The Rose Playhouse
The Rose Playhouse was the first Tudor theatre on Bankside, built in 1587 and is now an archaeological relic. Events take place in an intimate space against a backdrop of the historic remains of the Elizabethan arena which are illuminated with LED lights to create a unique atmosphere.
DISCOVERY DAYS: Twelfth Night
Saturday 4 January 2025
Join the Friends of the Rose to discover how Twelfth Night was celebrated at Elizabeth I's court. Meet the dancers and take part in the mayhem.
The Rose Playhouse
DISCOVERY DAYS: Play-reading: Robin Hood
Saturday 1 February 2025
Join us in a reading of a 1598 Rose play about Robin Hood.
We’ve shortened Anthony Munday’s The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington to around an hour and a half. Parts will be pulled randomly from a hat.
If you just want to watch, select an audience ticket!
You will also be able to watch a short film about the discovery of The Rose, narrated by Sir Ian McKellen.
The Rose Playhouse
DISCOVERY DAYS: Costume
Saturday 1 March 2025
Discover how a Tudor gentleman dressed and find out about costume at the time of The Rose
The Rose Playhouse
How to do things with shoes: Digging (for) Dekker’s footwear
On Monday 9 December 2024 at 6:30 PM
What can the archaeological finds at The Rose Playhouse tell us about early modern actors’ footwear and footwork?
And what might theatre history and the dramatic canon look like if reconsidered from the ground up — that is, from the perspective of the feet?
How did female artisanal labour contribute to the manufacture of shoes, and conversely, how did shoes contribute to the fashioning of gender on the early modern stage?
By drawing on a range of evidence — starting with Thomas Dekker’s The Shoemaker’s Holiday, written for and first performed at The Rose in 1599 — this talk will ask what precisely it meant to ‘tread the boards’ of the Rose stage.
Natasha Korda is Director of the Center for the Humanities and Professor of English and Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies at Wesleyan University, Connecticut.
PLAYERS AND PLAYGOING AT THE ROSE
On Monday 4 November 2024 at 6:30 PM
Join Emma Whipday (Newcastle University) and Simon Smith (Shakespeare Institute) in conversation, as they explore how interactions between players & playgoers — and playhouses like The Rose — shape our understanding of early modern drama.
How did an early modern player perform a virginal girl, a shamefaced blush, a “dead likeness” or Othello’s trance?
How do we think about the playgoers that playwrights imagined?
How do we think about the stage itself and the spaces — physical, social and conceptual — that surround it?
Drawing on examples from their recent book Playing and Playgoing, they will show how the study of theatrical culture is crucial to gaining a full understanding of the plays themselves.
Visit The Rose Playhouse
Saturday 2 November 2024
2 Nov 12 pm and 3 pm Archaeology: Learn about the excavation of The Rose in 1989 and handle objects that are similar to those unearthed at the site. (The originals are in the Museum of London.)
Watch a short film about The Rose and find out about the Rose Revealed Project.
The Rose Playhouse
The Rose's seventh Readathon
Saturday 21 September 2024
This is your chance to perform at the first Tudor theatre on Bankside, reading the famous roles of the venue's contemporary playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Each performer selects their role from a hat and will then have an hour to act out a play, before the next play starts.
If you'd rather just watch, then take a seat and play the part of the audience!
The Rose Playhouse
Rob Eastaway: MUCH ADO ABOUT NUMBERS
On Monday 16 September at 6.30 PM
Shakespeare was responsible for many innovations in the English language. But did you know that he lived through a revolution in arithmetic and numbers, too?
In this highly engaging talk, award-winning author Rob Eastaway explores the surprising and creative ways that numbers crop up in Shakespeare’s plays, as well as in Henslowe’s ’diary’ of The Rose Playhouse.
Find out about Romeo and Juliet’s “book of arithmetic”, how Tudors multiplied and why Shakespeare really did make much ado about “nothing”. With historical asides about games, astronomy, music and magic, you will never think about maths or Shakespeare the same way again.
Rob Eastaway is a bestselling author, speaker and broadcaster. He is a frequent guest on BBC Radio 4’s award-winning podcast More or Less. His books include Maths On The Back Of An Envelope and Why Do Buses Come In Threes? His latest, Much Ado About Numbers, was published in April.
The Rose Playhouse
Borrowed Feathers: Robert Greene and The Rose Playhouse
On Monday 22 July 2024 at 6:30 PM
Sleazy parasite. Quaffer of Rhenish wine and pickled herring. Pantomimic arch-rival of Shakespeare. Or have we done Robert Greene a disservice?
A leading playwright for the Queen’s Men, his impact on playing conventions of the period has been grossly under-appreciated. From magus plays to Biblical retellings, Greene's colossal imagination and hybrid approach to genre rippled through the playing community and reverberated for decades.
Tracing his presence at The Rose through Henslowe’s Diary, Freebury-Jones will examine his influence on rival repertoires, and imagine how some of the striking effects in his plays — with brazen heads belching fire and displays of magic — could have worked on The Rose stage, revealing a playwright with his finger pressed firmly on the popular pulse.
Dr Freebury-Jones is author of Reading Robert Greene: Recovering Shakespeare’s Rival (Routledge, 2022).
