When we think of Shakespeare’s plays, we are likely to name a tragedy or comedy first. However, the chronicle history play genre was hugely popular during the period. Darren Freebury-Jones, our speaker this month, reveals why audiences flocked to see plays such as Richard III and Henry V, and explores how Shakespeare, as a dramatist whose career spanned the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I, navigated tricky political terrain in presenting monarchs on stage. Was Shakespeare a propagandist, or a subversive writer? This talk grapples with the big questions Shakespeare raises in his history plays.

Dr Darren Freebury-Jones is author of the books: Reading Robert Greene: Recovering Shakespeare’s Rival (Routledge), Shakespeare’s Tutor: The Influence of Thomas Kyd (Manchester University Press), and Shakespeare’s Borrowed Feathers (Manchester University Press). He is Associate Editor for The Collected Works of Thomas Kyd (Boydell and Brewer) and General Editor for The Collected Plays of Robert Greene (Edinburgh University Press). His findings on the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries have been discussed in national newspapers such as The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, and The Independent as well as BBC Radio. His debut poetry collection, Rambling (Broken Sleep Books), was published in 2024. In 2023 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society in recognition of his contributions to historical scholarship. In 2025 he was appointed Subject Expert in English Literature and Culture at the University of Genoa.