This has been the only full year of our two year research project, and we have been busy. This blog offers a summary of the year's blog activity, from furries to archives, from handwriting competitions to virgin sacrifice. And whatever else you do, do be sure to take our fabulous and not-in-any-way-difficult Christmas quiz. Our … Continue reading A slice of Christmas (b)log
Month: December 2017
Performing words #2: No room in the inns?
This post is part of a series on theatrical words. For an introduction to the series, see Performing words: introduction to a new thread on theatre and language. It's nearly Christmas, and I'm writing to ask if there might be room for the inns in our accounts of early London playing spaces. When we think of … Continue reading Performing words #2: No room in the inns?
The Woman in the Moon: Interviews with the Cast
During rehearsals for James Wallace’s The Dolphin’s Back production of John Lyly’s The Woman in the Moon (Shakespeare's Globe, Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) back in August 2017, we had time to catch up with a few of the cast members and ask them how it felt to play gods, Nature, men, and women on the Sam Wanamaker stage … Continue reading The Woman in the Moon: Interviews with the Cast
Performing words #1: what is an actor?
This post is part of a series on theatrical words. For an introduction to the series, see Performing words: introduction to a new thread on theatre and language. Do actors act? And what would it mean if they did? The current post concerns the word 'actor' and its surprisingly untheatrical history. It asks why and when … Continue reading Performing words #1: what is an actor?
The Sound of Lyly: Galatea Interview
We recently had a chance to interview Vicky Abbott, the musical lead on Emma Frankland's Galatea project, and we asked her what it was like writing music for a sixteenth-century play in a modern production. We feature here some of Vicky's brilliant recordings (©Vicky Abbott) along with choreographed responses to songs that have been crucial … Continue reading The Sound of Lyly: Galatea Interview
Performing words: introduction to a new thread on theatre and language
This series of posts explores some of the issues raised in our first project publication, the Forum in Shakespeare Studies 45 (2017) devoted to 1580s drama. We are grateful to Diana Henderson and James Siemon for allowing us the opportunity to publish these essays in their journal. See below for links to the full series. When … Continue reading Performing words: introduction to a new thread on theatre and language
Audiences, Immigration and Belonging in Elizabethan Theatres: Putting the archive into performance
Who visited the Elizabethan playhouses? What did it mean to have non-English characters being played on stage? What does dramatic engagement with issues of immigration, identity, and belonging tell us about sixteenth-century theatre? Earlier this month we tackled these questions at a collaborative workshop hosted by TIDE project, Before Shakespeare and the Dolphin’s Back. This … Continue reading Audiences, Immigration and Belonging in Elizabethan Theatres: Putting the archive into performance
Before Shakespeare 