Talks & Media
I speak about Shakespeare's theatre to audiences of every kind, from literary festivals and local history societies to sixth-form classes and university seminars.
Talk topics
- 01
Shakespeare in Shoreditch
Shakespeare's career began in Shoreditch, not on Bankside. This talk introduces what the Theatre and the Curtain were like, and which plays were first seen in this thrilling, diverse, and expanding suburb.
- 02
Unearthing Shakespeare
What archaeology at the Curtain, the Theatre, the Rose and the Boar's Head has revealed, and how it changes the way we engage with Elizabethan theatre today.
- 03
Spectres of Shakespeare
Why performances in ruins, guildhalls and unexpected spaces keep finding something new in the plays, drawn from my book: Site-Specific Shakespeare.
- 04
“You Base Football Player”: Shakespeare and Folk Football
How early modern crowds moved between the playhouse yard and the football field.
- 05
Shakespeare's Weapons
Swords, daggers and stage fights: how combat was played at the Curtain, and what the weapons on stage tell us about the plays and their audiences.
Enquire about a talk
For literary and book festivals, Shakespeare, history and archaeology societies, museums and heritage sites, schools and sixth-form colleges, universities, U3A and community groups. Please include the date, the venue or format, and the audience you have in mind.
Listen
Press
Earlier interviews and coverage include the American Shakespeare Center podcast on editing early modern plays for performance, Daily Hive on Alberta's arts during the pandemic, and coverage of the Winter Shakespeare Festival in Edmonton.
Selected conference talks
| Year | Talk | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | "Archaeo-PaR" (seminar: Shakespeare in Situ) | Shakespeare Association of America, Atlanta |
| 2026 | "From the Water to the Wall: Mobile Spectatorship and Early Modern Football" | World Shakespeare Congress, Verona |
| 2025 | "Laboratory Lichfield: Site-Responsive Reflections on Guildhall Playing" (plenary roundtable) | British Shakespeare Association, York |
| 2025 | "'Tap, Tap, and So Part Fair': Shakespeare's Combat at the Curtain" | Renaissance Society of America, Boston |
| 2024 | "The Future of the Past: Using Immersive Tech and AI to Harness Heritage" | Eastern Arc Conference, Norwich |
| 2024 | "Shoreditch's Falstaff: Will Kemp at the Curtain, 1597–99" | British Shakespeare Association, Leicester |
| 2024 | "Archaeology, AI, and After in Shakespeare's Shoreditch" | Shakespeare Association of America, Portland |
| 2023 | "Staging Q2 Romeo and Juliet at the Curtain Playhouse" | Pacific Northwest Renaissance Society, Banff |