Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

This week you're getting another university comedy! It's A Merry Dialogue between Band, Cuff and Ruff by the Unknown. It was printed in 1615 and probably performed a year or so earlier by students at Cambridge. More of this kind of thing is on the way!

Band, Cuff and Ruff is about different detailing in clothing, and which is better. Ruffs being favoured by some (usually the more respectable end of the spectrum) and Bands by the more louche. Cuff stands between as arbiter, presumably as the more standard utilitarian element common to all. This is, of course, merely a delivery system for puns on fabric, clothing manufacturing and washing. If you are unsure what the punchline means, assume it’s one of those three.

Band was played by Liza Graham, Cuff by Alison Whismore, and Ruff by Larissa Oates.

The text coach for the production was Liza Graham

Technical presentation by Robert Crighton

For more of this type of thing, go to Preist the Barber.

Our patrons received a mix of this episode in May 2026 - over a month in advance.
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

Part two of our an epic (yet dinky) series looking at some fragments found in The English Treasury of Wit and Language by John Cotgrave. This is a fairly chunky opening gambit, with the preface to the book, before our usual drive by at a short bit of text.

You can find a version of the text at archive.org. It's found under the section "Of Atheism, Blasphemy, Impiety, Prophaxes etc." on page 18/19. The text is performed by Aliki Chapple, the host is Robert Crighton.

Our patrons received this episode in January 2025 - well over a year early!
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, is the book that is the source for Christopher Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story.

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Faustus was asked a question concerning thunder.

Our patrons also get an exploring session looking in detail at the text - join our chat here.

Thunder sfx thanks to zapsplat.com

Our patrons received this episode in December 2024 - approx. 18 months early. They have also already received the next 19 chapters and exploring sessions!
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

This month we've discussing a new book by Eleanor Rycroft and Greg Walker - Predramatic Theatre: The Radicalism of Early British Performance. It's a book that connects strongly with our practical work on early theatre, as well as engagements with ideas of the postdramatic in some of our performances. If that sounds scary, it's not really, come in and join the chat.

The book is available from Palgrave Macmillan now.

Eleanor Rycroft is Associate Professor in Early Modern Performance at the University of Bristol, UK, and author of Facial Hair and the Performance of Early Modern Masculinity (2019). Her work centres on embodiment and gender in premodern performance. She has written articles for journals such as Shakespeare, Shakespeare Bulletin, and English Literary Renaissance, and is currently writing a British Academy-funded monograph on the early modern staging of walking.

Greg Walker is Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He has published widely in the fields of late medieval and early-modern literature and theatre history. He has also been involved, with Thomas Betteridge and Eleanor Rycroft, in performance-as-research productions of Heywood’s Play of the Weather (Hampton Court Palace), Lyndsay’s Satire of the Three Estates (Linlithgow Palace and Stirling Castle) and Jonson’s Masque of Augurs (Banqueting House, Westminster).

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

Welcome to our live stage recording of The Pardoner and the Friar by John Heywood. It's not designed as an audio adaptation, this is simply recorded from a distance on stage. However, it is hopefully of some use.
It was recorded as part of our Entertaining Henry season on Sunday 22nd June 2025 at the Quay Theatre, Sudbury.
With Simon Nader Mirza as The Friar, Robert Crighton as The Pardoner, Alexandra Kataigida as Neighbour Prat, and Roel Fox as The Parson.
The Backstage Technical Manager was Valentina Vinci.
Introductory sermon for the Parson by Robert Crighton
Many thanks to Joe Fawcett, Tom Lagden, and everyone behind the scenes at the Quay.

We have done so much on John Heywood and this play - full playlist here.

The entire Entertaining Henry season was recorded, including most of the rehearsal period - all of this material can be found on our patreon feed.

Our patrons received a mix of this episode in November 2025 - 6 months in advance.
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

The History of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus, is the book that is the source for Christopher Marlowe's play. Chapter by chapter we will wander through the twists and turns of this story.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: How Doctor Faustus was asked a question concerning the Stars that fall from heaven.

Our patrons also get an exploring session looking in detail at the text - join our chat here.

Thunder sfx thanks to zapsplat.com

Our patrons received this episode in November 2024 - approx. 18 months early. They have also already received the next 19 chapters and exploring sessions!
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

For some reason lost to history, we totally forgot to release this episode!
This episode covers the epilogue to Eastward Ho! by Ben Jonson, George Chapman and John Marston - though not necessarily in that order. First Look exploring sessions to this and the other Ho! plays are available.

This epilogue is performed by Fiona Thraille, the host is Robert Crighton

You can also hear the prologue, or dive into our exploring sessions!

Our patrons received a mix of this episode in November 2023 - over 2 and a half years in advance. (Though that was a bit by accident!)
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.

Beyond is sponsored by The Malone Society: The permanent utility of original texts

Welcome to our live stage recording of Thersites attributed to Nicholas Udall, from a dialogue by Joannes Ravisius Textor. It's not designed as an audio adaptation, this is simply recorded from a distance on stage. However, it is hopefully of some use. It was recorded as part of our Entertaining Henry season on Sunday 22nd June 2025 at the Quay Theatre, Sudbury.
With Alexandra Kataigida as Thersites, Roel Fox as Mulciber (a smith) Liza Graham as Mater (Thersites’ mother) Simon Nader Mirza as Miles (a soldier) and Robert Crighton as Iratus Scaena Procurator.
The Backstage Technical Manager was Valentina Vinci.
Music by Roel Fox
Many thanks to Joe Fawcett, Tom Lagden, and everyone behind the scenes at the Quay.

We have a playlist of our exploring sessions and a fairly full Zoom staging of the uncut play.
We have a discussion of the play with Prof. Liz Oakley-Brown
The entire Entertaining Henry season was recorded, including most of the rehearsal period - all of this material can be found on our patreon feed.

Our patrons received a mix of this episode in November 2025 - 6 months in advance.
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is supported by its patrons – become a patron and you get to choose the plays we work on next. Go to www.patreon.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you'd like to buy us a coffee at ko-fi https://ko-fi.com/beyondshakespeare - or if you want to give us some feedback, email us at admin@beyondshakespeare.org, follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram @BeyondShakes or go to our website: https://beyondshakespeare.org
You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel where (most of) our exploring sessions live - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLa4pXxGZFwTX4QSaB5XNdQ
The Beyond Shakespeare Podcast is hosted and produced by Robert Crighton.

About our sponsors - the Malone Society. The Society was founded in 1906 at the initiative of A.W. Pollard, and for over a century they have published (almost) every year edited volumes of early printed and manuscript texts of both well-known and neglected plays. They also publish collections of documentary material relating to the performance and reception of early drama. Their best-known publications include W.W. Greg’s edition of Sir Thomas More, a collaborative history play, and A.C. Dunstan’s edition of the earliest surviving original play in English to have been written by a woman, Elizabeth Cary’s The Tragedy of Mariam.
Their membership is international and open to anyone interested in early drama. Members receive their annual volumes and are able to buy books from their backlist at low prices.
In addition to their publications, they support scholarship of early drama through fellowships and research grants, an annual prize for graduate students, and performances and symposia.
The Society is named after Edmond Malone, born in Dublin in 1741, a great editor, textual scholar and theatre historian, whose work continues to shape studies in early drama.