Hello, I'm Lucy Worsley, chief curator at Historic Royal Palaces. You're listening to our podcast

that explores the history and stories of our six palaces. These talks are a collection of

some of our best live events. I really hope you enjoy listening. The Trudeau Court was all about competitive displays of power and wealth.

This series examines the influence of music and entertainment on the balance of power.

This talk explores a role of modern performance at Hampton Court Palace

and how the past can be recreated through drama and live interpretation.

The Palace has been a site for experimentation for a long time

and many forms of performance and interpretation have taken place here.

So it makes sense to explain a bit about this live interpretation and performance

using examples from the palace's own history.

Now way back in 1992, for the first time,

there was experimental archaeology taking place in the kitchens, with a team using the

great fires to cook real meat, which they then ate communally before the public. The kitchens team

today are dressed in period-accurate, Tudor costume,

but they address visitors as themselves in the 21st century, not as historical characters.

And this is called third-person interpretation, because you're using the word they and them,

not I and me. The downstairs, if you will, third-person interpretation in the kitchen, was matched

in the 1990s in the upstairs area of the palace, where a costumed guide provided tours of the

Stuart and Tudor Royal Apartments. At Christmas 1992, there was the first Tudor Christmas, a historical event in which entertainments, including

music, fooling and revels, were provided against a backdrop of the late Henriian era.

Since 1999, though, third-person interpretation has given way to a more immersive experience

for visitors, which is first-person interpretation.

...