Beyond Shakespeare

The Tragedy of Panthea possibly by Richard Farrant.  So, this is a short fragment from The Tragedy of Panthea. It was performed by a boy’s company sometime between 1567 and 1580, and depending on the date by the Children of Winsor or the Children of the Chapel Royal. Richard Farrant is a reasonable shout as the author, as he produced within those limits. Panthea performed by Fiona Thraille, the ho...

We continue our Spoilers for The World and the Child, or Mundus et Infans by the Unknown. Dating around 1500, printed in 1522, it's the smallest cast show on the block - potentially stageable with two (we used five) actors. As a pre-plague bonus recording, we are locked into the takes we made four years ago - but it's come out quite well. This !Spoilers! episode unlocks the final movement of the p...

Welcome to this discussing episode, where I chat with modern playwright Mark Ravenhill about early plays by unmodern playwrights. We talk about a whole host of plays, productions, inspirations, and approaches to early modern plays from the perspective of a modern one. Mark Ravenhill's latest play Ben and Imo is being produced by the RSC and will be performing at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-Upon-...

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. Performed by Robert Crighton Chapter Two: How Doctor Faustus began to practise in his devilish Art, and how he conjured the devil, making him to appear and meet him on the morrow at...

We continue our Spoilers for The World and the Child, or Mundus et Infans by the Unknown. Dating around 1500, printed in 1522, it's the smallest cast show on the block - potentially stageable with two (we used five) actors. As a pre-plague bonus recording, we are locked into the takes we made four years ago - but it's come out quite well. This !Spoilers! episode unlocks the third movement of the p...

A discussion of the play Love's Victory by Lady Mary Wroth - which has been produced live by the team of Professor Alison Findlay and director Emma Rucastle. A video of that production is available online now . More about the project can be found here . A production of Edward III   at Lancaster Castle (2023), mentioned in the episode, can be seen here. Our patrons received this episode in November...

We continue our !Spoilers! for The World and the Child, or Mundus et Infans by the Unknown. Dating around 1500, printed in 1522, it's the smallest cast show on the block - potentially stageable with two (we used five) actors. As a pre-plague bonus recording, we are locked into the takes we made four years ago - but it's come out quite well. This !Spoilers! episode unlocks the second movement of th...

A full performance of The Hanging of Judas, an odd bit of text in the Towneley mystery cycle documents. It's a fragment only, the narrative cuts off, but we fill in some of the gaps. Sadly, this was one of the recording sessions which went wrong technically - I have cleaned it up as best I can, and added some background sfx for atmosphere, but some artifacts do still occur. However, it was such a...

Welcome to a new monthly Tuesday short release - it's a reading of a book you might not have read, but you will know. The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus , is the book that is the source for Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story. Performed by Robert Crighton Chapter One: Of his Parentage and Birth. Our pa...

We are finally releasing this last of the pre-plague recordings - it's The World and the Child, or Mundus et Infans by the Unknown. Dating around 1500, printed in 1522, it's the smallest cast show on the block - potentially stageable with two (we used five) actors. As a pre-plague bonus recording, we are locked into the takes we made four years ago - but it's come out quite well. This first !Spoil...

This is our omnibus edition of the complete jests of George Peele - with additional music added to the mix! The Merry Conceited Jests of George Peele was narrated by Sarah Black, with music composed by Tom Cowell and performed by Tom Cowell, Gabriela Ansteeg, Paolo Maldari, Federico Picetti and Corinna Vatterodt. Produced by Sounds Curious for the Beyond podcast. Final omnibus mix by Robert Cright...

This week it's a chat about Brutan Drama - or plays about Britain's pre-Roman history, which feature in Stage Britain's Past by Dr Kim Gilchrist, our guest! This has been a chat long in the making, and much prepared for, as we discuss Gorboduc, Locrine, King Leir, and Nobody and Somebody - all of which we have played with in exploring sessions (though Nobody and Somebody won't be released till lat...

Our patrons received this episode about a week ago. It's hard to do a round up in advance. A round up of all things Beyond, as well as beyond Beyond in the world of pre-modern drama. You can join the public end of the BIG VOTE for our next season here! If you're interested in being involved in our live sessions on A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton next August, sign up here . The video version -...

