Season 3
Nov. 15, 2021
Medieval Places Of Seeing
Episode 63 In a coda to season 3 somewhere in England an acting troupe travels through a cold December at the tale end of the Medieval period, in search of an audience. A fictional account using the facts and assumptions dis…
Sept. 20, 2021
Medieval Conclusions
Episode 62 With 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 religious d…
Sept. 13, 2021
For the Money: The Medieval Commercial Theatre
Episode 61 Once 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 it profitable? The …
Sept. 6, 2021
Just For Fun: Medieval Secular Theatre
Episode 60 Religious 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 develop…
Aug. 30, 2021
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 Englis…
Aug. 23, 2021
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 shows how the play might have been p…
Aug. 16, 2021
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 a profound effect on the future develop…
Aug. 9, 2021
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 the demons and devils take to the st…
Aug. 2, 2021
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 is often overlooked. Why are the…
July 19, 2021
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 York Plays Fu…
July 12, 2021
Medieval Stage Effects
Episode 53 Stage sets, costuming and special effects became quite sophisticated in the cycle plays during the sixteenth century. This episode looks at the examples of stage sets that we have from Valenciennes. You can see th…
July 5, 2021
Medieval Performance and Rehearsal
Episode 52 This episode looks at how the Corpus Christi plays were organised and staffed with actors, tradesmen and other organisers and supporters. How rehearsals were organised and what was expected of actors, including de…
June 28, 2021
Corpus Christi: New Feast Day, New Plays
Episode 51 The instigation of the Corpus Christi feat day too theatre out of the church and into the town and village. This episode looks at the development of the celebration of the new feast day and how the new trades guil…
June 21, 2021
Synods Tropes Asses and Fools
Episode 50 The Synod of Winchester issued direction on the performance of the Trope in 960 and the door was open for further developments on other feast days. Then a look at other church festivals with dramatic elements. The…
June 14, 2021
Uncomfortable Bedfellows: Theatre and Worship
Episode 49 The story of how theatre found it's way into the church service on the most important days in the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day. For a long time drama was a small elaboration to the massif th…
June 7, 2021
From Roman to Medieval
Episode 48 To open season three a summary of how theatre and dramatic activity survived despite the restrictions placed on it from the growing influence of the Christian Church. This podcast uses the following third-party se…
May 31, 2021
Season Three Trailer: Medieval Theatre
Season 3 Trailer: Medieval Theatre This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy