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Here you will find our rich and varied archive of blog posts, from media and video content to guest posts and long reads. Keep an eye out for new entries.
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We’re keen to keep this site lively and fresh with some of the latest thoughts and research–either road-testing ideas and works-in-progress or sharing some insights–from early theatre and performance. Content from doctoral researchers and early career colleagues are especially welcome, as well as from performers and practitioners!
Last week, the University of Kent’s Middling Culture Project released a fun Social Status Calculator for determining (as the name suggests) the social status of 16th and 17th century English people. Although The Taming of the Shrew is nominally set in Italy, it’s safe to say that when considering issues of class and marriage, Shakespeare is almost always really writing about England. So let’s quiz Petruchio on his social status.
What are “lost” theatrical properties? What evidence exists for them? This post draws on my research into the impermanent materials of early modern performance to consider the theatrical life of early modern sweets.
Box Office Bears has begun! But who were they and what does it mean?
The Curtain, in use from 1577 until 1625, has probably the longest of lifespan of all early modern playhouses, yet it had for some time been ‘the most ignored of the early modern London amphitheatres’ (Stern 2009, 77-78).
In the latest A Bit Lit film, the theatre historian and Before Shakespeare advisor Holger Syme speaks to Andy Kesson about last month’s announcement of the discovery of the Red Lion site, complete with a possible playhouse.