Beyond Shakespeare

Beyond Shakespeare

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From the earliest drama in English, to the closing of the theatres in 1642, there was a hell of a lot of drama produced - and a lot of it wasn't by Shakespeare. Apart from a few noble exceptions these plays are often passed over, ignored or simply unknown. This podcast presents full audio productions of the plays, fragmentary and extant, that shaped the theatrical world that shaped our dramatic history.

4 DAYS AGO

End of Year Round Up 2025

It's the end of another year - so much has happened! Entertaining Henry, our Wyrd Revels, so many things... and I cram them into this short episode! Future things links - Live shows, not much I can announce year but next year, we’ll be performing live at the Thomas Nashe and Voice conference (Friday 9th January) - doing Pierce Penniless It is part of a two-day conference on the writings of Thomas Nashe (1567-c.1601)– and they commissioned a staged reading of Pierce Penniless from us – recordings will of course follow. Please register for the conference at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdIz0iL-BbOEXKlIFw30m7Wlou4x7ZeQYqkoTYRFS0ezyuMQQ/viewform And the big live show is Sunday 12th April - All Day Event, London, looking at Sir Thomas More in detail. SAVE THE DATE - priority tickets list, sign up here! Our patrons received this episode... well, the other day actually, but it is the end of the year round up, so whatcha gonna do? But everything else we do goes to them weeks, months - occasionally years - in advance! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

10 min
19/12/2025

1570 and All This - Part 1 (Hamlet to Hamilton Crossover)

Here's the second of two mini seasons of crossover episodes with Emily C A Synder and Colin Kovarik of the Hamlet to Hamilton podcast. It's actually second of five, as it follows on from the two part 1560 and All That which came as a mini set. We have been dancing through texts from the medieval up to the reign of Elizabeth on their podcast, and now we're doing the same over on ours - from the end of 1560's into the wilds of the 1570's. It's a case of thinking aloud, and seeing what comes up. Hamlet to Hamilton: Exploring Verse Drama is an educational podcast from TURN TO FLESH PRODUCTIONS Audio Network. Teaching how to write and perform new verse drama. Hosted by Emily C. A. Snyder. Edited by Colin Kovarik. SEASON ONE: Writing Verse Drama SEASON TWO: Arthur Through the Ages SEASON THREE: Soliloquy SEASON FOUR: The Origins of English Verse Drama - which is with us! Hamlet to Hamilton website - http://www.hamlettohamilton.com/ Support H2H at their patreon - https://www.patreon.com/hamlettohamilton Our patrons received this episode in May 2024 - 19 months early! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

2h 19m
12/12/2025

Discussing: 100 Ballads

This is a very late release of a discussion we had last year about the website 100 Ballads, which features over 100 ballads from the early modern period. Go have a look, it's fabulous. https://www.100ballads.org/ With Christopher Marsh, Angela McShane, Andy Watts and host Robert Crighton. Our patrons received this episode in May 2025 - 18 months early! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

53 min
05/12/2025

The BIG Vote RESULTS!

The votes are in, we have our winner - and a host of runners up and stats to discuss! Visual charts will be available on our website shortly after this episode drops. Our patrons received this episode a few days ago... you can't keep secrets long. 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

25 min
02/12/2025

Doctor John Faustus (Chapter 22)

The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, is the book that is the source for Christopher Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story. This was a tricky episode to record, as I had made a decision to use a specific version of the text with very odd versions of place names - I lost all ability to say these places in any comprehensible way, but hopefully it isn't too weird. CW: Infanticide, anti-Catholic and Islamphobic sentiments, especially towards the end. The latter section with the problematic depiction of Islamic culture, also features a host of sexual consent issues. Chapter Twenty-Two: How Doctor Faustus made his journey through the principal and most famous lands in the world. Our patrons also get an exploring session looking in detail at the text - join our chat here. Thunder sfx thanks to zapsplat.com Our patrons received this episode in September 2024 - approx. 14 months early. They have also already received the next 19 chapters and exploring sessions! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

42 min
28/11/2025

Albion Knight - Full Cast Audio (Fragment)

Hello! It's a chunky fragment this week, and one I've been wanted to produce more fully for a long time. A kinda content warning that this episode is about bad actors (in the political sense of the word) deliberately plotting to turn people against each other in a blatant attempt to leverage power. Which is upsetting enough in the real world, let alone in a 500ish year old play. Albion Knight by the Unknown Albion Knight - Heydn McCabe Justice - Simon Nader Injury - Valentina Vinci Division - Robert Crighton Fragments is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton - additional special sound by zapsplat.com Our patrons received the scene within this episode in August 2025 - 3 months early! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live. The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

1h 1m
21/11/2025

Discussing: John Danter with Michelle Michel

After joining us for so many explorations of the cony-catching pamphlets on our patreon channel, we couldn't not ask Michelle Michel to join us to discuss the world of printing and John Danter. In theory we were going to be talking around the play text of Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester... and then we mostly didn't! But we did talk about the printing of plays and Danter's part in it all. (If you'd like to join an exploring session that does talk about the play, follow this link!) Michelle is working on a PhD at the Shakespeare Institute, doing a bibliographic analysis of the titles printed by printer/publisher John Danter between 1591 and 1599 Our patrons received the scene within this episode in July 2025 - 4 months early! 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

45 min
14/11/2025

Endgame - Discussing: A Game at Chess (Middleton's Endgame 6)

This is our closing panel discussion from Middleton's Endgame, following a whole day looking at A Game at Chess and the end of Middleton's career, recorded live at The White Bear Theatre on Sunday 11th August 2024. The panel get to grips, finally, with the question of the play itself - not just the history, the scandal, the context, but the actual goddamn play. CW: We will be discussing - quite bluntly at times - events of the play which include attempted sexual assault, dismissal of sexual assault victims, anti-catholic sentiments, ableist, racist, and fatphobic dialogue from the period, discussion of violence, and of physical injuries. With Professor Tracey Hill, Dr Will Green, Daniel Yabut and cast member Keith Hill. The panel was hosted by Robert Crighton Also heard in the audience were Helen Good, Lois Potter, Roel Fox, and an exclamation by Liza Graham. The event was produced and edited by Robert Crighton This followed and before that Setting up the Board, which delivered an overview of Thomas Middleton in the 1620’s, the first half and second half of the play A Game at Chess, King's Gambit, which covered the aftermath of the affair, and an adaptation of the 1626 Lord Mayor's Show. YouTube playlist of readings of the play. Podcast playlist on the play. Patreon box set of this show. The Legacy of Thomas Middleton discussing episode. Webpage covering the play. Our patrons received a rough mix of this episode in October 2024 - over a year in advance. 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 feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

39 min

From the earliest drama in English, to the closing of the theatres in 1642, there was a hell of a lot of drama produced - and a lot of it wasn't by Shakespeare. Apart from a few noble exceptions these plays are often passed over, ignored or simply unknown. This podcast presents full audio productions of the plays, fragmentary and extant, that shaped the theatrical world that shaped our dramatic history.

Creator

Beyond Shakespeare
Years Active

2018 - 2025
Episodes

500
Rating

Explicit
Show Website

Beyond Shakespeare