The Globe

How did Shakespeare sound to his audiences….?

Nov 11, 2023

buildings, The play’s the thing

accents, David Crystal, Shakespeare, The Globe

The other morning I saw an interesting news item about what Shakespeare’s original audiences heard when they watched his plays or heard his sonnets. The two gentlemen concerned in the news item were British linguist David Crystal) and his actor son Ben Crystal. I gather that David and Ben have been entertaining us with this…
A historic gem hidden in a modern exterior….

Nov 27, 2022

buildings, The play’s the thing

Liverpool Echo, Prescot, Shakespeare North Playhouse, The Globe

This wonderful new “old” theatre first came to my notice when it featured on BBC 24-hr News, so I hurried to learn more, which I found here. We all know about the Globe Theatre in London, but this reproduction of a 16th-century (the above article says 17th century) theatre is in Prescot, Liverpool. The…
Walking “Tudor” England

Aug 10, 2021

battles, buildings, genealogy, law, religion, television reviews, travel

“Bloody Mary”, “Tudors”, Anne Boleyn, Anne of Cleves, Arthur “Tudor”, Ashdown Forest, attainder, Austin Friars, bear-baiting, Bishops of London, Bridewell Palace, brothels, Cambridge, cannon, Channel Five, Christopher Hatton, Clifford’s Tower, conspiracies, dancing, de heretico comburendo, Dutch refugees, East Midlands, Edmund Bonner, Edward of Buckingham, Edward VI, Elizabeth I, excommunication, executions, exile, fire, Framlingham Castle, Fulham Palace, Greenwich Palace, Grey-Dudley rebellion, Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, Hampton Court, Henry Earl of Huntingdon, Henry Grey Duke of Suffolk, Henry VIII, Hever Castle, James VI/I, Jane, John Dudley Duke of Northumberland, John Foxe, John Howard Duke of Norfolk, Katherine Howard, Kenilworth Castle, Kenninghall, Kett Rebellion, Leicester, London, Lord Chancellor, Lord Guildford Dudley, Margaret Clitherow, Mary Stuart, Mass, Michelham Priory, naval power, Nicholas Ridley, Northern Earls’ Rebellion, Norwich, Penshurst Place, Pilgrimage of Grace, Pontefract, Portsmouth, recusants, Ripon Cathedral, Robert Aske, Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester, royal barges, royal hunting estates, Rushton Triangular Lodge, severed heads, Sir Henry Dudley, Sir John Hawkins, Sir Thomas Tresham, Sir Walter Raleigh, Southwark, St. Mary’s Abbey, Stamford, Suzannah Lipscomb, The Globe, Thomas Howard 3rd Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Stafford, tobacco, torture, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Will Kemp, William Cecil, William Shakespeare, Wyatt Rebellion, Yorkshire Museum

Suzannah Lipscomb has just completed another series on Channel Five, this time visiting the sites related to the “Tudors”. In the first episode, she concentrated on Henry VIII and the naval power he inherited from John Howard, Duke of Norfolk. The second was principally about the penultimate “Tudor”, Mary I, as well as Edward VI…
London’s first playhouse rediscovered….?

Sep 8, 2020

archaeology, buildings, culture, heraldry, The play’s the thing

Howards, John Brayne, London, Red Lion playhouse, Richard Burbage, The Globe, theatres, University College London, Whitechapel

Well, it just goes to show that although the past may now be buried far underground, now and then it still comes to light to thrill us all. Now it seems they’ve discovered the site of the Red Lion, “the earliest known attempt to build a playhouse in the Tudor era, a precursor to the…
How should we consider Edward II’s private life….?

Sep 21, 2019

anniversaries, The play’s the thing

“favourites”, Edward II, Kit Marlowe, Richard II, sexuality, Shakespeare, The Globe

I never really know quite what to say when it comes to the private life of Edward II. I know he is generally regarded as being homosexual, but what we consider to be that now may not be quite the same as what was believed in the late 13th – early 14th century. Edward has…

The Globe

How did Shakespeare sound to his audiences….?

A historic gem hidden in a modern exterior….

Walking “Tudor” England

London’s first playhouse rediscovered….?

How should we consider Edward II’s private life….?