Episode 151

Having finished with Ben Jonson’s biography we can now go back in time just a little to work through Shakespeare’s and Jonson’s plays in more detail.  By the early 1590s was then the man of the theatrical moment, no longer the young upstart, but the proven playmaker and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ surely did nothing but enhance that reputation and it has been popular ever since.

A brief synopsis of the play

The dating of the play

Suggested settings for the play as a wedding celebration

The sources for the play

Biblical influences

Publication of the play

The central themes of the play

The darker elements of the play

Theseus and Hippolyta and the setting of the play

The blindness of desire and passion

The question of the nature of attraction

The four lovers as exemplars of romantic love

The significance of the play within the play

The role of the rude mechanicals

How the play within the play tells us something about theatre practice at the time

Barriers to love – including a wall

A brief performance history of the play

Links to ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream: An Illustrated Handbook and Encyclopaedia' by Rachel Aanstad:

UK link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

US link : https://www.amazon.com/Midsummer-Nights-Illustrated-Handbook-Encyclopedia/dp/B09PKSTL1S/ref=sr_1_2

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Episode 150:

For this very appropriately timed guest episode, which is released on the 6th January, Rachel Aanstad kindly agreed to come on the podcast and talk about the Elizabethan twelfth night traditions and Shakespeare’s play of the same name.  As you will hear our discussion became very much more wide ranging than that, as is often the way when we talk about Shakespeare.  Rachel’s close study of the play came about not only because she has written on the play in her book 'A Bawdy Twelfth Night or What You Will an Encyclopaedia & Dramaturgical Handbook', but because she has directed productions of the play.  You will hear more on both those subjects as part of our conversation.  Rachel Aanstad is a writer, artist, historian and self-confessed Shakespeare nerd. She has an MFA in theatre and is the former Artistic Director of Rose City Shakespeare Company. She lives in the pacific Northwest from where she writes books about Shakespeare’s plays and is currently writing about Shakespeare’s Influences for Pen and Sword which is to be published in 2026.

Link to Twelfth Night or What You Will an Encyclopaedia & Dramaturgical Handbook:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Encyclopedia-Dramaturgical-Shakespearean-Encyclopedias-Handbooks/dp/B0BT2DZGTK/ref=sr_1_2?crid=270NMNCDMCX6J&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.tVcWzIabdRqiYBHGeNEcEPE_eYeRCTf2qEk6LRL3xtSgV8Xm38761BsX6tFKvqjKVi4kgv9kswwDFah3JLS67KX0r09uWKDy68AO_XpCOAQ.4HjwcRalbW8x65UhvPQl4quprJrQQPJUaajyTm9xVYs&dib_tag=se&keywords=r+k+aanstad&nsdOptOutParam=true&qid=1735475971&sprefix=r+k+aanstad%2Caps%2C89&sr=8-2

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Episode 149

The life story of Ben Jonson concludes with events after the publication of his first folio to his death in 1637.

‘Bartholomew Fair’, a different sort of Jonson play.

The finances of the court become more problematic, and Jonson earns and spends money.

The trend for ‘projectors’ and Jonson becomes involved with Sir Willian Cockayne.

‘The Devil is an Ass’ satires money making projects.

Jonson is honoured by Oxford and Cambridge universities.

Jonson devotes a decade to poetry and scholarship.

‘The tribe of Ben’ forms at the Apollo Room.

Jonson’s library burns in a house fire.

Jonson’s health begins to decline.

The death of King James and the marriage and coronation of Charles 1st.

‘The Staple of the News’, Jonson’s first play for a decade.

Jonson’s health declines further.

Jonson is appointed as Chronologer to the City of London.

Jonson complains of poverty and receives money from supporters.

The late Jonson plays fail to impress at the playhouse.

‘A Tale of a Tub’. 

A posthumous play, a play fragment and a collaboration.

Jonson dies in 1637 and is buried in Westminster Abbey.

Appreciation of Jonson since his death.

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'Will, Ben and Tom at Christmas' is an affectionate pastiche, with my very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the New Year.

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Episode 148:

The life of Ben Jonson continues after he is released from prison after the publication of 'Eastward Ho!'

Jonson’s possible involvement in the gunpowder plot and it’s aftermath.

Jonson writes a masque for the marriage of Frances Howard and Robert Devereaux.

Jonson defends his religious position in the face of recusancy fines.

‘Volpone’ is performed at The Globe as Jonson continues to produce masques.

‘Epicene or the Silent Woman’ is performed at the Whitefriars Theatre.

‘The Alchemist’ is performed at Oxford in a time of plague.

The club at the Mermaid tavern.

The return to the Anglican Church.

Parliament’s financial settlement for the King curtails the expense on masques

‘Catiline his Conspiracy’ gets a rocky reception.

Jonson works as a tutor for the Sydney family.

The ‘grand tour’ with Wat Raleigh.

The scandal of Robert Carr and Frances Devereaux.

Johnson is granted a pension.

The first folio of ‘The Works of Benjamin Jonson’.

For your copy of ‘Cakes and Ale: Mr Robert Baddeley and his 12th Night Cakes’ by Nick Bromley go to www.lnpbooks.co.uk.  The special offer price of £9.99 including UK postage is available until 6th January 2025

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One of the generally accepted facts about theatre in the time of Shakespeare and Jonson is that boy actors took female roles and women were banned from appearing on the stage.  This is in fact only partly true and my guest for today’s episode has made a study of how early modern actresses, from traditions on the European continent,  influenced the English stage.  During out conversation we covered aspects of European theatre from the early 1500’s, and Commedia Dell’arte in particular.  You will find my take on this in season three of the podcast and if you have already listened to that hopefully some of the names will still sound familiar.  We also talked about the influence of actresses on playwrights and plays from the period and hopefully you will remember Lilly, Marlowe and Kyd and The Spanish Tragedy from season four of the podcast.  All those episodes are still out there on your podcast feed if you need a refresher.   

