Beyond Shakespeare

Chess Pieces: Exploring A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton, part 2. Welcome to a series of podcasts looking at A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton, specifically asking questions as to how to produce it a. as a full cast audio adaptation and b. as a live stage show in miniature and in full. This session covers the continuing issues of exposition in the opening of the play (completing our survey of...

Happy New Year! This is a simultaneous release on YouTube and the podcast - there are some bits that are more videoy (sorry podcast people, it wasn't supposed to be that way, Robert forgot (Robert forgets what year it is, so it's downhill all the way)). Anyway... Happy New Year! New stuff is coming, old stuff is coming, more stuff is coming. YouTube version can be found here - https://youtu.be/dBX...

A First Look read through and discussion of Narcissus: A Twelfth Night Merriment, performed on Thursday 6th January 1602 (or new style 1603). This is a merriment performed at St John's College, Oxford, and is both incredibly self indulgent, and rather silly. Merry Christmas! This is a simultaneous release with our YouTube channel, where most First Look explorations live. With Eric Karoulla as Prim...

Triumph 1621: Reconstructing: The Sun in Aries by Thomas Middleton. This is mostly an uncut recording of the 12pm show, our first of the day, from various outdoor recording positions that have been edited together into one track. It was not an ideal day to record on - it had rained for most of the morning and, though this performance was dry, our equipment was still largely covered in plastic. A f...

A reading of an edited version of Gentleness and Nobility by John Heywood and John Rastell, performed before a live audience in 2018. A Knight overhears a Merchant boasting of his nobleness, sparking an argument between the two as to what is a gentleman. They are further interrupted by a Ploughman, whose debating style is a little more… violent. With Rob Myson as the Merchant, Heydn McCabe as the...

Chess Pieces: Exploring A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton, part 1. Welcome to a series of podcasts looking at A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton, specifically asking questions as to how to produce it a. as a full cast audio adaptation and b. as a live stage show in miniature and in full. This session covers the problems of exposition in the opening of the play (Induction and the opening of Act...

Today we discuss the playwright Robert Greene, the breadth of his output (with some focus on his play Alphonsus), with Dr Darren Freebury-Jones. How many of the surviving selection of plays from the 1580's/90's are by Greene? How can we sift the evidence? Which plays can we be sure about, and which plays are on the fuzzy border?  Dr Darren Freebury-Jones is a Shakespeare lecturer in Stratford-upon...

A special discussing episode with Professor Tracey Hill, covering our upcoming reconstruction of Thomas Middleton's 1621 Lord Mayor's Show - The Sun in Aries. We discuss civic pageantry in general, the 1621 show specifically, and throw a little light onto what's to come. With on site rehearsal recordings of the cast and crew as we tested acoustics and generally walked through the show - including...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey ends with plays forty one and two - covering the Assumption of Mary an...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays thirty five to forty - returning to a selection o...

Following our spurt of N-Town releases, here's a discussion about staging some of the plays within the N-Town manuscript with special guest Elisabeth Dutton, Professor of Medieval English at the University of Fribourg. In 2009 and 2010, Elisabeth Dutton produced the Mary play and the two Passion plays from N-Town in Oxford - this discussion covers the nature of those plays, the practical questions...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays thirty one to thirty four - looking at the untidy...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays twenty-eight to thirty - looking at the continuin...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays twenty-six to twenty-seven - looking at the openi...

Today we're discussing upcoming digital performances of plays by Christopher Marlowe - today we're looking at Doctor Faustus (and briefly Dido), co-directed by Emily Ingram and Fergus Rattigan, who joins us to talk about their production for The Show Must Go Online. In the opening of the episode we mention our recon of a Lord Mayor's Show - you can sign up for that here - https://forms.gle/dtWgrfT...

Today we're discussing upcoming digital performances of plays by Christopher Marlowe - today we're looking at Edward the Second, directed by Kevin V. Smith, who joins us to talk about his production for The Show Must Go Online. In the opening of the episode we mention our recon of a Lord Mayor's Show - you can sign up for that here - https://forms.gle/dtWgrfTj3RPzpMqs5 - more info to come! Kevin V...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays twenty-four to twenty-five - looking at the episo...

Today we're discussing Supposes by George Gascoigne, a translation of an Italian play produced in 1566. It's super fun and worth performing today - we know this because it has been. Robert is joined by Sam Plumb, director of a production of the play from 2017, and actor Riana White, one of the cast. They discuss the language, the production, the different performance spaces and the wonders of Gasc...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays twenty-one to twenty-three - looking at the early...

A series of podcasts looking at plays we'd like to see, where we and guests pitch a Fantasy Production. With much merriment and chat, we explore different media, different approaches and a different play each session. Each play has been covered on our YouTube channel, or on the podcast, so you can dig deeper into the text if you'd like. Regular segments include - Cocktail Minute (a play themed coc...

Today we're discussing The Devil is an Ass by Ben Jonson, that has just received the full cast audio adaptation treatment by The Lords of Misrule, an amateur dramatics society based at the Centre for Medieval Studies at the University of York. Forced by lockdown to go online, their live performances have gone digital. Robert is joined by Nic Peard, co-director and editor of the production, and pro...

Hello, welcome to a New Year, just a little thank you to all our listeners and viewers for all your support. Have a very Happy New Year, from Robert Crighton. 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/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshak...

Exploring: The N-Town Play , a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays eighteen to twenty ( there is no play 17! Or is t...

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays fourteen to sixteen - looking at the Trial of Mary...

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with plays eleven to thirteen - we were going to do fourteen...