Category Archives: drama

Double Your Pleasure with Austen-Inspired Actors and Actresses

Posted on February 26, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a film buff, especially period dramas. For many years, I taught media literacy, and I love to look for “unique” facts. One of my favorites is a list of actors who regularly … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, Austen actors, drama, film, film adaptations, Jane Austen | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The Taming of the Shrew’s Connection to “Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar” Excerpt + Giveaway

Posted on December 14, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

One of the main themes in my upcoming release of Pride and Prejudice and a Shakespearean Scholar: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary is the use William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew as a basis of the interaction between Darcy … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, blog hop, book excerpts, book release, British history, drama, excerpt, film adaptations, Georgian Era, historical fiction, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, marriage, Pride and Prejudice, Regency era, Regency romance, romance, Vagary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

The Theatre-Loving Fore-Runners of Shakespeare ~ Part I

Posted on November 3, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 With the rediscovery of the works of Seneca, Plautus, and Terence, the renaissance of 16th Century England began. First edited in 1308 by an Nicholas Treveth, the tragedian Seneca remained unnoticed for some time by those in England, for Treveth … Continue reading →

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Shetland Sword Dance

Posted on August 7, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 Sir Walter Scott wrote in his diary of the Shetland Sword Dance on 7 August 1814. “At Scalloway my curiosity was gratified by an account of the sword-dance, now almost lost, but still practiced in the Island of Papa…. There … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Normans, Anglo-Saxons, British history, drama, literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

John Heywood, England’s First Great Dramatist

Posted on August 3, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

We know little of John Heywood’s life, other than the year of his birth, which was 1497. Likely, he was once served as a choir boy in the Chapel Royale and then studied at Oxford as a King’s Scholar. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Chaucer, British history, drama, kings and queens, playwrights, poetry, political stance, theatre | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Oxfordshire St. George Play

Posted on July 20, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

Closely related to the Morris and Sword Dancers, the Oxfordshire St. George Play is considered a kind of Mummers Play. As well as possessing close elements of kinship, the characters in all these plays are largely interchangeable. That being said, … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, drama, literature, medieval | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

A Gest of Robyn Hode, a Robin Hood Folk Ballad

Posted on June 2, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

In 1560, William Copeland printed the fragments of the various Robin Hood folk dramas. The “plays” were likely performed by mummers and strolling players for a century or more before Copeland printed them. A Gest of Robyn Hode A Gest … Continue reading →

Posted in ballads, British history, Canterbury tales, drama, literature, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

The Quem Quaeritis Trope, the Roots of Liturgical Drama

Posted on April 13, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 The first Easter or Quem Quaeritis trope had its beginnings in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Gall, Switzerland. (The script of this first trope and an accompanying translation can be found below.) The Easter trope became the model for similar … Continue reading →

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An English Mystery Play: Abraham and Isaac, the Brome Non-Cycle Play

Posted on March 8, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

The sacrifice of Isaac is the basis for six extant Miracle plays. There is also the Coventry cycle of plays, where Isaac submits to his fate. In the Towneley Plays, which are part of the York cycle, Isaac is made … Continue reading →

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Roger Ascham, Serving Four Monarchs

Posted on February 6, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

 Born in Kirby Wiske (a village in the North Riding), Yorkshire, in 1515, Roger Ascham was the third son of John and Margaret Ascham. Ascham was the steward to Baron Scrope of Bolton. Roger Ascham was a scholar and didactic … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, drama, Elizabethan drama, history, legacy, literature, Tudors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment