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The History Of European Theatre
The Kings Lynn Medieval Stage: A Conversation With Tim Fitzhigham
In October 2023 the story of the discovery of a stage floor that dated from before the Elizabethan period in St George’s Guildhall in Kings Lynn hit the news. The attrition to the headline writers was the fact that that very stage had probably supported Shakespeare as he acted as part of a playing troupe on stage. Of course, that is a great hook for the story as the interest in Shakespeare goes well beyond those of us immersed in the history of theatre and the idea that we can still share a space like that across four hundred years is a beguiling one. I remember standing on the original floor of Anne Hathaway’s cottage in Stratford Upon Avon and feeling a very similar thrill, but there is much more to the story of St George’s Guild Hall at King’s Lynn, a venue for theatre for not just four hundred years, but at least six hundred, making it the UK’s oldest working theatre. So, I was very pleased when Tim Fitzhigham, Creative Director of the Guildhall Theatre agreed to come onto the podcast and talk about St George’s Guildhall and that stage.
Tim Fitzhigham is the Borough Council of Kings Lynn and West Norfolk Creative Director appointed to oversee the revival of St George’s Guildhall. As well as leading this extensive project he is currently completing his PhD on Robert Armin, an actor in The King’s Men who originated many of the clown and fool roles in all but the earliest Shakespeare plays and was a well-known playwright and author in his own right.
Links to the St George's Guildhall Website
https://stgeorgesguildhall.com
and Instagram Account
https://www.instagram.com/stg.guildhall/
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www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
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1. Prologue and Pre History
25:26||Season 1, Ep. 1Episode 1An Introduction to the podcast and your host.Pre-history and how the urge to mimic and present might have been the start of theatre.Religious ritual and Shamanism.The Abydos Passion play and the Egyptian Book of the Dead.The beginning of Greek Theatre.A note on dates and the nature of translations.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy1. Trailer
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26:53||Season 1, Ep. 2Episode 2An overview of the history of Greece to the 5th Century BCE including Minoan and Mycenaean periods, the Greek dark age and the rise of the city state.The development of the religious festivals and their main featuresAn overview of the main playwrights and their plays:AeschylusSophoclesEuripidesAristophanesMenanderThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy3. The Place Of Seeing
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21:55||Season 1, Ep. 6Episode 6A detailed review of The Libation Bearers and Eumenides, the second and third part of The Oresteia trilogy by AeschylusThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy7. Sophocles: That Charming Man
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