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Early Modern Drama on the Page and Stage
Many books and university courses, trying to compensate for a history of the neglect or mistrust of plays as performance, use the phrase ‘from page to stage’ to think about the dramatic possibilities of their texts. In fact, for the early modern theatre, the phrase needs to be the other way around – from stage to page. Plays were performances first, and only later, and then only sometimes, books. This section of Great Writers gathers resources – podcasts, ebooks, websites – to explore the two interconnected lives of the early modern play – as an event in time and space on the stage of the Globe or Blackfriars theatre, and as a material printed object, on sale to Elizabethan and Jacobean readers in the booksellers’ quarter around St Paul’s Churchyard. Read more
# | Title | Description | Contributor |
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1 | The Death Masks of Macbeth |
In this short talk Professor Simon Palfrey explores the deathly afterlives of Shakespeare’s ‘... |
Simon Palfrey |
2 | Acting Masterclass: "Lend me your ears" |
A second Masterclass on how Shakespeare spins rhetoric for the actor, with Sam Leith, journalist... |
Gregory Doran, Sam Leith |
3 | Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin' |
A practical Masterclass with Greg Doran from the Royal Shakespeare Company looking at what clues... |
Gregory Doran |
4 | London Theatre: Past Glories, Today’s Success and Tomorrow’s Opportunities (lecture) |
Free public lecture by Julian Bird. From Gresham College. Available as video and audio. ... |
Julian Bird |
5 | The language of Shakespeare |
Actors and the director talk about how they have approached and worked with their student... |
Kate O'Connor |
6 | Understanding Shakespeare |
The actor Nick Lyons talks about the challenge of the language barrier and how he dealt with it... |
Nick Lyons |
7 | Two Gentlemen of Verona: The view from the Director |
The director talks about how she adapted the script and directed the student Shakespeare... |
Kate O'Connor |
8 | The Tempest: For you am I this patient log-man |
The director and actors talk about the log-scene in The Tempest and how they interpret and... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
9 | The Tempest: Our revels now are ended |
The famous Shakespeare scene from The Tempest, performed by actors from an Oxford student drama... |
Dylan Townley |
10 | The Tempest - Our revels now are ended: Conveying Shakespeare's meaning |
The actor Dylan Townley talks about the language of Shakespeare. He describes how understanding... |
Dylan Townley |
11 | The Tempest: Prospero |
Actor Dylan Townley talks with director Archie Cornish about the character Prospero. They... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
12 | The Tempest: Direction and interpretation |
Director Archie Cornish and actor Dylan Townley - Prospero - talk about adapting, directing and... |
Archie Cornish, Dylan Townley |
13 | Teaching Shakespeare in Schools |
A teacher talks about how she teaches Shakespeare in school, using video clips and references... |
Joyti Chandegra |
14 | Shakespeare and the Stage |
Professor Tiffany Stern gives a talk on William Shakespeare and how his plays were performed in... |
Tiffany Stern |
# | Title | Description | Contributor |
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1 | Why should we study Elizabethan Theatre? |
Professor Tiffany Stern of University College, Oxford, discusses her current research and... |
Tiffany Stern, Ilana Lassman |
2 | Acting Masterclass: "Lend me your ears" |
A practical Masterclass with Greg Doran from the Royal Shakespeare Company on how Shakespeare... |
Gregory Doran, Sam Leith |
3 | Acting Masterclass: 'Pyramus, you begin' |
A practical Masterclass looking at what clues Shakespeare puts into the verse for the actor.... |
Gregory Doran |
4 | Much Ado About Nothing |
Emma Smith asks why the characters are so quick to believe the self-proclaimed villain Don John... |
Emma Smith |
5 | Hamlet |
The fact that father and son share the same name in Hamlet is used to investigate the play'... |
Emma Smith |
6 | As You Like It |
Asking 'what happens in As You Like It', this lecture considers the play's... |
Emma Smith |
7 | Shakespeare and Voice |
Linda Gates, Professor of Voice at Northwestern University (USA) discusses how Shakespeare'... |
Linda Gates |
8 | Shakespeare Lectures |
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser's lectures on the life and work of William Shakespeare. Recorded in 1965... |
Dr. Ralph W. Schlosser |
9 | Shakespeare and the Stage |
Professor Tiffany Stern gives a talk on William Shakespeare and how his plays were performed in... |
Tiffany Stern |
# | Title | Description | Author |
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1 | The Plays of William Shakespeare as published in the first folio of 1623 |
ebook version of The Plays of William Shakespeare as published in the first folio of 1623 |
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 |
2 | Arden of Feversham |
ebook version of Arden of Feversham |
Unknown |
3 | An essay on the character of Hamlet: As performed by Mr. Henderson, at the Theatre Royal in the Hay-Market. |
ebook version of An essay on the character of Hamlet: As performed by Mr. Henderson, at the... |
Pilon, Frederick, 1750-1788. |
4 | Shakespeare and Music | Christopher Wilson | |
5 | 'Spenser, Johnson, and Shakspeare' |
Chapter taken from Issac Disraeli's 'Curiosities of Literature'. Edited, with Memoir and Notes,... |
Issac Disraeli |
6 | The Preface to Shakespeare |
'The preface to Shakespeare' by Samuel Johnson. Together with selected notes on some of the... |
Samuel Johnson |
7 | 'A Talk for Twelfth Night' |
This essay on Shakespeare's play 'Twelfth Night' by Arthur Machen forms chapter fifteen of the... |
Arthur Machen |
8 | On 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' |
This essay on Shakespeare's play 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is by Arthur Machen, and forms... |
Arthur Machen |
# | Resource Title | Description | Contributor |
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1 | The Rose |
The Rose - mislabeled The Globe - from Visscher's View of London 1616
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2 | Second Globe Theatre |
Globe Theatre - second Globe Theatre, from Hollar's View of London (1647).
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3 | Shakespeare's Globe |
By Aldo Ardetti (Own work), October 2007.
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4 | The Swan |
A performance in progress at the Swan theatre in London in 1596.
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# | Resource Title | Description | Contributor |
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1 | Science of Middleton (images) |
Diagrams showing various ways of illustrating speaker turns, speech lengths, speaker... |
Patrick Lockley |
2 | Science of Shakespeare (visualisations) |
Diagrams (static and moving) showing various ways of illustrating speaker turns, speech lengths... |
Patrick Lockley |