Sonic Trail (Full Trial) and Rose Visit
Between Wednesday 22 May 2024 and Tuesday 4 June 2024
You are outside the Rose Playhouse and John Singer, a player in the company of Admiral’s Men, invites you to take a stroll around Southwark and Bankside before the play begins. Join us for a 60 minute trial of our new circular sonic trail starting and ending at The Rose, followed by a short visit to the site of the playhouse. The walk includes steps to and from Southwark Bridge and Millennium Bridge; please contact us for further information.
You will need to download an app to your mobile phone; details will be sent in an email after you book. The event trials new technology and we ask that you fill in a questionnaire after the walk to improve its development.
The Rose Playhouse
SIR GREGORY DORAN: "TITUS ANDRONICUS" REVISITED
On Wednesday 27th March at 6.30PM
Sir Gregory Doran will deliver the Inaugural Annual Rose Lecture on 'Titus Andronicus' at London South Bank University. In 1593 and 1594 Henslowe's account book records the first performances of '"itus Andronicus". Then 400 years later Greg Doran directed a seminal production with the Market Theatre, Johannesburg, with his South African-born partner Antony Sher. He will discuss the play’s relationship to The Rose. The event will last 75 minutes and will also be streamed via Zoom.
London South Bank University
SHAKESPEARE’S MUSIC – GREENMATTHEWS
on Tuesday 9 January 2024 at 6:30 PM
GREENMATTHEWS play a selection of music and song from Shakespeare’s time on authentic period instruments.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
EXPLORING "EVERYDAY SHAKESPEARE – LINES FOR LIFE"
On Thursday 23 November 2023 at 6:30 PM
Ben and David engage in a lively dialogue, using many of the lesser-known Shakespearean quotations they include in their book, and explore the everyday situations where they can be used. How was it compiled? How is it used? How will this fadge? Tune in and see. (Discount off book purchase with tickets)
Who performed at the Rose in 1587?
On Monday 17 July 2023 at 6:30 PM
Which playing company was the first to perform on the Rose's stage for a public audience?
The diary of Phillip Henslowe tells us so much about the professional operations of the Rose from 1591 onwards, but how can we fill in the gaps in our knowledge about the years between 1587 when the playhouse was built and when he began his diary? By explaining how to answer this question, this talk will reveal newfound links between the Rose and Leicester’s Men — the first great Elizabethan acting company, who first ruled Elizabeth’s court revels, and who, during their thirty year career, were responsible for the Red Lion playhouse and the Theatre in Shorditch. The talk will show that they were also likely the first to occupy the Rose, in their last year under the patronage of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester.
Laurie Johnson is Professor of English & Cultural Studies at the University of Southern Queensland, and is current President of the Australian & New Zealand Shakespeare Association.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Henslowe, Theatrical Novelty, and The Comedy of Humours
On Monday 3 July 2023 at 6:30 PM
What was it like to see an early performance of a theatrical sensation?
On 11 May 1597, the Admiral’s Men premiered a play at the Rose playhouse that was to change English theatrical history forever.
‘The comedy of umers’ — as the theatre owner Philip Henslowe named it in his accounts — is now better known as George Chapman’s ‘The Comedy of Humours or An Humorous Day’s Mirth’ and it is credited with helping to inaugurate a comic genre that was to dominate English theatre for well over a decade. After a slow start at the box office the play quickly became a theatrical sensation, and its influence on the comedies of Ben Jonson is clear to see.
This talk will ask what it was that made the play so successful, and then consider why it is that the only person who left a record of having seen one of its earliest performances was so decidedly unimpressed.
Dr Eoin Price is a Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Swansea University.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The "Legend of Lies": Romance and Anti-Romance at the Rose
On Monday 19 June 2023 at 6:30 PM
Where did romance drama at the Rose come from, and why was it so controversial?
In 1593, Sussex’s Men performed the (now) lost play 'Huon of Bordeaux' three times at the Rose. One religious critic had called the prose romance it was adapted from the “legend of lies”.
The romance genre — with its wandering princes, imperilled princesses, magicians, monsters and international vistas — is often sidelined in favour of the more classically secure categories of Comedy, History and Tragedy. Yet it is familiar enough to us today in stories like Game of Thrones or Star Wars, and when the lost repertories of the period are looked at closely, romance emerges as a dominant form.
This talk will use 'Huon of Bordeaux' to examine a longstanding tradition in which dramatists searched controversial continental and medieval prose romances to bring spectacular and potentially shocking narratives onto the stage.
Dr Kim Gilchrist is a Lecturer in English Literature at Cardiff University.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Citizen Players, Playgoing Citizens
On Monday 5 June 2023 at 6:30 PM
Were the early modern City of London and its livery companies really enemies of the theatre, or actually its friends and sponsors?
It is often assumed that the City and the stage inhabited completely different worlds. Contrary to their reputation as organisations made up of dour puritans hostile to playgoing, the City of London and its constituent livery companies were, however, active sponsors of players and playwrights. Numerous performance venues were located within the City’s boundaries, and the City itself had rich and enduring performance traditions that until recently have been overlooked.
