The Kings Lynn Medieval Stage: A Conversation With Tim Fitzhigham
10/21/24 • 31 min
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/
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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/
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Previous Episode
The Comedy of Errors: ‘Hand in Hand, Not One Before the Other.’
Episode 139:
Last time ‘Two Gentlemen of Verona’ gave us a look at second comedy from Shakespeare’s early phase as a playwright. As you heard certain elements in the plotting of the play and execution of its denouement make it problematic, but nevertheless it showed early promise. The lyrical nature of much of the language used in that play is quite typical of the earliest comedies and it is probably not coincidental that this was around the time that Shakespeare was writing his long lyrical poem ‘Venus and Adonis’, so we might assume that his mindset at the time was that of a lyrical poet, and maybe we see that influence still in his probable next work, the much more accomplished play ‘The Comedy of Errors’, which has remained one of the more popular Shakespeare comedies since its first performance.
The Source for the play and changes Shakespeare made to it
The original text of the play
The dating and earliest performances of the play
Foul Papers
The setting as a Roman street with three houses
A Synopsis of the play
The serious and long opening exposition.
The importance of a dramatic opening scene
Social commentary in the play
Adriana as a well-developed character for a light-hearted farce
Antipholus of Ephesus as an unpleasant character, but toned down from the source material
Antipholus of Syracuse as a more sympathetic character
The punishment of the Dromio twins
The view of authority in the play
The problems with the plot (if we take it too seriously)
The soliloquies of Antipholus of Syracuse
Luciana and the expression of the value of tradition
What should we read into the very ending of the play?
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Next Episode
The Life of Ben Jonson Part One: It’s Complicated
Episode 141:
In this episode I set us up for a look at the life of Ben Johnson discussing some of the sources for information about his life and how far we can trust them – it’s complicated.
Jonson’s 1618 visit to Scotland and why he might have undertaken the journey on foot.
His conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden.
Jonson’s opinions on other writers as reported by Drummond and thoughts on their validity.
Descriptions of Jonson by Aubery and Dekker.
The Johnson portrait.
How Johnson might have revealed himself in his work.
How his poems appear to be self-referencing but may not be as straightforward as they seem.
How his plays possibly include some self-revealing aspects.
Admiration of Johnson as equal to, or greater than, Shakespeare.
The modern reader and the problems with Jonson.
Support the podcast at:
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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