Beyond Shakespeare

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts And Scene! This is random scene from Fair Em, the Miller’s Daughter of Manchester by the Unknown, though recently attributed to Thomas Kyd – make of that what you will. It was recorded live at our Winter Revels season on Thursday 14th December 2023. It is a dialogue between the Miller, with his daughter Fair Em, abo...

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts It's finally here, the full cast audio adaptation of Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe* It was recorded live, so there are some technical issues, but otherwise it has mixed reasonably well. There are some minor cuts, but we have endeavoured to retain most of the text. Sojourner Hazelwoo...

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts Because we thought you just didn't have enough on A Game at Chess from this podcast, here's a chat about a staged reading of A Game at Chess with Annie Charlton and Elizabeth Elsworth of York S********** Project. You can find out more about their work at https://www.yorkshakespeareproject.org/ For anyone interested...

Two announcements today, our new sponsor, and a little bit more detail about our Sir Thomas More event - tickets for which are now on general sale! Beyond Shakespeare is proud to announce our sponsor for the coming year is the Malone Society , whose works help keep alive the plays we work on. The Malone Society regularly publishes volumes of early plays which otherwise might not be available, and...

And Scene! This is random scene from Clyomon and Clymades by the Unknown. It was recorded live at our Winter Revels season on Saturday 16th December 2023. It is a dialogue between Clymades and Juliana – the play is a fun pastiche of romance literature, so is full of pompous adventurers looking to save damsels in rhyming 14ers. With Kit McGuire as Clymades, and Alexandra Katiagida as Julianna. For...

Here's the last of our two mini seasons of crossover episodes with Emily C A Synder and Colin Kovarik of the Hamlet to Hamilton podcast. It's actually the final episode of five, following on from the two part 1560 and All That which came as a mini set. We have been dancing through texts from the medieval up to the reign of Elizabeth on their podcast, and now we're doing the same over on ours - and...

Today we're having a chat with Nathan Winkelstein of Red Bull Theater about their upcoming Revelation Reading of Sejanus by Ben Jonson. Performing in New York, but also live streaming around the world on 26th January 2026 - the recording accessible for the week following. Do support this show, or the following production (in person) of The Roaring Girl, if you can. From their mission statement: "R...

Here's the second of two mini seasons of crossover episodes with Emily C A Synder and Colin Kovarik of the Hamlet to Hamilton podcast. It's actually the third episode of five, following on from the two part 1560 and All That which came as a mini set. We have been dancing through texts from the medieval up to the reign of Elizabeth on their podcast, and now we're doing the same over on ours - we mi...

It's the end of another year - so much has happened! Entertaining Henry , our Wyrd Revels , so many things... and I cram them into this short episode! Future things links - Live shows, not much I can announce year but next year, we’ll be performing live at  the Thomas Nashe and Voice conference (Friday 9th January) - doing Pierce Penniless It is part of a two-day conference on the writings of Thom...

Here's the second of two mini seasons of crossover episodes with Emily C A Synder and Colin Kovarik of the Hamlet to Hamilton podcast. It's actually second of five, as it follows on from the two part 1560 and All That which came as a mini set. We have been dancing through texts from the medieval up to the reign of Elizabeth on their podcast, and now we're doing the same over on ours - from the end...

This is a very late release of a discussion we had last year about the website 100 Ballads, which features over 100 ballads from the early modern period. Go have a look, it's fabulous. https://www.100ballads.org/ With Christopher Marsh, Angela McShane, Andy Watts and host Robert Crighton. Our patrons received this episode in May 2025 - 18 months early! The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported b...

The votes are in, we have our winner - and a host of runners up and stats to discuss! Visual charts will be available on our website shortly after this episode drops . Our patrons received this episode a few days ago... you can't keep secrets long. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/bey...

The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus , is the book that is the source for Christopher Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story. This was a tricky episode to record, as I had made a decision to use a specific version of the text with very odd versions of place names - I lost all ability to say these places in...