Pamela Allen Brown is Professor Emerita of English, University of Connecticut. Her monograph The Diva’s Gift to the Shakespearean Stage: Agency, Theatricality, and the Innamorata was published by Oxford in 2021. With Julie Campbell and Eric Nicholson, she edited and translated Isabella Andreini's Lovers' Debates for the Stage, The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe (Iter, 2022). Previous books include Better a Shrew than a Sheep: Women, Drama and the Culture of Jest in Early Modern England; As You Like It: Texts and Contexts (co-authored with Jean E. Howard); and Women Players in England 1500-1650: Beyond the All-Male Stage (co-edited with Peter Parolin). She is a founding member of Theater Without Borders, a working group of scholars of early modern transnational drama, and she recently joined the New Books Network as a podcast host. Her poetry has appeared in Epiphany, First Literary Review East, New Square, Visual Verse, Public, Out of Sequence, and P/rose. For more on her work see:

https://www.pamelaallenbrown.com/

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Episode 146:

The banning of printed satire.

‘Every Man Out of His Humour’ is produced by The Lord Chamberlin’s Men.

‘Cynthia’s Revels’ is performed at court but is not well received.

‘Poetester’ is performed at the Blackfriars and sparks ‘the war of the poets’ with Dekker and Marston.

‘Sejanus: His Fall’ fails to impress.

Jonson cultivates friendships with nobility close to the Stuart dynasty.

The death of Elizabeth.

Entertainments for the arrival of Queen Anne in England.

Jonson’s contribution to the official entry of King James into London.

Jonson is ejected from court on Twelfth Night 1604.

The Court Masque.

‘The Masque of Blackness’.

‘Eastward Ho’ causes Jonson another spell in prison.

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Episode 145:

Continuing the story of Ben Jonson’s life from the point where just as he starts to make his mark in the theatre scene everything goes very badly wrong for him.

‘The Isle of Dogs’ at the Swan Theatre

The closure of the London Theatres

Jonson in prison

How the London theatres reopened

The Swan and Pembroke’s Men

Speculation on the content of ‘The Isle of Dogs’

Jonson’s other early work for the theatre

Jonson and the Lord Chamberlin’s Men

Jonson’s duel with Gabriel Spencer

Jonson in prison again

The conversion to Catholicism

Jonson’s trial and taking ‘the benefit of the clergy’

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Episode 144: 

On several occasions through the story of the renaissance theatre I have touched on how the players made use of cue sheets rather than full scripts as they rehearsed and performed plays, so I was fascinated to see that there is a company of actors working today who produce plays by Shakespeare and other renaissance playwrights using cue sheets.  Although we don’t have documentary evidence about exactly how they were used at the time and therefore how the rehearsal process worked, what better way to get an understanding of how they might have been used and what impact they had on productions than to produce plays using them and work through the practical issues and artistic choices that become involved.  

Shake-Scene Shakespeare have produced work for live and on-line presentation since 2017 and continue to do so today, so I was very pleased when Lizzie Conrad-Hughes, founder, company Director and book holder for the company agreed to come and talk about the experience of producing cue-based theatre for a modern audience.

https://www.shake-sceneshakespeare.co.uk/

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Episode 143:

The second part of the life of Ben Jonson takes him from his birth, through his years at school and onto working as a bricklayer.  He then briefly joined the army before returning to become a player, a poet and a playwright.

Jonson’s Scottish ancestry.

His father’s loss of position under queen Mary.

His Stepfather Robert Brett, bricklayer.

Life for the Brett/Jonson family on Christopher Lane

Jonson’s education at Westminster school.

Theatre at the Westminster School.

The influence of school master William Camden.

Jonson the bricklayer’s apprentice.

Jonson briefly attends Cambridge university – maybe.

Jonson the soldier and his service in the war in the Netherlands.

The Lord Mayor’s procession and the involvement of the Guild companies

Jonson’s contribution to the Lord Mayor’s procession.

Jonson the player for Pembroke’s men.

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Episode 142

Dr Natália Pikli discusses the changing view of the 'The Shrew' in Medieval and Early Modern European culture and how women are represented in Shakespeare's early comedies,

She then goes on to outline how Shakespeare became part of national Hungarian culture and how the plays have been treated in translation.

Dr Natália Pikli is Associate Professor at the Department of English Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. She teaches medieval and early modern culture and literature and is Head of the relevant PhD Program. She also teaches contemporary popular culture, as well as theatre history and theatre reviewing for students majoring in Theatre Studies. She has published extensively on Shakespeare, early modern popular culture, theatre, iconography, and on the reception of Shakespeare in our days, with a focus on contemporary theatre. Her book chapters and articles appeared in, for instance,  Shakespearean Criticism (Thomson-Gale, 2004), Shakespeare's Others in 21st-century European Performance (Bloomsbury, 2021), and in academic journals: European Journal of English Studies, Journal of Early Modern Studies (Florence) Shakespeare Survey (Cambridge), Theatralia (Brno). She (co-)edited five books and is the author of two monographs, The Prism of Laughter: Shakespeare’s ’very tragical mirth’ (VDM Verlag, 2009) and Shakespeare’s Hobby-Horse and Early Modern Popular Culture (Routledge, 2022). In her free time, she directs amateur student performances and writes theatre reviews.

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