(en Espanol abajo) Contains spoilers! Yesterday, I was fortunate to able to go see the 2pm performance of Lope de Vega’s brilliant 17th-century play of forbidden love and terrible revenge, El Castigo Sin Venganza. This play was written by de Vega in 1631. Lope de Vega is one of most celebrated writers from the Spanish Golden Age – a… Read on
Dare Devils: Seventeenth Century Highwaymen by Deborah Swift Though legends of highwaymen are many, there is only one featuring a woman – Lady Katherine Fanshawe. Shadow on the Highway is the first instalment in her story, the real history which over the generations has become embroidered with myth, as have all the other highway stories. Lady Katherine was… Read on
It’s not often one is able to see one’s favourite actor in a play set in the 17th century, so when I saw the poster below on the Tube recently, I immediately scrambled to get seats for this production of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. By the time I was looking for tickets, there were very few seats available,… Read on
Last Friday, the 1 August, we observed the 300th anniversary of the death of Queen Anne, the end of the Stuart dynasty and the beginning of the Georgian/Hanoverian period. 1714 was a major year in British and European history. In recent days, I have been pleasantly surprised at the number of people wanting to learn more about this… Read on
I’ve known Edna MacLoy for several years now and it is great pleasure to introduce her to you all today. I’m certain you will enjoy the post as much as I have. – A The Orange Way William III and the Glorious Revolution of 1688/1689 William of Orange, stadtholder of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces, landed… Read on
Yesterday on Hoydens and Firebrands, I submitted a short post about He Who Commissioned Castle Howard – Charles Howard, 3rd Earl of Carlisle. Following on from that post, which gives an overview about the life of the Charles Howard, I would like to share what I learned there this weekend and some photos from my visit, if I… Read on
Last Bank Holiday weekend, my husband Gavin and I went back up to the Lake District in Cumbria. We stayed at a farm again, this time in the middle of and pitched our tent up on a hill in the midst of Grizedale Forest. Grizedale lies between Conistan Water and Lake Windermere. It was a most picturesque spot.… Read on
I hope you all enjoyed our first selection for the 17th-Century Book Club, which was William Wycherley’s play, The Country Wife! This was the second time I read the play, and I wish I could have performed in it. I would like to apologise to you all for not having the forum up-and-running as I said I would, but… Read on