Hello! It's a chunky fragment this week, and one I've been wanted to produce more fully for a long time. A kinda content warning that this episode is about bad actors (in the political sense of the word) deliberately plotting to turn people against each other in a blatant attempt to leverage power. Which is upsetting enough in the real world, let alone in a 500ish year old play. Albion Knight by t...

 After joining us for so many explorations of the cony-catching pamphlets on our patreon channel, we couldn't not ask Michelle Michel to join us to discuss the world of printing and John Danter. In theory we were going to be talking around the play text of Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester... and then we mostly didn't! But we did talk about the printing of plays and Danter's part in it...

This is our closing panel discussion from Middleton's Endgame, following a whole day looking at A Game at Chess and the end of Middleton's career, recorded live at The White Bear Theatre on Sunday 11th August 2024. The panel get to grips, finally, with the question of the play itself - not just the history, the scandal, the context, but the actual goddamn play. CW: We will be discussing - quite bl...

Welcome to our live recording of the 1626 Lord Mayor's Show - The Triumphs of Health and Prosperity - by Thomas Middleton, performed as part of Middleton's Endgame at The White Bear Theatre on Sunday 11th August 2024. This is Middleton's last performed work before his early death, and so a fitting coda to our look at his last play, A Game at Chess. Introduction by Professor Tracey Hill Robert Crig...

In August 2024, we produced an all day event  Middleton’s Endgame: A Game at Chess LIVE! a pop up Middleton festival at The White Bear in Kennington, featuring a live performance of A Game at Chess, discussions of the play, a look at Middleton’s last public work, the 1626 Lord Mayor’s show, and other selections of writing from across his life. The whole event, as ever, was recorded, and we're rele...

Welcome to this full audio adaptation of the 1624 Lord Mayor's Show - The Monuments of Honour by John Webster. This is a playful reconstruction of the show performed on the 29th October 1624. It was a massive civic event created by the city for it’s new Lord Mayor. This reconstruction was SUPPOSED to have been recorded live on the 400th anniversary of the show - but, alas, the production fell thro...

In August 2024, we produced an all day event  Middleton’s Endgame: A Game at Chess LIVE! a pop up Middleton festival at The White Bear in Kennington, featuring a live performance of A Game at Chess, discussions of the play, a look at Middleton’s last public work, the 1626 Lord Mayor’s show, and other selections of writing from across his life. The whole event, as ever, was recorded, and we're rele...

Hello! Just a quick update to remind you of our upcoming Wyrd Revels, a few guest announcements, and the possibility of some live streaming! Beyond Wyrd Revels 2025 Tuesday 21st October at 7.30pm – The Witch of Edmonton by Dekker, Ford & Rowley Wednesday 22nd October at 7.30pm – The Wise-woman of Hogston by Thomas Heywood Thursday 23rd October at 7.30pm – Thyestes by Seneca , translated by Jas...

Speech! Speech! Occasional scenes and speeches from plays, voted for by those you support our work. This is a speech from Edward the Second by Christopher Marlowe, recorded live at our Revels season on Tuesday 11th December 2023. With Simon Mirza Nader as Edward II. For more on Marlowe and his work - https://audioboom.com/playlists/4630963-christopher-marlowe For a playlist covering all his extant...

In August 2024, we produced an all day event  Middleton’s Endgame: A Game at Chess LIVE! a pop up Middleton festival at The White Bear in Kennington, featuring a live performance of A Game at Chess, discussions of the play, a look at Middleton’s last public work, the 1626 Lord Mayor’s show, and other selections of writing from across his life. The whole event, as ever, was recorded, and we're rele...

  The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus , is the book that is the source for Christopher Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story. Chapter Twenty-One: How Doctor Faustus was carried through the air up to the heavens to see the whole world, and how the Sky and Planets ruled, after the which he wrote a letter to...

It's time for some !Spoilers! for Act Five of Dido, Queen of Carthage by Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe (discuss attribution with footnotes, please only write on one side of the paper at a time). The play was recorded at The White Bear Theatre on Tuesday 12th December 2023. If you’d like more on this play, there are exploring sessions galore on the YouTube . All our rehearsals, dress run, an...