This talk will explore some of the manifold connections between the City and the stage, with particular reference to the actors and dramatists who plied their theatrical trade at the Rose.
Tracey Hill is Professor Emerita of Early Modern Literature and Culture at Bath Spa University, and is herself a Citizen of London and a freeman of the Worshipful Company of Founders.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The Rose's sixth Readathon
Saturday 3 June 2023
Back by popular demand, 2023 is the sixth year The Friends of the Rose are holding The Rose's Readathon.
This is your chance to perform at the first Tudor theatre on Bankside, reading the famous roles of the venue's contemporary playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Each performer selects their role from a hat then will have an hour to act out a play, before we rotate and move on to the next title. If you'd rather just watch, then take a seat!
The Rose Playhouse
Women Investors and Performers in the Fortune Playhouse
On Monday 15 May 2023 at 6:30 PM
Discover the remarkable history of women investors and performers at the Fortune playhouse.
The theatre was built north of the river in 1600 by Philip Henslowe and Edward Alleyn as the successor to the Rose.
Far from being a world without women, however, new research from the Engendering the Stage project reveals a previously unknown story of women's investment in the Fortune between the 1620s & 1640s, and shows how the playhouse is connected to the history of female performers such as Cicely Peadle — troupe leader, tumbler and rope-dancer.
This talk will explore how the involvement of such women with the theatre relates to the broader history of performance at the Fortune and in early modern London.
The Engendering the Stage project is co-led by Lucy Munro, Professor of Shakespeare & Early Modern Literature at King’s College London, and Clare McManus, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Theatre at the University of Roehampton, and is funded by the Leverhulme Trust.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
How to Play on Bankside: Beers, Bears, and Roses
On Monday 1 May 2023 at 6:30 PM
What might visitors to Bankside in the 1530s, 1580s or 1620s have expected from a good day out?
This May Day, join us to discover how Henslowe’s Rose fitted into England’s dynamic entertainment scene.
The talk will take you on a tour through the entertainment hub that developed on Bankside from the early 16th century, and explore the spatial, social and commercial contexts for an enterprise like the Rose. You will encounter riotous audiences who demanded ‘best of’ compilations from their favourite dramas, celebrity bears and giant, pyrotechnic roses.
Find out where a single penny or two might have taken you 400 years ago, and how the fun on offer on Bankside drew from old May Game celebrations and innovative early theatrical projects elsewhere in London and beyond.
Dr Callan Davies is the author of What is a Playhouse? England at Play, 1520-1620 (Routledge, 2023)
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Reconstructing ‘Harey the vj’ at the Rose
On Monday 17 April 2023 at 6:30 PM
On 3 March 1592, Philip Henslowe recorded a performance at the Rose of 'Harey the vj' — the play we now know as Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part One.
Most modern scholars assign the first act to Thomas Nashe, and about three scenes to Shakespeare — but who wrote the rest of the play?
Freebury-Jones will propose that Thomas Kyd was Nashe’s co-author, and that the play was revised by Shakespeare when it later came into the possession of the Chamberlain’s Men.
He will also show that the 2nd & 3rd parts of Henry VI had already been written by Shakespeare as a two-part story, and that 'Harey the vj' was a prequel to capitalise on their success.
He will then reconstruct Nashe & Kyd’s original text as it was first played at The Rose, to offer new insights into Shakespeare’s revision.
Dr Freebury-Jones is Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Alleyn Walk 28 March 2023 (CANCELLED)
Tuesday 28 March 2023
A two and a half hour guided walk around the Barbican and Clerkenwell visiting the sites associated with Edward Alleyn, principal actor at The Rose Playhouse Bankside in 1587-1605, starting at Moorgate and ending at Farringdon.
Moorgate Underground station
Alleyn Walk 21 March 2023 (CANCELLED)
Tuesday 21 March 2023
A two and a half hour guided walk through the Barbican and Clerkenwell to the sites connected to Edward Alleyn, principal actor at The Rose Playhouse Bankside and founder of Dulwich College.
Moorgate Underground ending at Farringdon Underground
Jon Hooton: Kemp’s Jig: a tale of bruised egos and sore feet
On Tuesday 14 March 2023 at 7:30 PM
After big changes in Elizabethan theatres in 1599, and a spat with Shakespeare, follow one man’s protest — and publicity stunt — as clown Will Kemp Morris dances from London to Norwich in nine days. Jon Hooton, who did it again in 1977, will tell us all about Kemp and his feat.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Joanne Hill: Marlowe’s "The Massacre at Paris"
On Tuesday 28 February 2023 at 7:30 PM
This talk examines the importance of England’s support for the Huguenots during the French Wars of Religion. In particular, it looks at how Marlowe presents the Huguenot leader, Navarre, in The Massacre at Paris and what this portrait reveals about contemporary religious and political divisions in England. These include differing attitudes among Londoners to Navarre’s military campaigns and towards French refugees in the capital.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Gary Andrews's 'A Christmas Carol'
Tuesday 13 December 2022 at 7.30 pm
Much of the tragic, early part of Charles Dickens's life was connected with Southwark and the South Bank, but we're delighted to bring you some seasonal cheer! Gary Andrews returns with a special webinar: a dramatised reading, based on his touring show, adapted from that ever-popular classic, 'A Christmas Carol'; a story of love and redemption for the festive season, narrated by Gary as Charles Dickens.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Alleyn Walks 17 November
Thursday 17 November 2022
A gentle walk over 2 and a half hours in the Barbican and Clerkenwell featuring the life of Edward Alleyn, principal actor at The Rose Playhouse Bankside in the 17th century.
