We’re still running ahead of ourselves a bit here – so lots of dates to check and a lot more work to do. But here’s a mini overview of the shape of these last years of Liz I. Go back to 1594 to 1599.

1600

The Return from Parnassus, part 1 – this is the second of the Parnassus plays, following on from the Pilgrimage to Parnassus. The playlist below covers all the plays, so skip to the one you want.

Jack Drum’s Entertainment by John Marston – A lot of good stuff available, First Look Exploring Session below.

Cynthia’s Revels by Ben Jonson – First Look Exploring Session available – and we’ve also recorded the prologue for the podcast. It’s a good’en.

Lust’s Dominion or The Spanish Moors Tragedy – First Look Exploring Session available.

The Maid’s Metamorphosis – First & Second Look Exploring Sessions available of this fascinating play from the Children of Paul’s.

Patient Grissel by Dekker, Haughton, Henry Chettle – not to be confused with the earlier play of the same name. First Look available.

Alaham by Fulke Greville – might date a lot earlier, but we’ll just put the two Greville plays side by side. First Look available.

Mustapha by Fulke Greville – the date for this play is also fiddly. Might be earlier/later. First Look available.

The Blind Beggar of Bethnal Green by Henry Chettle and John Day. First Look Exploring Session available.

Grim, the Collier of Croyden, or, The Devil and his Dame by William Haughton – First Look Available…

Oswald (Fragment) – or as we prefer to call it, The Importance of Being Oswald. To be found in a fragments session here.

Antonio’s Revenge by John Marston – sequel to Antonio and Mellida – this playlist features both plays in exploring sessions on these genre defying/defining plays that run pell mell through conventions of comedy and tragedy.

Club Law, a comedy from Clare Hall, Cambridge – super fun comedy, worth a try.

1601

What You Will by John Marston – First Look Exploring Session available.

Satriomastix by Thomas Dekker, John Marston, maybe others. First Look Exploring Session available.

The Poetaster by Ben Jonson – we’ve looked in some detail at the pre-show material, (another cracker of an opening to a play) as well as a full exploring First Look below. More Wars of the Theatres material can be found in this handy playlist.

Change is No Robbery, or The Cucqueans and Cuckolds Errants by William Percy – First Look Exploring Session

Blurt, Master Constable by… some peeps. Not a lot of Blurt action for our money, which is a shame. We like Blurt. He has a funny name. Yes, that is the level of our discourse.

How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad by Thomas Heywood (possibly). First Look Exploring sessions available.

Histriomastix by John Marston (?) – This might date earlier, as some people think it opened or closed what is known as the Wars of the Theatres. First Look available.

The Merry Devil of Edmonton by nobody knows – our exploring session of this play followed on from the close of Doctor Faustus, the final scene of which is a good lead in. Sort of.

1602

The Return from Parnassus (part two) or, The Scourge of Simony – this is the probable landing point for the third Parnassus play. We couldn’t face creating three separate playlists for this play, so it’s covered on a general Parnassus playlist, embedded in the earlier listing above, or on YouTube here.

Wily Beguiled (or Wily Beguily, if you please) – First Look Exploring sessions are on the podcast, due to some technical confusions. First part below, part two to follow here.

The Contention Between Liberality and Prodigality – printed this year, probably staged a couple years earlier in this form. It may be based on an earlier play, but there’s no satisfactory way to place it, so this is where it lives. It’s fab by the way, the dullness of the title misleads.

The First Part of Hieronimo – after Kyd – This is a boys company rejig of the first part of The Spanish Tragedy, which appeared around about here. We call it Jeronimo!!! because it’s a delightful spoof thing. Both First and Second Look sessions are available in the playlist.

Sir Thomas Wyatt by Thomas Dekker, Henry Chettle etc. First Look Exploring Session available.

Lingua by Thomas Tomkis

Timon by the Unknown – a comedy. And rather fun it is too. Ending needs work. First Look Exploring Sessions available.

The Tragedy of Mariam by Elizabeth Cary – a full cast audio adaptation is available below. It has a dating range of 1602 to 1609, so we might list it more than once. There’s also a full set of !Spoilers! in this playlist. An exploring session can be heard on YouTube. You can also catch an interview with Jasmine Silk on the Cutpurse Theatre production. There’s also a Mariam webpage on this site.

Beyond our work, there’s a video of the Royal Holloway 1995 production, directed by Elizabeth Schafer. Additionally, there’s a mini version of the text available on YouTube, recorded at the Globe.

The Gentleman Usher by George Chapman – First Look Exploring Session

The Fair Maid of the Exchange attributed to Thomas Heywood – First Look Exploring Session

The Four Prentices of London by Thomas Heywood – First Look Exploring Session.

Sir Giles Goose-cap attributed to George Chapman – First Look a coming…

As we go into the next year, Elizabeth dies and James comes to the throne. To a degree it’s business as usual. And the number of plays just keeps increasing. Our follow up work into the Seventeenth Century is going to take a while… Go to 1603 to 1607.