fencing

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).

Welcome to Elizabethan England via the digital world! This post takes the form of "remote quest(ions)" that take us on a tour of early modern recreation via a range of digital platforms...

For this piece, I’ll be spending a year in the young Curtain playhouse as it makes its way into the brave new decade of 1580s.

This year we've had several chances to muse on the architectural and performance function of playing spaces like the Curtain or the Blackfriars—in part thanks to events we've held at these spaces and in part thanks to contributions that open up new aspects of their histories.

On Saturday 21st, we enjoyed seeing the puffed-up knight Huanebango being struck down by a disembodied voice, entering a sixteenth-century smoking area, meeting the cosmopolitan neighbours of 1580s Shoreditch, and learning how to use a sword and buckler...

On 21 July, we and MOLA, The Stage, and The Dolphin's Back will explore the history and future possibilities for the Curtain playhouse with a public audience at Hackney House. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.