Yes, we’re still lumping plays together under the reigning English monarch, don’t get snooty with us. And we do do other lists. All dates are approximate and often contested, here used primarily to note inception. Feel free to imagine them in slightly different orders and write long angry emails. Many of these plays were also printed, so they have a hinterland outlasting their original performance/s life.

With the odd exception, you are able on this page to listen and occasionally watch (at least) a read through of every play we have from the reign of Henry VIII. You’ll be able to take a day off and take a little trip through the whole corpus in one go. If you want.

This little list is mostly court sponsored drama: entertainment that was commissioned for court entertainment or by wealthy individuals or institutions – sometimes for fun, debate, soft political peacocking, or explicitly as propaganda. Go back to 1485 to 1509.

1513

Youth by the Unknown. First Look exploring session available on YouTube.

There’s also this version! Liverpool University Players did a production which can be watched via YouTube. Performed at Rufford Old Hall in Lancashire in 2014. Directed by Sarah Peverley and Martin Poile.

1514

Hickscorner by the Unknown. Virtual exploring session available. Something of a remix of Youth (above) – and though it’s first appearance must be somewhere here in the timeline, it lives on in the future and the name Hick Scorner gets referenced pretty often in later literature and drama.

1519

The Four Elements by John Rastell. Written by and printed by Rastell, this is an incomplete text, with a chunk missing towards the end, and the close of the play. A playlist of all our Exploring sessions available on YouTube here – or you can watch the most compendious version below.

And if you’d like to know more about John Rastell, printer and writer of plays, here’s an interview with John Thor Ewing (editor of Rastell’s 100 Merry Tales) all about him…

Magnificence by John Skelton. Exploring session available on YouTube.

The play has been produced in recent years – a short documentary of about the production is available on vimeo.

1520

Christ’s Burial – a late example of liturgical drama, which packs one hell of a punch. Exploring session available on YouTube, or on the podcast.

Christ’s Resurrection – the next play of these two Easter dramas, playing a very different emotional range and with a grand explosion of music. Exploring session available on YouTube, or on the podcast.

John the Evangelist, author unknown. This is the earliest this play can go in the timeline, it won’t get printed till the 1550’s – so you can move this around to taste. Our exploring sessions raised a whole host of questions and issues with this one. It’s a strange beast, either cut to shreds or trying to do something a bit too clever for its own good. One to delve into at greater depth in the future. Alternative YouTube First Look Session.

Chester Mystery Cycle – this is a super random nominal date for the area of surviving versions of this particular cycle, which continues to be revised and copied for decades to come. We include it here, partly because the texts we have come from aroundabout now, but also to remind you that the country is awash with Biblical drama, from individual parishes staging the occasional one off, to the better known big collected cycles. There’s another fifty years of this sort of thing, though it does get more fraught/fiddly/complicated after the reformation – coming soon! Go to the Chester Page for more… or browse the playlist of full cast audio adaptations and exploring sessions below.

1525

Calisto and Melebea by someone, based on La Celestina and with a huge amount of overlap with Dame Sirith and other multi-versioned pieces of storytelling/drama. Printed and possibly commissioned by John Rastell. First and Second Look Exploring sessions available in the playlist as well as a character workshop on the bawd Celestina! An audio only version of a Second Look session is available on the podcast.

Godly Queen Hester – possibly an early version of the play belongs in the early to mid 1520’s, with the version that comes to us dating around 1529. Exploring session available.

Witty and Witless by John Heywood. This has been dated later than the 1520’s, but apart from the closing speech and some revision, we’re fairly sure it lives around here. Exploring Session on YouTube. Full cast audio adaptation available.

John John by John Heywood – this may have been written before Witty and Witless above, but they live close on each others heels. Exploring Session available. Full Cast Audio Adaptation plus rehearsal bonus material with uncut script and discussion available below.

Gentleness and Nobility by John Heywood and John Rastell – full cast audio adaptation of this brilliant debate play is available, there is also a First Look Exploring Session available on YouTube, and a LIVE recording of a cut down version of the play on the podcast.

Pardoner and the Friar by John Heywood – this is the most theatrical play ever written. Fight us on this point. The audio version cannot demonstrate fully how clever and inventive this play is – it has to be seen live.

A Play of Love by John Heywood – a full cast audio adaptation is below, there are also a First Look exploring sessions on this playlist.

