Writ in the Margins Podcast

Have you ever wondered what might be hiding between the lines of a play? Writ in the Margins podcast investigates dramaturgical mysteries from across the canon of early modern drama. Using historical context, dramaturgical tools like structural analysis, and various theoretical lenses, we explore old texts and share the new insights we find within them — all while drawing attention to the international canon of early modern theatre. From translations to interviews, with live music and script readings, join us to discover exactly what we have Writ in the Margins.

In Season 1, we honed in on FuenteOvejuna, Convent of Pleasure, The Witch of Edmonton, and House of Desires. Season 2 features episodes on Presumed Dead, The Antipodes, The Island Princess, Loa to the Divine Narcissus, and Life is a Dream. In Summer 2025, we’re launching Season 3 and Season 4 back-to-back, bringing eight more plays to the dramaturgical party (Iphigenia at Aulis, Tragedy of Mariam, Pericles, The Phantom Lady, Tartuffe, The Changeling, Courage to Right a Woman’s Wrong, and Woman in the Moon).

Season Three contains 9 episodes and will launch on Monday, June 2, 2025, beginning with two episodes on Lady Jane Lumley’s Iphigenia at Aulis. New episodes follow each Monday in June and July so check back often for show notes, transcripts, and updates!

The 11 episodes in Season One were created in Fall 2021 and Season Two was recorded in Fall 2022. Season Three was recorded in Fall 2023, followed by Season Four in Fall 2024. This podcast was created by the Mary Baldwin University Shakespeare and Performance graduate students enrolled in Professor Molly E. Seremet’s REN670: Dramaturgy class. Through in-depth collaborative research, students flex their dramaturgical muscles to wake up early modern (and early modern adjacent) plays structurally, contextually, thematically, theoretically, and performatively in creative and public-facing ways, engaging in the act of creative dramaturgical thinking for and with an audience. This work has been generously supported by MBU and the Shakespeare and Performance M.Litt/MFA program. All ideas and opinions reflected in episodes are those of the hosts and invited guests and are not necessarily reflective of our institutions of work and study.