The Rose Playhouse
Alleyn Walk 1st November 2022
Tuesday 1 November 2022
A two and a half hour walk through Barbican and Clerkenwell focusing on the life of Edward Alleyn, principal actor at The Rose Playhouse Bankside in the 16th century.
Meet Moorgate Underground (exit 1/2 Westside) at 2 pm. Walk ends at Farringdon.
Moorgate Underground exit 1/2 Westside
Alleyn Walks 20 October 2022
Thursday 20 October 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 13 October 2022
Thursday 13 October 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 20 September 2022
Tuesday 20 September 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 15 September 2022
Thursday 15 September 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 20 July 2022
Wednesday 20 July 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 14 July 2022
Thursday 14 July 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 30 June 2022
Thursday 30 June 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks 23 June 2022
Thursday 23 June 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Alleyn Walks
Tuesday 31 May 2022
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas
Starts Moorgate Tube station exit 1/2 [outside Caffe Nero]
Ben Prusiner, The Hamlet Voyage a discussion of a new play
On Monday 23 May 2022 at 7:30 PM
Records show that what may have been the first Shakespeare play performed outside Europe occurred in Sierra Leone in 1607, during the first English voyage to reach India. Learn about the (disputed) history of this event, how it inspired the upcoming play The Hamlet Voyage and how to approach writing historical drama.
The talk will be led by members of the creative team – director Ben Prusiner, playwright Rex Obano and dramaturge Laurence Publicover.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Alleyn Walks
Tuesday 10 May 2022
A guided walk about Edward Alleyn, principal actor at the Rose Playhouse Bankside in the late 16th century, plus Elizabethan theatre practice, Shakespeare and more,
A guided walk in Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell
Between London & Venice: early modern & commedia dell’arte
On Tuesday 3 May 2022 at 7:30 PM
What was commedia dell’arte, and what is its relationship to Shakespearean theatre practices? The former was, allegedly, both masked and improvised, and the latter based on fixed poetic texts. Dr Olly Crick will offer a description of commedia performance practices, and its historical origins, indicating both similarities and differences between English and Continental models of theatre. Masks will be on show and even demonstrated.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Alleyn Walks
Tuesday 3 May 2022
A guided walk about Edward Alleyn, principal actor at the Rose Playhouse Bankside in the late 16th century, plus Elizabethan theatre practice, Shakespeare and more,
A guided walk around the Moorgate, Barbican and Clerkenwell areas.
Alleyn Walks
Between Tuesday 5 April 2022 and Thursday 14 April 2022
Starting at Moorgate and ending at Farringdon, this gentle two-hour walk takes you to places connected with Edward Alleyn, principal actor at The Rose Playhouse in the late 16th century. Other points of interest in the Barbican and Clerkenwell areas will be included, as will mentions of Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.
Alleyn Walks
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm: A Voice for Richard
On Thursday 7 April 2022 at 7:30 PM
The continuing journey in search of the man behind the myth. Five years into this collaborative research project to give literal voice to King Richard III, Yvonne Morley-Chisholm will update us on where the research currently stands. There will be an opportunity to learn and/or practice Late Medieval English.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Emily Carding: So Potent Art
On Monday 21 March 2022 at 7:00 PM
Actor, theatre-maker and author Emily Carding leads us through some of the esoteric wisdom and symbolism of Shakespeare’s works and how it can add to our understanding of the plays, themes and characters. Includes readings from Emily’s latest book, So Potent Art: The Magic of Shakespeare.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Emma Smith: Appearances, disguise & the Elizabethan theatre
On Monday 28 February 2022 at 7:00 PM
Are we what we wear?
Professor Emma Smith will explore what clothes-conscious Elizabethans wore in the street and as costumes in the theatre. Why was disguise such a frequent plot device, and why were disguises usually impenetrable to other characters? These questions will be in their social and dramatic contexts, showing how theatrical costume draws on, and subverts, some central issues about the Elizabethan world.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
David Garrick: An Actor and His Time
On Wednesday 16 February 2022 at 7:00 PM
Clive Francis will be talking about Garrick’s life at Hampton, his strong bond with his muse Shakespeare, his influential marriage to Eva Marie Veigl and his relationships with many of those close to him, be it the formidable Dr Johnson or the unpredictable Horace Walpole.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Tom Chivers: Enchanted Ground
On Tuesday, 11 January 2022 at 8:00 PM
Tom Chivers, author of London Clay, discusses some of the city’s most intriguing hidden sites that lead back to Bankside and The Rose on ‘Enchanted Ground’.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The Blue Carbuncle . . . another evening with Gary Andrews
On Tuesday, 14 December 2021 at 7:00 PM
Following on from last year’s dramatised reading of A Christmas Carol, performer Gary Andrews is back with another seasonal story for your Yuletide entertainment. This time, it’s the turn of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The great detective himself, Sherlock Holmes, attempts to solve another mystery: “The Adventure of The Blue Carbuncle”, from “The Twelve Tales of Christmas“ series.
