- 52 minutes 54 secondsLighting the Indoor Theatre: A Conversation with Nic Brownlee
Episode 227
One of the questions that immediately arises when we consider the indoor theatres is how they were lit, although there are also many other questions about how performing indoors was informed by the experience of the touring companies and how it changed the nature of playing itself.
Very early in my journey through Shakespeare for the podcast I met Nic Brownlee who was then in the throes of completing his study into indoor theatre lighting, so the idea for this episode has been on my mind for a long time and I’m pleased that now Nic has finished his study I can bring you this discussion at an appropriate moment in the podcast timeline.
Nic Brownlie recently graduated with a PhD from the Shakespeare Institute at the University of Birmingham, completing a thesis focused on the effects of candlelight at Shakespeare’s Blackfriars playhouse. Nic currently runs the A Place to Write retreat centre in North Wales with his wife, Wendy, where they offer annual Shakespeare retreats exploring different genres of Shakespeare’s plays. In a varied prior career, he completed an English degree at the University of Hull, trained at Mountview Theatre School in London, and worked as an actor, theatre director and stage lighting designer for many years, including managing his own educational Shakespeare company. He has taught acting, stage lighting, and English Literature in a variety of educational settings, from secondary schools to higher education establishments, and he is currently working on a series of academic articles and a book detailing his research into Shakespeare’s late plays.
I first met Nic when I attended a three day retreat at ‘A Place to Write’ where we read and watched and discussed three Shakespeare comedies, among other things, so I can personally recommend the work he and Wendy are doing there. I talked to Nic over a zoom call from A Place To Write where he was somewhere between guests Breakfasts and planning his next play sessions and opened out conversation asking about how ‘A Place To Write’ came to be.
Find details for 'A Place To Write' Shakespeare and writing retreats at: www.aplacetowrite.co.uk
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www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
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3 August 2026, 5:30 am - 34 minutes 18 secondsPericles: ‘Tis time to fear when tyrants seem to kiss’
Episode 226:
Last time I took you through Macbeth, still one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays, but now we come to one that is rarely seen and vies with ‘King John’, ‘Two Noble Kinsman’ and ‘Timon of Athens’ as the least performed Shakespeare play. ‘Pericles’ is also a play that did not appear in the first folio and in fact did not make it into a folio edition until 1664 with the second printing of the third folio. More of that history in a moment, but it certainly raises interesting questions about why Hemmings and Condell did not include it in the first folio.
The dating and early performance history of the play
The printing history of the play
The source material for the play
‘Pericles’ as a collaboration
A short word about George Wilkins
A brief synopsis of the play
The riddle that reveals incest
The importance of a good name and family
Brides and fathers contrasted in the play
The Mediterranean locations of the play
How time is placed and passes in the play
The role of Gower in the play
The role of the gods in the play
The recognition scene
The narrative inconsistencies in the play
‘Pericles’ as a bitter-sweet comedy
Critical reception of the play
The later performance history of the play
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27 July 2026, 5:30 am - 56 minutes 50 secondsShakespeare and Biblical Allusion: A Conversation with Paul Fried - Part 2
Episode 225:
Last time my guest Paul Fried and I discussed Biblical Allusion in Shakespeare with particular reference to Hamlet. This is the second part of our conversation, so please do make sure you have listened to part one before continuing here, things will make a lot more sense if you do.
I first came across Paul’s Blog, Hamlet’s Bible, when I was researching my episodes on King Lear and I was very pleased to find that not only was it useful for those episodes but was a series of very interesting posts relating to Biblical allusion in Shakespeare, so, of course, I asked Paul, if he would like to come onto the podcast to share some of his insights into this subject.
Paul is a retired college lecturer who has devoted years of study to Shakespeare and the bible and his blog, now in it’s tenth year, has become his way of sharing his research prior to what he hopes will be a published volume on Biblical allusion in Hamlet. He has also contributed several papers to Shakespeare conferences, most recently at the Shakespeare Association of America conference held in Denver in April 2026.
I spoke to Paul from his home in Minnesota over a zoom call.
