The Origins and Development of Masques: A Conversation with Kristen McDermott part 1

Episode 219:

In this episode I take a look at the court masques of the Jacobean period. To do this I’m very lucky to have the guidance of Kristen McDermott who edited and wrote an extensive introduction to a collection of Jonson’s Masques called Masques of Difference. It is a volume that has been in print for an impressive twenty years and one that I found immensely useful in aiding my understanding of the court masque, an art form that can seem very obscure to us now. In the first part of the conversation Kristen describes the development of the masque from it’s very early days through to its flowering in the court of James 1st largely under the care of Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones. Next time Kris and I continue the conversation and discuss some of those ‘masques of difference’ and the later years of the court masque.

Kristen McDermott is professor of English at Central Michigan University and co-author with Ari Berk of ‘William Shakespeare His Life and Times’ and the collection ‘Masques of Difference’, as well as numerous papers on Shakespeare and renaissance theatre.

Find more about Kris at: kristen-mcdermott.com

Links to ‘Masques of Difference’

amazon.co.uk/Masques-Difference-Revels-Student…?

amazon.com/Masques-Difference-masques-Student-…?

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719057540

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