Pull up a chair, pour a wee dram and join us for an entertaining Christmas conundrum.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The sixth devil and the College of God's Gift
On Tuesday, 16 November 2021 at 7:00 PM
During the Elizabethan era, plays were performed outside, in the afternoon, with audience and actors fully visible to each other. In this webinar Dr Ildiko Solti will discuss the concept of shared-light playing at The Rose. She will explore some of the key principles and practices of shared-light playing, the audience’s role in a performance in full daylight and the intensity of experience that might produce.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Exploring Archaeology in Roman Southwark
On Monday, 18 October 2021 at 7:00 PM
Chris Constable (Southwark Archaeology), Ireneo Grosso (Pre-Construct Archaeology) and Antonietta Lerz (MoLA) will discuss some recent and ongoing excavations of the Roman borough, focusing on our growing understanding of burial archaeology and the expansive cemeteries to the south of the Roman town.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Professor Emma Smith: Shakespeare and Collaboration
On Tuesday, 6 July 2021 at 7:00 PM
We think of Shakespeare as the ultimate solo genius, standing aloof from his fellows and communing only with his muse. In this talk we push him off this pedestal — or, at least, give a leg-up to lots of other contributors to Team Shakespeare. The early modern theatre was a joint enterprise, and recent scholarship has identified collaborative writing, too. A more collegial figure emerges: gaining creative energy from contact with others, in the rehearsal room, the writing room and the print shop.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Professor Tiffany Stern: Shakespeare’s Lavs and Loo Paper
On Tuesday, 8 June 2021 at 7:00 PM
In this light-hearted but informative talk, Tiffany Stern explores the story of Shakespeare’s loos. She examines the use and placement of jakes, close stools and chamber pots, as well as methods for relieving oneself outside. She then looks at the range of materials that might be used before the invention of loo paper. Understanding loos can help reveal aspects of Shakespeare’s subtext, she argues, but, equally, plays could be the subtext, or matter, of loos.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Dr Hannah O’Regan: Bear-baiting in Bankside and Beyond
On Tuesday, 25 May 2021 at 7:00 PM
A trip to Bankside in 1600 might well have included a visit to an animal baiting arena. What was baiting, who was doing it, and how did activities differ between London and elsewhere? All these questions will be explored in my talk, which will give an overview of what is currently known of animal baiting, and present some emerging new findings from the AHRC-funded Box Office Bears project.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Calista Lucy: Edward Alleyn – Life After The Rose
On Tuesday, 11 May 2021 at 7:00 PM
Using Edward Alleyn’s Diary (MS IX 1617–1622), letters and other documents from the Archive at Dulwich College, Calista Lucy, Keeper of the Archive, will consider some ideas around why and how Edward Alleyn turned himself from actor to gentleman farmer and philanthropist.
There will be an opportunity at the end of the talk to look at Henslowe’s Diary, the Fortune Playhouse contract and the ‘platte’ (plot) for The Second Part of the Seven Deadly Sins.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
JANET SUZMAN: CLEOPATRA AND THE BOYS
On Tuesday, 27 April 2021 at 7:00 PM
In this “unfashionable essay”, Janet will talk about her take on directing Antony and Cleopatra (many years after her own Cleo at Stratford) with Sex and the City’s liberated Kim Cattrall, which will ring bells for those interested in Shakespeare’s inherently super-aware feminism. Who did Shakespeare have in mind with this part, unique among all the parts he wrote for women?
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Wells & Edmondson: ALL the Sonnets of Shakespeare
On Tuesday, 20 April 2021 at 7:00 PM
'Save thou my rose; in it thou art my all' (Sonnet 109)
Presented by Paul Edmondson and Sir Stanley Wells. For the first time, all of Shakespeare’s sonnets — those published in 1609 and those to be found within the plays — have been presented in chronological order.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Ricky Dukes: Marlowe and Me
On Tuesday, 13 April 2021 at 7:00 PM
Ricky is the Artistic Director of Lazarus Theatre Company, which is the resident company at Greenwich Theatre. He will be sharing his experience of directing Christopher Marlowe's plays, focusing on Lazarus’s new digital ensemble production of Dr Faustus. He will also explore with us the challenges, opportunities and importance of staging Marlowe’s plays today.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Jonathan Livingstone: Making the Text Ours
On Tuesday, 30 March 2021 at 7:00 PM
Jonathan Livingstone, actor and Friend of The Rose Playhouse, presents a masterclass investigating Cymbeline and Tamburlaine in a quest to make the text ours. With fellow actors and a volunteer he will look at speeches by Imogen and Pisanio from Shakespeare’s Cymbeline and a speech by Marlowe’s eponymous Tamburlaine.