Link to Paul’s blog ‘Hamlet’s Bible’: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
Link to ‘Hamlet’s Bible’ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamletsbible/
Link to Paul’s account on ‘X’: https://x.com/padrianfried
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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20 July 2026, 5:30 am - 53 minutes 3 secondsShakespeare and Biblical Allusion: A Conversation with Paul Fried - Part 1
Episode 224:
While I was looking into some details while I was preparing for the episodes on King Lear I came across an article that was part of a blog called ‘Hamlet’s Bible’, which is written by Paul Fried and was very pleased to find a series of very interesting posts relating to Biblical allusion in Shakespeare, so, of course, I asked the author of the blog, Paul Fried, if he would like to come onto the podcast to share some of his insights into this subject. Paul is a retired college lecturer who has devoted years of study to Shakespeare and the bible and his blog, now in it’s tenth year, has become his way of sharing his research prior to what he hopes will be a published volume on Biblical allusion in Hamlet. He has also contributed several papers to Shakespeare conferences, most recently at the Shakespeare Association of America conference held in Denver in April 2026.
I spoke to Paul from his home in Minnesota over a zoom call.
Link to Paul’s blog ‘Hamlet’s Bible’: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
Link to ‘Hamlet’s Bible’ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hamletsbible/
Link to Paul’s account on ‘X’: https://x.com/padrianfried
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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13 July 2026, 5:30 am - 35 minutes 7 secondsMacbeth Part 2: 'What’s Done Cannot Be Undone’
Episode 223:
Last time, in the first part of my look at ‘Macbeth’, I took you through the plot of the play and discussed the themes of ambition and guilt in it, with a focus on the character of Macbeth himself. I also looked at some of the language in the play and at the possibility that Thomas Middleton updated it for a revival in the 1610s or 1620s, and how he probably developed the scenes with the three witches at a time when devil plays and ideas about witches in the real world were very popular. This is the text that we most likely have in the First Folio, which is the first printed version of the play. Please do listen to that episode first before embarking on this one. Having spent some time on the character of Macbeth in the last episode I’m now going to pick up with a look at his wife.
The character and actions of Lady Macbeth
References to equivocation in the play
The trial of Henry Garnet and the use of equivocation
The witches and the Macbeths as equivocators
The impact of the Porter’s speech
The Porter’s scene as a throwback to medieval cycle plays
‘On The Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth’ by Thomas De Quincey
The critical history of the play
The later performance history of the play
The curse of ‘the Scottish play’
‘Macbeth’ as a very Jacobean play
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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6 July 2026, 5:30 am - 35 minutes 13 secondsMacbeth Part 1: ‘Look Like the Innocent Flower, But Be the Serpent Under’t’
Episode 222:
We can’t say for sure that ‘Macbeth’ was Shakespeare's next offering after 'Anthony and Cleopatra' as precise dating of these early 17th century plays is next to impossible, but whatever the case, it certainly has a very different feel and focus from it’s near contemporises. Although recounting historical events it is dominated by the presence and effect of the supernatural. This proved a mix that audiences have flocked to ever since and it remains one of Shakespeare’s most performed plays, for tragedy ranking only behind ‘Hamlet’.
The dating of the play
The text in the First Folio and adaptations by Thomas Middleton
The sources for the play
A brief Synopsis of the play
Macbeth and Julius Caesar
Macbeth’s ambition
The importance of the soliloquy in the play
Macbeth’s feelings of guilt
The reports of the play by Simon Foreman
Banquo’s ghost as a manifestation of Macbeth’s guilt
Blood as a symbol of guilt
The torment of sleeplessness
The tensions between destiny and free will
The three witches
Link to ‘That Shakespeare Life’ episode featuring Prof. Laurie Johnson on the ‘weird sisters’:
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/that-shakespeare-life/id1372846116?i=1000751203466
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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29 June 2026, 5:30 am - 35 minutes 9 secondsAnthony and Cleopatra: ‘Age Cannot Wither Her, Nor Custom Stale Her Infinite Variety’
Episode 221:
Last time I took you into the world of the court masque with the help of Kristen Macdermott who, I think you will agree, painted a very detailed picture of that very particular theatrical form and the way the Stuart court embraced it. As we heard, masques were often written by playwrights and performed by actors who also wrote for and performed in the public playhouse, so it’s no surprise that a few plays feature masques. We have already encountered short masques in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Timon of Athens’, with the best known example from ‘The Tempest’ still to come and Shakespeare’s next offering ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ would, you might think, have been another opportunity to include a masque featuring exotic characters to add to the glamorous setting. In fact, Shakespeare chose not to include a masque specifically, but we can see that he uses the attributes of the masque throughout the play.