A fuller look than usual at the epilogue to King Darius (c.1565) in the context of the wider play. And... oh boy... is King Darius WEIRD. With the wonderful Fiona Thraille as the epilogue, and various voices in passing in our exploring session clip, including possibly Heydn McCabe, Stephen Longstaffe, Gregory Musson, Liza Graham, Alex Scott Fairley, Rob Myson, Lynsey Beauchamp. The host is Robert...

The Jests of George Peele - Episode 14: How George Served a Gentlewoman. Performed by Sarah Blake A full audiobook reading, performed by Sarah Blake of Sounds Curious Productions, released monthly - followed by an omnibus version. Our patrons have received early access to nearly all the episodes so far, and have exclusive  access to our exploring sessions and discussion of the text - join us on th...

Another fun fragmentary text, Judith by Cornelius Schonaeus, which is... well the more we look at it, the more we think that the translation of the original text is bobbins. It's not really designed for performance, more a literal translation job... so, it's a bit... yeah. Messy. But we had a go. Judith by Cornelius Schonaeus, possibly translated by Henry Evans. With Rob Myson as the Prologue and...

Hello! A quick update on our Winter Revels 2023 and the opening of Round 1 (ding, ding) for our BIG Vote for 2024. Open to all, you get to help create the shortlist for next years new productions - https://forms.gle/YvuS657yV8rVEhq19 All of which is (in part) dependent on the success of our upcoming Winter Revels - do come if you can, or share the shows with your friends and on social media. The B...

Welcome to our full cast audio adaptation of Iphigenia - recorded as a test live stream for our patrons in April, this is the mixed down version. Many thanks to everyone who helped get this show on the road, and to our wonderful patrons who voted for it. The Tragedy of Iphigenia by Jane, Lady Lumley, as translated from the play by Euripides The Chorus / Lady Lumley was played by Sarah Blake, Agame...

The Jests of George Peele - Episode 13: How he Served a Tapster. Performed by Sarah Blake A full audiobook reading, performed by Sarah Blake of Sounds Curious Productions, released monthly - followed by an omnibus version. Our patrons have received early access to nearly all the episodes so far, and have exclusive  access to our exploring sessions and discussion of the text - join us on the patreo...

It's a brand new !Spoilers! episode for The Tragedy of Iphigenia as translated from Euripides by Jane, Lady Lumley around 1553. This episode works through the action, but there isn't the plain text audio at the end - largely because we don't plan to cut the final version. As ever, the text as recorded may contain minor errors and is a bit rough round the edges. In The Tragedy of Iphigenia by Jane,...

It's another fragment, labelled as Part of a Play by someone, but it's not desperately play like... so... here it is. It's... not a particularly easy text to read, so many bonus thanks to Heydn McCabe for giving it a go. Part of a Play by the Unknown  The part was performed by Heydn McCabe, and the episode hosted and produced by Robert Crighton Our patrons received this episode in March 2023 - app...

This is a VERY belated episode. It was recorded via the telephone back in the before times - in the later end of 2019. The recording is very messy (it's been tidied up, but there are still a lot of pops and bangs and other strange issues) but it is... rather good, we hope. It's a discussion of The Life and Death of Jack Straw , at the time we were finishing our full cast audio adaptation, and plan...

A quick reminder that we have a live streamed audio adaptation of the 1623 Lord Mayor's show on Sunday 29th October. NB: Early bird listeners to this episode would have heard a lot of random raw recordings... sorry about that, exported the file incorrectly. This is as it should be. The Lord Mayor’s Show 1623 LIVE! A live audio stream of the 1623 Lord Mayor’s Show, on Sunday 29th October at 2.30pm...

The Jests of George Peele - Episode 12: How George served his Hostess. Performed by Sarah Blake A full audiobook reading, performed by Sarah Blake of Sounds Curious Productions, released monthly - followed by an omnibus version. Our patrons have received early access to nearly all the episodes so far, and have exclusive  access to our exploring sessions and discussion of the text - join us on the...

Yes, it's finally here - the final cut of the full cast audio adaptation of The Tragedy of Antony by Robert Garnier, translated by Mary Sidney Herbert. It has been a long road to get here, using recordings from before the plague and without recourse to retakes. I hope you like it. CW: Themes and depiction of suicide, sounds of war, a culture of misogyny, violent death, general lamentation. The Tra...