Beyond Shakespeare

Exploring: A Merry Play between John Johan the husband, Tyb his wife, and Sir Johan the Priest. This is a cross over episode with our YouTube channel, where most exploring sessions now live, because we want to make sure all the John Heywood material lives on the podcast. You can watch all the John Heywood videos on YouTube here - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoKffZtkgZ7mUYF_d1mD72fr Other John Heywood material on the podcast can be heard here - https://audioboom.com/playlists/4620013-the-plays-of-john-heywood The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Lisa Hill-Corley as John John; Eric Karoulla as Sir John; Emma Kemp as Tib With guest host Liza Graham - the episode is introduced by Robert Crighton. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feed

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with play nine, the presentation of Mary at the Temple - there's a fair amount of run up to the Nativity in N-Town, and we really get some Mary: The Early Years action - or singing. The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Mark Scanlon, Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are various online and purchasable versions of the text available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste. A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-9-presentation-of-mary-in-the-temple The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons

Discussing: Edward II by Christopher Marlowe - with Dr. Kit Heyam This episode host Robert Crighton discusses a new book - The Reputation of Edward II, 1305-1697: A Literary Transformation of History by Kit Heyam. We delve into the changing story of Edward, what Marlowe does with the figure, and why the answer is never a red hot poker. The book is available to order from Amsterdam University Press now - https://www.aup.nl/en/book/9789463729338/the-reputation-of-edward-ii-1305-1697 Watching Edward II - there are two audio versions available - one stand alone that can be found on Audible, and another that is part of Vivat Rex! - both from the BBC. There is a DVD of a BBC Television broadcast of a stage production with Ian McKellen, which is definitely available in Region 1, maybe other regions as well. And last, but not least is the Derek Jarman film. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondsha

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with play eight, Joachim and Anna, or the Conception of Mary - there's a fair amount of run up to the Nativity in N-Town, and we go full on prequel here. The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are various online and purchasable versions available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste. A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-8-joachim-and-anne The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com

The Harrowing of Hell - A full cast audio adaption of one of the earliest surviving Biblical dramas in English, with bonus material of our first exploring read through of the text. In the Harrowing of Hell - the Narrator was played by Geir Madland, Jesus by Robert Crighton, Satan by Pamela Flanagan, the Gatekeeper by Mark Scanlon, Adam by Simon Nader, Eve by Gillian Horgan, Abraham by Geir Madland, King David by Mark Scanlon, John by Seb Ranson and Moses by Rob Myson. Technical presentation by Robert Crighton, with additional sound effects from zapsplat.com The Exploring Session readers were Richard Fawcett, Liz Cole, Alan Scott, and Maria Walker. A modern production of the play with an updated script was directed and adapted by Dr. Jeff Dailey in 2019 - you can catch it on this video here. https://youtu.be/DjN-ki2S6WM The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to bu

The Rising to the Crown of Richard the Third written by himself via Giles Fletcher - read by David Ault. This is a narrative poem about, as the title says, the rise of Richard III - it's part of a mini season of work on the various narratives on Richard that existed in the early modern period. We have also on the podcast looked at: The True Tragedy of Richard III - https://audioboom.com/posts/7664659-the-true-tragedy-of-richard-iii-induction The Ghost of Richard III - discussion thereof - https://audioboom.com/posts/7633017-discussing-the-ghost-of-richard-iii-by-christopher-brooke And a stage adaptation on YouTube - https://youtu.be/G0DblYYO8cQ David is a voice actor and mathematician based in North Yorkshire. You may know him from NoSleep, Shadows at the Door, Byron Chronicles or the White Vault. If not, or indeed if so, more information can be found at www.davidault.co.uk. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to ww

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with play seven, a prophets play - a bit of a breather before we get to the opening of the Nativity sequence. The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Mark Scanlon, Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are various online and purchasable versions available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste. A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano-n-town-plays-play-7-root-of-jesse The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespea

What's Past is Prologue: The True Tragedy of Richard III, by someone for the Queen's Men. The True Tragedy of Richard III is a a truly disturbing piece of Brechtian theatre, several centuries early, and one we'd like to do one day. Here's just the prologue/opening to tantalise and moderately annoy you. The opening is performed by Geir Madland as the ghost of Clarence, Pamela Flanagan as Truth, and Seb Ransom as Poetry. Our little recording is followed by a read through from our YouTube exploring sessions - you too can join in, updates on our website - https://beyondshakespeare.org/get-involved-exploring-in-isolation/ The contributors for the exploring session on Richard III were: Francis Cox as Poetry; Sarah Blake as Truth and Helen Good, Tamara Ritthaler, Alan Scott, Aliki Chapple, Liza Graham, Elizabeth Amisu, Ruth Evans, Simon Nader and Jitka Stollava. You can watch all the exploring sessions on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoLqof8eUWJU5EEJXr93e56y The Beyond Shakespeare Podc