Masque elements used in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’
The dating of the play
The early print history of the play
The sources for the play
The different style of the play from it’s near neighbours
A brief synopsis of the play
How the main characters and the political story and love story are balanced in the play
The hyperbolic language used in the play
The character of Antony
Equals and opposites in the play and how Antony deals with them
The character of Octavius
The character of Cleopatra
The death of Cleopatra
Antony and Cleopatra as a Stuart period play
A short word on the history of criticism of the play
The later performance history of the play
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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22 June 2026, 5:00 am - 46 minutes 22 secondsMasques of Difference: A Conversation with Kristen McDermott part 2
Episode 220:
This is the second part of my conversation with Kristen McDermott about the court masque. In this part we discuss two masques and the later history of the art form.
Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare his life and times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre. I have put a link in the show notes to Kristen’s website where you can find further details of her work. Kris is also a listener and supporter of the podcast, so I was particularly happy to welcome her as a contributor on the microphone as well. I spoke to Kris over a zoom call from her home in Michigan.
Find more about Kris at: https://kristen-mcdermott.com
Links to ‘Masques of Difference’
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masques-Difference-Revels-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?
https://www.amazon.com/Masques-Difference-masques-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719057540/
Links to Greer Gilman books: https://smallbeerpress.com/books/2014/09/23/exit-pursued-by-a-bear/
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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15 June 2026, 5:00 am - 28 minutes 43 secondsThe Origins and Development of Masques: A Conversation with Kristen McDermott part 1
Episode 219:
In this episode I take a look at the court masques of the Jacobean period. To do this I’m very lucky to have the guidance of Kristen McDermott who edited and wrote an extensive introduction to a collection of Jonson’s Masques called Masques of Difference. It is a volume that has been in print for an impressive twenty years and one that I found immensely useful in aiding my understanding of the court masque, an art form that can seem very obscure to us now. In the first part of the conversation Kristen describes the development of the masque from it’s very early days through to its flowering in the court of James 1st largely under the care of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Next time Kris and I continue the conversation and discuss some of those ‘masques of difference’ and the later years of the court masque.
Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare His Life and Times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre.
Find more about Kris at: https://kristen-mcdermott.com
Links to ‘Masques of Difference’
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Masques-Difference-Revels-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?
https://www.amazon.com/Masques-Difference-masques-Student-Editions/dp/071905754X/ref=sr_1_1?
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719057540/
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
8 June 2026, 5:00 am - 34 minutes 23 secondsKing Lear Part 2: ‘Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise’
Episode 218:
Last time I looked at the first part of ‘King Lear’ from the opening scene where Lear makes his disastrous decision to split his kingdom between his children, through to the renowned scene where the ex-king and his fool are caught in a raging storm on the moor and saved only by the loyalty of Kent. On the way I looked at the deliciously evil Edmund, the poor judgement of his father Gloucester, and the scheming of Lear’s oldest daughter Goneril. Now I will complete this look at the play and discuss it’s place as a very Jacobean play addressing the concerns of its time when King James was working hard at an attempt to unite his disparate kingdom.
The role, character and purpose of the Fool
The mock trial scene
The blinding of Gloucester
The character and cruelty of Regan
Edgar and Gloucester on the cliffs at Dover
Hope before tragedy as Lear and Cordelia are reunited
A family dispute as the heart of the play
Why Lear resonates so strongly with audiences
The sense of ‘no place’ in the play
King Lear as a message for King James
The significance of the non-Christian setting of the play
The play as a tragedy and a history play
A brief view of the later critical and performance history of the play
A small selection of ‘King Lear’ on film
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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1 June 2026, 5:30 am - 33 minutes 41 secondsKing Lear Part 1: ‘How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth it is to Have a Thankless Child!’
Episode 217:
‘King Lear’, the play that is now often regarded as Shakespeare’s finest and deepest work is most often compared to the other two great tragedies of this period in Shakespeare’s writing, ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Othello’, and of course there are thematic comparisons that can be made with those plays, but it has to be pointed out that ‘King Lear’ is also a very different play in tone and structure. Whether we rate ‘King Lear’ as Shakespeare’s best play or not it is a play that has deeply affected audiences and critics through the centuries and I can only imagine the mark it leaves on actors who take on the main roles. Sadly, what we lack is much detail about initial reactions to the play.
The early performance and publishing history of the play
The influences and sources for the play
The opening scene of the play and the abandonment of the natural order
The questions of judgement and miscommunication in the play
The character of Goneril
Edmund as one of Shakespeare’s truly evil characters
Kent as the voice of reason and loyalty
Lear and the Fool in the storm
Lear’s moral awakening
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
You can find an advertisement free version of the latest podcast episodes by joining on Patreon at the lowest paid tier level – that’s for just £1 per month.
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