeha to the podcast. Her book ‘Neighbourly Relations in early modern drama has been published recently so it was a great opportunity to talk to he...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...