what’s the matter? This post follows up some of the points raised by Andy in his discussion of “story” and early modern theatre as part of his Performing Words series. Here, I suggest that the term “matter” might afford a more historically nuanced—and appropriate—vocabulary for thinking about the intersection of “story,” words, and performance. the … Continue reading Performing words #6: matter
performance
A slice of Christmas (b)log
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
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?
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
Galatea in Cornwall: Finding Gods in Truro
For this week's R&D workshops, Emma Frankland and Mydd Pharo are joined by Kellan Frankland, Krishna Istha, Mzz Kimberley, and Nadia Nadarajah in and around Truro (based at the Hall of Cornwall, thanks to their support) for a week looking at Galatea's Gods and their divine interactions: Neptune, Venus, her son Cupid, and Diana and … Continue reading Galatea in Cornwall: Finding Gods in Truro
Go dare; or, how scholarship lost the plot
Warning: contains plot spoilers 'Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it's awful'. These lines were not written to describe the plays of John Lyly, but they would make an effective advertising slogan based on the scholarly consensus on his work. Michael Best was the first to identify the playwright's work as 'Lyly's static drama', an … Continue reading Go dare; or, how scholarship lost the plot
Galatea Workshop Response: Hester Bradley
We are very pleased to host Hester Bradley's response to the Galatea workshops hosted at the Jerwood Space in August this year. Hester is a PhD student at Oxford Brookes, whose work explores what representations of the moon by John Lyly and William Shakespeare can reveal about contemporary ideas of female identity and personhood. *** I attended … Continue reading Galatea Workshop Response: Hester Bradley
Before Shakespeare in Performance
"When in Toledo there I studied, It was my chance to write a tragedy - See here my lords - [He shows them a book] Which long forgot, I found this other day. Now would your lordships favour me so much As but to grace me with your acting it - I mean each one … Continue reading Before Shakespeare in Performance
