Category Archives: theatre

Is Shakespeare’s Play “Macbeth” Cursed?

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Regina Jeffers

As theatre was my minor in my undergraduate program, I often studied Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth,” and I have taught it many times. However, I have never performed in or directed the play. Even so, I know something of the “Curse … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, drama, Elizabethan drama, paranormal, playwrights, real life tales, research, theatre | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Opera in Jane Austen’s London

Posted on May 7, 2021 by Regina Jeffers

I think you judge very wisely in putting off your London visit, and I am mistaken if it be not put off for some time. You speak with such noble resignation of Mrs. Jordan and the Opera House, that it … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, Georgian England, Georgian Era, Jane Austen, Living in the Regency, Living in the UK, Regency era, theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Adapting Jane Austen for the Stage: Two Radically Different Adaptations, a Guest Post by Eliza Shearer

Posted on April 13, 2020 by Regina Jeffers

This post originally appeared on Austen Authors on 4 February 2020. Enjoy!  I love going to the theatre. I get a real thrill out of seeing actual people perform in front of me. I am even more keen to go … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, Guest Post, theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

James Wilmot on “Who Wrote Shakespeare’s Plays?” + an eBook Giveaway

Posted on January 6, 2020 by Regina Jeffers

  James Wilton was supposedly the first to question whether William Shakespeare was the actual author of the plays and sonnets we now attribute to him. Wilmot was an English clergyman, having been educated at Oxford, and scholar from Barton-on-the-Heath, … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, book excerpts, book release, British history, Elizabethan drama, excerpt, Georgian England, Georgian Era, history, Jane Austen, legends and myths, literature, Living in the Regency, Pride and Prejudice, reading habits, real life tales, theatre, Vagary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Pies and Prejudice, A Victorian Baking Musical, a Guest Post from Elaine Owen

Posted on January 17, 2018 by Regina Jeffers

Elaine Owen featured this post on Austen Authors in November. I wished to share it with you here. Enjoy!  Could you ever have guessed that a Pride and Prejudice variation could be set in a modern day bakery, that it … Continue reading →

Posted in Austen Authors, food and drink, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Jane Austen, playwrights, Pride and Prejudice, theatre, Vagary | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pies and Prejudice, A Victorian Baking Musical, a Guest Post from Elaine Owen

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 →

Posted in Anglo-Normans, British history, drama, England, kings and queens, medieval, playwrights, theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Theatre-Loving Fore-Runners of Shakespeare ~ Part I

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

Pre-Elizabethan Drama: Folk Plays

Posted on January 6, 2017 by Regina Jeffers

Folk drama is a remote form of oral literature. The early forms included dancers wearing masks portraying animal and human characters. Eventually, speeches and songs were added. The action and the dramatic imitation became the prominent part of these early … Continue reading →

Posted in British history, drama, Great Britain, medieval, religion, theatre | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Douglas Jerrold, Playwright and Midshipman Serving Under Jane Austen’s Brother, Francis

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

Douglas William Jerrold (London 3 January 1803 – 8 June 1857 London) was an English dramatist and writer. Biography Jerrold’s father, Samuel Jerrold, was an actor and lessee of the little theatre of Wilsby near Cranbrook in Kent. In 1807 … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, British history, George IV, Great Britain, Jane Austen, Living in the UK, playwrights, theatre | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

A Comic Play: Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Regina Jeffers

Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs is a comic play in three acts by Douglas Jerrold. The story concerns a sailor, William, who returns to England from the Napoleonic Wars and finds that his wife Susan is being harassed … Continue reading →

Posted in acting, British history, George IV, Great Britain, Living in the UK, playwrights, real life tales, theatre | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on A Comic Play: Black-Eyed Susan; or, All in the Downs