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with the Moses play. We haven't done that much on Moses elsewhere in the canon, he's clearly a tricky one to dramatise. He does pop up in Chester - albeit in passing... https://audioboom.com/posts/2771878-chester-plays-5-1-balaam-and-balak And the character is in God's Promises by John Bale - here is his scene in isolation - https://audioboom.com/posts/7062086-god-s-promises-by-john-bale-act-4 And he pops up in Three Laws - which we looked at in exploring sessions on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoLwd-aRmg45psh4ORNUpDJf The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are various

Spoilers: The Tragedy of Mariam by Elizabeth Cary (Act 5) Welcome to this spoiler episode for The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry by Elizabeth Cary - and it's very spoilery! The canvas has narrowed again for Act 5, as it's almost a solo turn by Herod. If it weren't for the arrival of Nuntio there would be no one else. With a plain text recording of the Act and chorus overview at the end. In the plain text: Geir Madland as Herod and Richard Fawcett as Nuntio. Hosted by Robert Crighton - plus Beyond Shakespeare Irregular Alan Scott looking at the Chorus. BE WARNED - If you just want to listen to the play as a play, don't listen to the spoilers episodes. Come back later, or don't listen. However, if you find early drama hard to follow, then you will get a good grounding in the action here - especially as we may make changes or cuts for our final version! The plain text version is rough in hew, it will change and we produce it in part to hunt out errors.  You can buy soooooo many editions of this play

Discussing: The Ghost of Richard III by Christopher Brooke with Dr Jitka Štollová. In 1614, Christopher Brooke produced his Ghost poem on the life of Richard III. To celebrate (wantonly plug) our live streamed stage adaptation, Robert Crighton discusses the poem and a whole world of other texts on Richard III. Dr Jitka Štollová is a Junior Research Fellow at Trinity College. At time of release - the live stream will be occurring on Tuesday 21st July at 19.00 BST - links for the stream will be on the Quay Theatre online website - https://online.quaysudbury.com/ Read the poem - https://archive.org/details/ghostrichardthi00collgoog/page/n19/mode/2up And to watch our exploration of The True Tragedy of Richard III, it's on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLflmEwgdfKoLqof8eUWJU5EEJXr93e56y The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with the happy story of listening to the voices in your head, it's Abraham and Isaac. We looked at this play twice in this session. For an alternative look at this story, we have rather a lot... There's Chester, which is covered in three episodes, though only 2 and 3 cover the central story - https://audioboom.com/posts/2776335-chester-plays-4-2-abraham There's the (very similar to Chester) Brome play which we've done an exploring session on - soon to come as a full cast audio adaptation - https://audioboom.com/posts/7148855-exploring-the-brome-abraham-and-isaac The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Richard Fawcett and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. The

A special follow up discussion episode on John Heywood, to celebrate the release of John Heywood - Comedy and Survival in Tudor England by Greg Walker, Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. The book is a full biography of Heywood's life, from cradle to grave, and covers his complete surviving literary output. The book is published by Oxford University Press and can be found here - https://global.oup.com/academic/product/john-heywood-9780198851516?q=greg%20walker&lang=en&cc=gb Or in such a thing as a bookshop, should such a thing exist. A complete selection of audio adaptations of Heywood's plays also exist on this podcast.  Special Thanks to Professor Greg Walker for giving us his time to speak with us. Useful Links - John Heywood playlist: https://audioboom.com/playlists/4620013-the-plays-of-john-heywood Staging the Henrician Court: http://stagingthehenriciancourt.brookes.ac.uk/  Our website: http://beyondshakespeare.org Please support this podcast, and g

Welcome to this spoiler episode for The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry by Elizabeth Cary - and it's very spoilery! It's all change again in Act 4, as Herod returns!  We say goodbye to Salome, Mariam, Doris... pretty much everyone except Herod.  With a plain text recording of the Act and chorus overview at the end. In the plain text: Introducing Geir Madland as Herod, with Pamela Flanagan as Salome, Gillian Horgan as Mariam, Pollie Hall as Doris, Heydn McCabe as Constabarus, Hugh Weller-Poley as Babas First Son, Mark Scanlon as Babas Second Son, Richard Fawcett as Nuntio, and Simon Nader for this rough cut, stepping in as Butler. Hosted by Robert Crighton - who's also playing Phaeroras - plus Beyond Shakespeare Irregular Alan Scott looking at the Chorus. BE WARNED - If you just want to listen to the play as a play, don't listen to the spoilers episodes. Come back later, or don't listen. However, if you find early drama hard to follow, then you will get a good grounding in the action here - especial

From the Winchester Dialogues this is a read through and discussion of Occupation and Idleness, edited from our zoom sessions on YouTube. Written sometime in the midst of the 15th century, this prefigures much of the interlude drama of the 16th century and deserves more attention. The explorers were Sascha Cooper, Liza Graham, Ruth Evans, Gregory Musson, and Iain Black. The host is Robert Crighton The only copy we can find online can be viewed here - https://medievalit.com/home/edrama/morality-plays/occupation-and-idleness/ Otherwise you'll need to hunt out a rare as hens teeth edition of The Winchester Dialogues. Good luck with that. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare Or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org

What's Past is Prologue: Eastward Ho! by Ben Jonson, George Chapman and John Marston. Eastward Ho! is a fantastic play, and one we'd like to do one day. Here's just the prologue to tantalise and moderately annoy you. The prologue is performed by the fabulous Sarah Golding, voice actor and audio producer extraordinary - you can hear Sarah Golding all over the podcasting world as a voice actor, and as the creator of MADIVA Podcast (or MODERN AUDIO DRAMA INDIE VOICE ACTING PODCAST) @QuirkyVoices DO YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE? If you'd like to make us to do a full audio production of this play, join us on patreon and choose this play at the next vote. www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare or you can follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes - or go to our website beyondshakespeare.org The episode is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton. Additional sound effects from the wonderful people at http://www.freesfx.co.uk

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with Noah and every child's favourite genocide story. For some light relief, there's the return of Cain! For an alternative look at the Noah story, we have also looked at the Chester version - it's split over three episodes and can be found here... https://audioboom.com/posts/2472375-chester-plays-3-1-noah The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Richard Fawcett, Mark Scanlon, and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are various online and purchasable versions available - here's a good one, but is in the original middle English and might put you off - others should be hunted for to taste. A play text: https://d.lib.rochester.edu/teams/text/sugano

Welcome to this spoiler episode for The Tragedy of Mariam, the Fair Queen of Jewry by Elizabeth Cary - and it's very spoilery! The plot pivots in Act 3, with some news of Herod. He's ALIVE! Cue a host of reactions, happy and sad. With a plain text recording of the Act and chorus overview at the end. In the plain text: with Pamela Flanagan as Salome, Gillian Horgan as Mariam, Rob Myson as Sohemus, Andy Barrett as Ananell, Alan Scott as Silleus Man. Hosted by Robert Crighton - who's also playing Phaeroras - plus Beyond Shakespeare Irregular Alan Scott looking at the Chorus. BE WARNED - If you just want to listen to the play as a play, don't listen to the spoilers episodes. Come back later, or don't listen. However, if you find early drama hard to follow, then you will get a good grounding in the action here - especially as we may make changes or cuts for our final version! The plain text version is rough in hew, it will change and we produce it in part to hunt out errors.  You can buy soooooo many editions of t

What's Past is Prologue: The Dutch Courtesan by John Marston The Dutch Courtesan is a fascinating play, and one we'd like to do one day. Here's just the prologue to tantalise and moderately annoy you. The prologue is performed by the fabulous Sarah Golding, voice actor and audio producer extraordinary - you can hear Sarah Golding all over the podcasting world as a voice actor, and as the creator of MADIVA Podcast (or MODERN AUDIO DRAMA INDIE VOICE ACTING PODCAST) @QuirkyVoices DO YOU WANT TO HEAR MORE? If you'd like to make us to do a full audio production of this play, join us on patreon and choose this play at the next vote. www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare or you can follow us on Twitter @BeyondShakes - or go to our website beyondshakespeare.org The episode is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton. Additional sound effects from the wonderful people at http://www.freesfx.co.uk

Exploring: The N-Town Play, a slow burn look at a medieval Mystery (sort of) cycle. The N-Town Play comes to us as a single manuscript, but it's a compilation of various different sources - including elements from what looks like a cycle and various other large scale productions focusing on episodes from the Bible. The journey continues with Cain and Abel - and our first murder. Don't worry Cain fans, he'll be back! There are other plays featuring Cain and Abel - we've done both an exploring session and a full cast audio adaptation on the podcast, so you can compare and contrast. Chester Full Cast: https://audioboom.com/posts/7019408-cain-and-abel-chester-mystery-cycle And Exploring Chester in two parts: Part 1 https://audioboom.com/posts/2456490-chester-plays-2-3-cain-and-abel and Part 2 - https://audioboom.com/posts/2456533-chester-plays-2-4-cain-and-abel The Beyond Shakespeare Irregulars this episode were Liz Cole, Richard Fawcett, Mark Scanlon, and Alan Scott – with host, Robert Crighton. There are variou