The History Of European Theatre

A special bonus episode to celebrate the Birthday of William Shakespeare which looks at the way he used and created the English Language. Support the podcast at: www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com www.ko-fi.com/thoetp www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more i...

Episode 74:  The development of Spanish theatre buildings, including the original, the Corral de la Olivera in Valencia. Alberto Ganassa and the influence of his Comedia Dell Arte troupe. The first theatre in Madrid the Corral de Pachea    The main points of the layout and characteristics of the Spanish playhouse. The way plays changed to suit the playhouse, including the break...

Episode 73 Continuing the story of the development of theatre through the early Spanish renaissance via the life and works of the playwrights. With apologies for the slightly raspy 'post-covid' throat at the time of recording. I hope it does not spoil your enjoyment of the episode. Gil Vicente, the only Portuguese playwright of the period, but one who worked across the Spanish peninsular and produ...

Episode 72 The Situation in Spain prior to the Renaissance period with a summary of developments in the Roman and Medieval periods in Spain. The merging of religious and secular theatre at the end of the medieval period. The ‘autos’ and how it developed out of liturgical drama and the only surviving example ‘The Play of the Three Kings’. From the 12th Century ‘Pamphylus in Love’. The Spanish...

Episode 71 The continuation of the story of Renaissance theatre in France. The rise of the two theatres in Paris as travelling players were at last allowed to perform in the city. Antoine de Montchrestien and his version of Greek tragedy. The three farceurs Henri Legrand, Robert Guerin, and Hugues Gueru who made the Theatre du Bourgogne the venue in Paris for comedy. The development of t...

Episode 70 Catherine De Medici, her arrival in Paris for marriage to Henry, second son of Francis 1 st .  Her cultural influence and role as wife of the King, and mother to three successive French rulers. The Hotel De Bourgogne, the only playhouse in Paris Mellin de Saint-Gelais the royal librarian who penned adaptations of Italian tragedy Etienne Jodelle was hailed as the new Sophocles...

Episode 69 The Renaissance met the Reformation in the Germanic States of Northern Europe so we start with a word on Martin Luther and his love of music and qualified approval of theatre. Latin drama of Jacob Wimpheling and Thomas Naogeorgus. The history of Hanswurst and Brandt's 'Ship of Fools' 'Students' by Christoph Stumble gets it's second mention on the podcast. The versatility of Johannes Reu...

Episode 68 A detailed look at 'La Pellegrina', a play written for the wedding celebrations of Grand Duke Fernando of Sienna in 1589. The background to the writing of the play commissioned by Cardinal Fernando Di Midici A description of the plot of the play Some commentary on the play, its relationship to Ancient Greek and Roman drama, the changes in stop characters since the beginning of Renaissan...

Episode 67 In this third part of the story of theatre in the Italian Renaissance the counter reformation overshadows the work of playwrights. We conclude the story of Giovan Maria Cecchi with a look at his later sacred drama that still managed to amuse and entertain. The plays of Leone de'Sommi are mostly lost thanks to a library fire, but his surviving plays are of interest as we see a Jewish pla...

Episode 66 Continuing from the last episode with more comedic dramatists from the Italian renaissance we meet Angelo Beolco who, under the tutorage of Ariosto, created, and became synonymous with, the character of Ruzzante. Then on to Alessandro Piccolomini and Giovan Maria Cecchi, who both left indelible traces on the development of comedy in the sixteenth century. Support the podcast here: www.t...

Episode 65 The development of tragedy and comedy in early Italian renaissance theatre happened on parallel paths as each struggeled to look forward rather than back. The development of Tragedy following the rediscovery of the plays of Sophocles. The continuing influence of Aristotle and Seneca. Playwrights Giovani Trissino and Giovanni Giraldi (aka Cinthio) The court at Ferrara and bloody tragedy...

Episode 64 In the first part of season four we bridge the gap between the Medieval and Renaissance periods with a mention of the key artistic movements and historical events that can be used to mark the beginning of the period. How theatre looked back to the rediscovered plays of Ancient Greece and Rome and the writings of Vitruvius on Theatre Architecture. The earliest plays of the period, showin...

Season 4 Trailer: European Renaissance Theatre www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com Twitter: @thoetp Patreon: www.patreon.com/thoetp This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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 discussed in the Medieval Theatre season of the podcast. This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy Hosted on Aca...

In this bonus episode we get an introduction the the diary of Philip Henslowe, theatre owner and businessman during the end of the Tudor period and beginning of the Stuart period. Elements from the diary will feature on upcoming episodes for podcast supporters on Patreon. To support the podcast go to: www.patreon.com/thoetp www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com This podcast uses the following third-...

A bonus episode featuring Salome by Oscar Wilde. In summer 2021 I was fortunate to see the Lazarus Theatre production at the Southwark Playhouse in London. In this episode I give a brief version of the Oscar Wilde story, look at Salome in more detail and think about what the Lazarus Theatre revival brings to this lesser known play. To see more about the work of Lazarus Theatre:  www.lazarusth...

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 disagreement. A reminder of the journey from the religious trope, thorough the folk festivals, the cycle plays, the saints play, the morality play and the interlude. The end of...

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 rise of commercial theatre through the Interlude and the Travelling Players Play expenses and income The rising costs of the Cycle Plays and other entertainments The actors con...

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 developed into secular theatre. The rise and influence of the travelling players and the church reaction to some of their work. The French travelling players Rutebeuf and Adam De La H...

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 English offering A synopsys and analysis of Everyman The Dance Macabre and the role of Death To support the podcast: www.thehistorofeuropenatheatre.com www.patreon.com/thoetp www.ko-...

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 presented A summary of the plot of the play Details from the manuscript about dating the play The illustration contained in the manuscript reviewed in detail The problems with t...

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 development of theatre. How the Morality Plays are different from Cycle Plays The Development of the ideas around the seven vices and virtues and how they developed into personified c...

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 stage. The play of Noah and the Great Flood must have provided the medieval set designers with some real challenges. Some thoughts on how that might have been done and a look at...

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 there two shepherd's plays in this cycle? The plot and characters in the first play The plot and charaters in the second play The similarities and differences between the plays Wh...

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 Further details on the guilds and how they functioned in society The development of the Chester plays The development of the Coventry Cycle The development of the Wakefield cycle...