In Shakespeare’s time, travelling players were considered akin to rogues and vagabonds so needed the protection and patronage of a noble to survive. In 1727 England passed the Chamberlain’s Act requiring theatres to be licensed to perform plays, to prevent the vicious satires against prime minister Robert Walpole. Life for travelling players was also hard … Continue reading
I love reading about early theatre performances. In the early 18th century the first Prime Minister Robert Walpole was annoyed at the many scurrilous plays and comedies insulting him and his ministry so he passed the Licensing act of 1737 which censored public performances and continued into the 20th century. This led to shows advertising … Continue reading
The present government’s policy of slashing local government funding has caused massive problems in preserving heritage sites and museums, so here’s a rare bit of good news. This is from the i paper of 5 April An 18th century trading centre of Yorkshire handloom weavers is to get a new lease of life as a … Continue reading
This is a Scottish practice that is similar to the English Rogation ceremonies which annually confirm the parish boundaries. The custom claimed to have continued for something like 4 centuries – till early 20th century, so is post Reformation. Their treatment of sucides is harsher than the English. This is the final piece from Highways … Continue reading
I sent a copy of my ’13 Fascinating Walks in Central Bristol’ to Mark Radcliffe & Stuart Maconi as they will be in Bristol for the 6 music festival in a few weeks. They were delighted by the walks, guide, calling it “Truly a lovely thing” and threatened to do at least one of the … Continue reading
This play by George Farquarson dates from about 1715 and this is a belated review of the NT transmission some time ago. It is one of the funniest plays I’ve seen and full of action and brilliant acting. It is basically about two young men who bow their fortunes in London then flee to LIchfield … Continue reading
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