Darren Freebury-Jones, published author and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, will give a talk on Shakespeare and Kingship. The chronicle history play genre was hugely popular during the period. Darren 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.