1530

The Prodigal Son or Pater, Filius et Uxor (fragment) – Full Cast Audio recording below, earlier Exploring session available here (though we did misunderstand a fair amount about what was what). Also see The Disobedient Child for crossover material – First Look, Second Look.

1531

The Four PP by John Heywood

Courage, Kindness, Cleaness (Fragment) – Full Cast Audio Adaptation

D, G, T (Fragment) – Full Cast Audio Adaptation

1533 – NB: The English Reformation starts cooking with gas about now…

The Royal Entry of Anne Boleyn – prior to her coronation, Anne Boleyn got the London triumph treatment – a First Look at the surviving material is looked at here.

The Play of the Weather by John Heywood – We’ve run exploring sessions on YouTube, and a Full Cast Audio Adaptation available.

The website Staging the Henrician Court, with videos from their staging of The Play of the Weather, can be found here. http://stagingthehenriciancourt.brookes.ac.uk/

Old Christmas or Good Order (Fragment) – Exploring session available, full cast audio adaptation in preparation.

1534 – Coventry Mystery Plays (Two Texts) – We’ve put the surviving Coventy mystery plays here because this is where the manuscript we have came into being. But also as a reminder that Biblical drama is still happening EVERYWHERE.

The Pageant of the Sherman and Taylors – First Look Exploring Session available.

The Pageant of the Weavers – First Look Exploring Session available.

1535

Temperance and Humility by the Unknown. Exploring session available here, full cast audio performance below. This fragmentary play might have some connection with the text of The Four Cardinal Virtues further down this page – and a remixed version of the two texts is available here.

1537

Albion Knight by some person. Exploring session available, full cast audio adaptation in preparation.

Thersites by (reasonable shout) Nicholas Udall. There’s a full page on Thersites on the site. We’ve done a quite extensive Second Look session, which is as close to a full digital performance as we can get on zoom without adaptation.

There is also a First Look Exploring Session, where we discuss Thersites in more detail…

1538

Three Laws by John Bale – 1538 was a busy year for Bale, the three plays we have of his all originate around about here. Three Laws is a deeply problematic play, with is not just evangelical for the rising Protestant cause, but also brazen in its attack on Catholicism and sexual relations. An exploring session is available on YouTube.

Other modern work has been done to produce Three Laws, which can be found elsewhere on the internet at the Early Drama at Oxford website. Including a video about the production available on vimeo.

God’s Promises by John Bale. We’ve done a lot, and also not nearly enough on this play. We originally recorded a rough plain text version, and released it in individual scenes, and also in an omnibus edition. But then we went back to do a more considered exploration session on YouTube.

To find out more about Bale’s Biblical plays, here’s a discussion about them.

John Baptist’s Preaching by John Bale. Exploring session on the podcast below, YouTube session available here.

The Temptation by John Bale – Exploring session on the podcast below, YouTube session available here.

King John by John Bale – this play probably began life here, but was being revised all the way to the reign of Elizabeth. Exploring sessions available on YouTube.

1540

Love Feigned and Unfeigned by the Unknown (fragment). Two exploring sessions available – podcast below, YouTube here, full cast audio possible for the future. It’s a not unlong fragment this, playing with ideas of love and friendship in interesting ways.

An Satire of the Three Estates by Sir David Lindsay – this is around about where an early version of this Scottish play was produced. See Edward page for full entry.

1542

The Four Cardinal Virtues by the Unknown (fragment). Exploring session available here, full cast audio adaptation below. Related ending to Temperance and Humility, see above – a remix version of the two texts together can be heard here.

1544

The Play of Wit and Science by John Redford. This is the first appearance of this play, variously dated from the early 1530’s to 1547. It’s got some brilliant comic business, and is popular enough to be revised/rewritten as the Marriage of… further down the line – our work on the Wit Variations can be found on YouTube here. So, keep an eye on the title, it’ll pop up again in variations. Exploring Sessions and workshops available.

There’s a lot of room for doubt as to the precise placing of some of the above. Some could live much later. And there’s a lot more to be said about the drama during this reign of Henry VIII, but this is just a general list, so you’ll have to go out and buy a book or something. Lot’s of them about. They’re often found in bookshops. Go on, off you go. Go to 1509 to 1547.