This is a live workshop on how we can find ways of performing “difficult” text. Jonathan, interacting with some pre-selected volunteers, will show how this can be managed.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The Rose Playhouse: Past, Present and Future
On Tuesday, 23 March 2021 at 7:00 PM
Harvey Sheldon, Chairman of the Rose Theatre Trust, will give a talk on the story of The Rose Playhouse, focusing on its discovery in 1989, the archaeological investigation and the campaign to save the site. He will be joined by Jane Sidell from Historic England.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Lara Maiklem: Lost and Found on the River Thames
On Tuesday, 2 March 2021 at 7:00 PM
Mudlarks are best described as amateur archaeologists, and Lara Maiklem is one of the best known. What began 20 years ago as a means of escape from the city's chaos has become an obsessive search for hidden history and the objects that Londoners lost or threw away. This talk will focus on the Thames at Bankside and the objects she has found dating from the 16th and early 17th centuries.
Lara’s book, Mudlarking: Lost and Found on the River Thames, won the 2020 Indie Book Award for non-fiction.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Exploring Gorboduc — the first true English history play
On Tuesday, 16 February 2021 at 7:00 PM
Lizzie Willis and Doug Gardiner of Re-Shake Theatre will perform Norton and Sackville’s early Elizabethan play The Tragedie of Gorboduc in a version specially adapted for The Rose and introduced by Prof. Ken Pickering. Q&As will follow.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Andrew Wincott: AN ARCHER PREPARES
On Tuesday, 2 February 2021 at 7:00 PM
Andrew Wincott, in conversation with Rose volunteer Linda Shannon, will discuss his career in radio, theatre and audio, particularly his life in Ambridge as alter-ego Adam Macy. He has been acting professionally for almost 35 years, working in theatres all over the UK, and sometimes abroad. For nearly 20 years he’s played Adam in The Archers, celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2021, and Simon in the Sony Award-winning Clare in the Community for the BBC.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
A Voice for Richard — the journey continues
Tuesday 19 January 2021
This live on-line presentation will take us through the latest developments and updates in the research to separate man from myth and give literal voice to a long-dead King of England. You will have an opportunity to learn some Medieval English pronunciation.
Via Zoom — you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Gary Andrews's A CHRISTMAS CAROL
Tuesday 15 December 2020
In 2008 Gary Andrews adapted Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol for him to perform in character as Dickens, with live piano accompaniment by his (late) wife, Joy. This year, he has produced a special 60-minute version to be streamed live online, with Joy’s recorded accompaniment, exclusively for The Rose. So why not ‘tune in’ to help you get into the spirit of the season with this evergreen classic?
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
GreenMatthews: DRIVE THE COLD WINTER AWAY
Tuesday 8 December 2020
Carols Songs and Tunes from the 16th Century. Join acclaimed musicians Chris Green and Sophie Matthews for Christmas 16th-century-style! Featuring a host of midwinter songs, festive carols and rousing tunes played on a variety of authentic period instruments, Drive The Cold Winter Away will transport you back to Yuletides Past.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
An Introduction to Shakespeare North - a talk by Kathy Dacre
Monday 30 November 2020
In Spring 2022, The Shakespeare North Playhouse will open on the outskirts of Liverpool in Knowsley, near the site of the first known Elizabethan indoor theatre built outside London. Professor Kathy Dacre has been a major force behind the creation of the Playhouse.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Famous Ned Alleyn and the Bankside Rose
Tuesday 24 November 2020
A talk by Frank Whately. The actor Edward Alleyn will forever be associated with the stage of the Bankside Rose and, especially, with the great Marlovian roles of Tamburlaine and Doctor Faustus. Frank Whately will explore Alleyn’s acting career to discover that he was a player of greater variety than is implied by the roles which have so often been used to define him.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
In Little Place A Million: Michael Pennington
Tuesday 10 November 2020
An Actor's Perspective: Leading actor and Shakespeare scholar Michael Pennington discusses how the dramatist’s writing was affected by the nature of the theatres for which he wrote, so very different from those of today. He argues that he and his actors developed a technique that allowed them both the cinematic intimacy and the heroic scale appropriate to the Rose and the Globe and other playhouses.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
The herbal health, witchery, poisoning of Shakespeare's worl
Tuesday 27 October 2020
This talk will present some of the more unusual uses of plants that arise in Shakespearean scripts. The traditional and structural use of remedies, flowers and poisons were a poetic core of the Shakespearean world. Some of the elements of our modern health practices are easily recognised; others are hidden amid more complicated political narratives.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
'Shakespeare in Lockdown' - Adam Nichols, OVO Theatre
Tuesday 13 October 2020
OVO theatre company has been navigating these choppy waters and trying to keep live performance afloat with a number of innovative responses — from a Zoom reincarnation of its production of Twelfth Night, originally commissioned by The Rose Playhouse in 2019, to a 3-week open air festival at the Roman Theatre of St Albans, featuring new socially distanced adaptations of Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
‘Suggesting a New Philip Henslowe’ - Susan Cerasano
Tuesday 29 September 2020
Philip Henslowe has, for years, been thought of as a one-dimensional character whose image has changed, over time, from that of a shady moneylender to a financier to an entrepreneur. In this webinar, Prof. Cerasano will discuss a few of the ways in which her research fleshes out and recasts Henslowe’s biography beyond this narrow image.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Ken Pickering Marlowe's Mighty Roles
Tuesday 15 September 2020
Tamburlaine, Faustus, Barabas and Edward II; During this talk, Ken will discuss various approaches to and interpretations of these great roles in the plays of Marlowe, many of which were first seen at The Rose.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Janet Suzman: "Shakespeare as a protest playwright"
Tuesday 1 September 2020
Over two lectures, Janet will take us through two specific passages in her formidable career. This first one describes her experience of directing Othello — a banned play — in apartheid South Africa, which has many resonances for the Black Lives Matter movement right now.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Doctor Faustus in a Virtual Rose: A Lunchtime Talk
Tuesday 18 August 2020
Professor Joanne Tompkins, The University of Queensland, will give a presentation which builds on research into the Rose Playhouse as a venue for the performance of early modern plays such as Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. The investigation deploys virtual reality technology to explore the construction of the venue, the conditions for staging and the effects of being ‘immersed’ in the venue.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Adrian Scarborough’s Lockdown Lallygagging:
Tuesday 4 August 2020
An Artist's journey - join Adrian as he travels through lockdown from Leopoldstadt to horticultural displacement activities using poetry, monologues, diary entries, song, rumination, tragedy, visuals, Shakespeare, humour, allotments and, of course, the de rigueur Q&A session.
