Hi there and welcome to this guest episode for the History of England podcast. My name is Philip and I'm the host of the History of European Theatre Podcast, and thanks for joining me on this

little segment of my journey through millennia of theatrical history.

When I caught up with every episode of the History of England last year, I wondered what the

best way would be for me to thank David for the many gaps in my historical knowledge that he

has filled, and for the hours of information

and entertainment that he has provided. Of course, the first thing I did was to sign up as a member

and to start to work my way through all of those additional episodes. But then I thought

that even more than that, perhaps he would appreciate a week off, and for someone else to

talk about some of those cultural things that, well, let's face it, we know are not his favourite subject, but nevertheless

so important to the rich fabric of English history. At the time, David's journey through

the Civil War was just kicking off, so it seemed a perfect opportunity to offer up an episode

about how theatre was

affected by those seismic changes in the country and beyond. In my own podcast, I'm not quite up to this

period yet. Currently, I'm deeply into a long season about the two greatest playwrights of the

early modern era, William Shakespeare and Ben Johnson.

But over 150 episodes earlier, I talked about the very beginnings of theatre in ancient Greece

and how the Romans inherited that and changed it to their own needs.

Then there was the religious theatre of the Middle Ages, the flowering of Renaissance theatre in continental Europe,

and how that influence, but was also very different from, the early Renaissance theatre in England,

before the greats of the Elizabethan period burst onto the scene.

I have been very fortunate in being able to get many guests to come onto the podcast

and add their own in-depth

...