It’s recently proved effective for critics and historians to conjure a thick cultural history by concentrating on one particular year (e.g. 1611; 1606…). Even the arguably patchier nature of theatre history has lent itself to studies concentrated on a specific date: think, for instance, James Shapiro’s entertaining account of the Globe, 1599. Writing a Year-in-a-Playhouse … Continue reading It Was the Summer of ’79, at the Curtain Playhouse
The Theatre
Engendering Before Shakespeare: Women and Early English Playhouse Ownership
This post also features on Engendering the Stage, a research project with which we are in dialogue that explores women, gender, and performance in early modern Europe. Stay tuned for project blog posts from Engendering the Stage in the coming weeks! The crossovers between the research projects Before Shakespeare and Engendering the Stage were raised several … Continue reading Engendering Before Shakespeare: Women and Early English Playhouse Ownership
Resurrecting All Hallows and Reanimating Henry Walton
Callan Davies explores some work-in-progress for a paper at the Shakespeare Association of America conference next spring for the "Tudor Performance: Contexts, Traditions, Afterlives" seminar, convened by Jessica Winston. One of my favourite horror film tropes is when a beleaguered resident of an old house, stricken with fear, rushes to the local library to trawl through … Continue reading Resurrecting All Hallows and Reanimating Henry Walton
Before Shakespeare at The National Archives (The Theatre)
This post also appears on The National Archives blog. BOOK FOR OUR TALK AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, 1 AUGUST, HERE Tucked away somewhere in the temperature-controlled archival store rooms of The National Archives is an equity suit in the Court of Exchequer that records a series of trespass complaints. This suit seems unremarkable, if a little complex: … Continue reading Before Shakespeare at The National Archives (The Theatre)
The Curtain Rises (21 July 2018)
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. The Curtain is one of the earliest playhouses of the Elizabethan period, open by 1577, discovered in 2011, and excavated … Continue reading The Curtain Rises (21 July 2018)
Post from the Past 2: A Week in the Life of William Fleetwood
Fleetwood to Burghley, 1584. William Fleetwood was a significant figure in Elizabethan London. He studied in early life at Eton and Oxford before attending the Middle Temple and being called to the bar there in 1551. He was a freeman of the Merchant Taylors (1557), a long-serving MP (for London in 1572, 1584, 1586, and 1589), and an experienced … Continue reading Post from the Past 2: A Week in the Life of William Fleetwood
Before Shakespeare 