(The inclusion of listed elements is subject to the artist's whim.)
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Meeting Hamlet
Tuesday 21 July 2020
Emily Carding and Kolbrun Sigfusdottir of Brite Theater present extracts from their award-winning Hamlet (an experience) and demonstrate their creative process, Followed by a Q & A session.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Unexpected Audio: Gary Andrews recording Shakespeare.....
Tuesday 7 July 2020
When the Polesden Lacey Shakespeare Company’s open-air production of Romeo and Juliet was cancelled this year due to the lockdown, director Gary Andrews was determined that it wouldn’t disappear without a trace. This is the story of how the company responded to the situation and the challenges this threw up (and the solutions they came up with).
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
GreenMatthews: Music from Shakespeare’s Time
Tuesday 23 June 2020
Following their 3-night run of A Brief History of Music at the Rose last year, GreenMatthews return to present a special programme of music from the time of Shakespeare. Performed on authentic instruments, the 45-minute concert creates a vivid soundscape of the Elizabethan and Jacobean world. There will also be a question and answer session at the end of the concert.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Meeting Richard, creating unique Shakespeare experiences
Tuesday 9 June 2020
Emily Carding will perform an extract from her show on Richard III performed at The Rose Playhouse. This will be followed by a short talk about how it originated and will also include a Q&A session.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
In Conversation With - Oscar-Winning Producer David Parfitt.
Tuesday 26 May 2020
David will be talking about his experience of setting up the Renaissance Theatre Company with Kenneth Branagh, and about his career as a film producer, including Shakespeare in Love, which features a reconstruction of the Rose as one of its main characters and it won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 71st Academy Awards.
Via Zoom - you will be sent a link once you have booked.
Rose Webinars - Shakespeare North Lecture (CANCELLED)
Tuesday 28 April 2020
A 15 min virtual talk followed by a Q&A . Kathy Dacre is ...........and will talk about the project
Moorgate Underground station
Alleyn Walking Tours December
Monday 20 April 2020
Guided walk around Barbican and Clerkenwell, focusing on the principal actor of the Rose Playhouse, Edward Alleyn in the Elizabethan era.
Moorgate Underground station
Meals and Manners around the Rose Playhouse (CANCELLED)
Sunday 29 March 2020
Come along to hear about the Food and Table Manners of the early Bankside Rose Playhouse and surrounding area, including the rented rooms and more noble houses. Did they behave like us today?
The Rose Playhouse
A Voice for Richard: in search of the man behind the myth
Monday 9 March 2020
Yvonne Morley-Chisholm will present the research that is currently in progress to give literal voice to the late King Richard III, based on evidence being examined since the discovery of his skeleton. The presentation will also include a brief sample of the Original Medieval Pronunciation.
Yvonne works in theatre, film, television and with voice-over artists.
The Rose Playhouse
Carols at The Rose 2019
Monday 9 December 2019
Come and join us to celebrate Christmas with Carols, mince pies & mulled wine; Actors Rechoired will be putting on a selection of carols with a chance to join in.
The Rose Playhouse
Alleyn Walking Tour Oct 2019
Between Monday 14 October 2019 and Monday 28 October 2019
Join us for a walking tour all about the extraordinary life of Edward Alleyn, the principal actor at The Rose Playhouse in the 16th Century. Amble along the streets of London with our knowledgable volunteer, visiting Alleyn's playhouses and learning about Tudor theatre practice. The 2-hour tour will start at Moorgate Underground station and end at Farringdon Underground station, via theatre sites in the Barbican and Clerkenwell, and also the office of the Master of the Revels.
Moorgate Underground
Alleyn Walking Tour Sept 2019
Between Monday 2 September 2019 and Monday 30 September 2019
Join us for a walking tour all about the extraordinary life of Edward Alleyn, the principal actor at The Rose Playhouse in the 16th Century. Amble along the streets of London with our knowledgable volunteer, visiting Alleyn's playhouses and learning about Tudor theatre practice. The 2-hour tour will start at Moorgate Underground station and end at Farringdon Underground station, via theatre sites in the Barbican and Clerkenwell, and also the office of the Master of the Revels.
Moorgate Underground
Tragic Performance in the time of Marlowe & Shakespeare 2019
Monday 23 September 2019
Professor Tiffany Stern Early, Modern Drama specialist at the Shakespeare Institute of University of Birmingham and a Fellow of the British Academy will talk about staging, walking and speaking for Tragic Performances. She has taught and lectured internationally, and published, edited and contributed to numerous books on the practical side of early modern performance, and is editor of this year’s Rethinking Theatrical Documents in Shakespeare's England.
The Rose Playhouse
The Tragedy of King Richard II 2019
Between Tuesday 13 August 2019 and Sunday 18 August 2019
Anərkē Shakespeare, a new innovative theatre company, creates raw fast-paced Shakespeare, bringing you the multifaceted text by a diverse, gender-blind, actor-led ensemble without a director, inspired by the working conditions in which Shakespeare conceived his plays. The audience, together with the cast, will work imagination bringing to life the sceptred isle of England, in this film noir, naked-framed perspective of Richard II – Shakespeare’s poetic masterpiece.
The Rose Playhouse
THE GOLDEN PATH by Vanessa Hammick
Tuesday 23 July 2019
I was 9 when Dad taught me to cycle.. on a cliff. He nearly killed me three times on misadventures- but as a sedentary lifestyle can shorten life expectancy, is staying on the brink of danger the best way to keep alive? An exploration of cycling, life, death and my Dad.
Directed by Cariad Lloyd and developed with Luke Touslon
"Vanessa is a truly original comedy mind and probably the most charming performer at the Fringe."
Sara Pascoe in the i' Newspaper
The Rose Playhouse
Shakespeare Solos Mini Festival
Between Tuesday 21 May 2019 and Thursday 23 May 2019
Love Deadline (Desdemona)
Othello in Korea, a one-woman act by Ji Young Choi which asks the question: Is there a deadline to love?
Bez-Senność
Ania Rakowska and Piotr Misztela of Poland’s Teatr Strefa Otwarta present a love story bursting with passion, intrigue and jealously inspired by A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Richard III
Emily Carding of Brite Theater presents a one-woman show (with audience) set at Richard's party. Let Richard entertain you…but will you survive?
The Rose Playhouse
The Rose: Archaeology, History, Drama
Monday 20 May 2019
Talk by Julian Bowsher of the Museum of London
The Rose Playhouse
30th Anniversary Gala
Monday 13 May 2019
Join us at Southwark Cathedral for our Gala celebration featuring dramatic readings from celebrity patrons including Janet Suzman, and music.
Stay on for the Drinks Reception and a Silent Auction with items donated by Judi Dench, Ian McKellen and Tony Robinson, amongst others.
Southwark Cathedral
The Rose's Readathon 2019
Saturday 11 May 2019
Back by popular demand, 2019 is the fifth year The Rose Playhouse is hosting the Readathon.
This is your chance to perform at the first Tudor theatre on Bankside, reading the famous roles of the venue's contemporary playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare. Each performer selects their role from a hat then will have an hour to act out a play, before we rotate and move on to the next title. If you'd rather just watch, then take a seat!
The Rose Playhouse
A Brief History of Music
Between Wednesday 8 May 2019 and Friday 10 May 2019
The latest show from acclaimed musicians, Chris Green and Sophie Matthews, takes in 600 years of musical history in just 90 minutes! Beginning in the Middle Ages and ending up in the 20th century (and incorporating everything in between!) this fun and fast-moving show is a whistle-top tour of Western musical history, complete with a bewildering array of instruments such as the hurdy-gurdy, rauschpfeife and vihuela!
The Rose Playhouse
Twelfth Night
Between Tuesday 23 April 2019 and Sunday 5 May 2019
Shakespeare meets Postmodern Jukebox in a musical version of one of his best loved comedies, set on a cruise liner at the height of the roaring twenties.
Featuring a live jazz band performing music by Rihanna, Britney Spears, Radiohead, Michael Jackson and many more…
Performed by OVO.
The Rose Playhouse
A walk on the wild Bankside
Between Tuesday 22 January 2019 and Sunday 7 April 2019
Come and explore the streets of Bankside with our expert guide, who will take you to visit important historic sites in the area. Learn about Bankside's vibrant locality during the heyday of The Rose Playhouse; in the late 16th and early 17th centuries.
Beginning outside The Rose Playhouse on Park Street, the group will walk to Borough Market, the remains of Winchester Palace, and the environs of Southwark Cathedral, before returning along the riverside and down Bear Gardens.
The Rose Playhouse
Marlowe: The Performer's Playwright
Monday 18 February 2019
This talk delivered Chairman of the Marlowe Society, Ken Pickering, explores how Marlowe’s plays reveal an awareness of the performance possibilities of a Tudor playhouse.
Ken is also the former Professor of Theatre and Visiting Scholar in Communication and Leadership at Gonzaga University, Washington State. He is currently Honorary Professor of Drama at the University of Kent in Marlowe's home town of Canterbury.
The George (Talbot Room)
