Christopher Marlowe portrays religion and religious conversion as tools of state power, as opposed to genuine religious processes -- according to Emily Parise's essay "Conversion as Nonperformative Speech in The Jew of Malta." Now out in ET 28.2 (Dec 2025). Access it here: buff.ly/CEkupVb #ET

Catholic imagery in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet: what do conversion and martyrdom have to do with it? Read more in @hollypickett.bsky.social's essay, out now in ET 28.2 (Dec 2025). Access at: buff.ly/UpO7n4Z #ShakespeareSunday #Drama

Scholars often dismiss Luce in The London Prodigal as passive, but Hannah Korrell's essay argues that Luce sheds her 'Patient Griselda' role, actively converting her prodigal husband. Read more in ET 28.2: buff.ly/7Zyqiwm #EarlyModern #Drama

Bess Bridges in The Fair Maid of the West, analyzed by way of Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski’s theory of moral exemplarity: read Jordan Zajac SJ's essay in ET's 'Drama and Conversion' Issues in Review (edited by @swittek.bksy.social). buff.ly/XztIGDO

Moll Cutpurse, in Dekker and Middleton's The Roaring Girl, as "catalytic converter"! Read more in Sheila Coursey's essay published in our most recent Issues in Review on "Drama and Conversion," edited by @swittek.bsky.social (ET 28.2, Dec 2025). Access here: buff.ly/Odmf7UH

@swittek.bsky.social presents "Drama and Conversion." This Issues in Review explores how early moderns viewed identity and power through conversion, intertwining race, gender, politics, and performance. Access: buff.ly/yadZHOo

Kirsten Mendoza critiques traditional and racial perspectives on Shakespeare in her review of recent works by David Sterling Brown, Miles Grier, Farah Karim-Cooper, Arthur L. Little, Jr, and Ian Smith. Access at: buff.ly/NRWBvPO #Review #EarlyModern

Emily Bryan (@ebryan.bsky.social) analyzes connections between conscription of boys by early modern English choirs and theatre companies, on the one hand, and the Virginia Company's prompting of authorities to take Powhatan children. Read Bryan's open access article here: buff.ly/vhFHQ47

Mayra Cortes explores the role of acousmatic sound in the competitive gameplay between the aristocrats and working class characters of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Access here: buff.ly/iiVrh3b #Shakespeare #EarlyModern

In Early Theatre 28.2, Laura Deluca (@lauradeluca.bsky.social) reads three plays depicting the sexual assault of Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba. Access here: buff.ly/kM8nYTY

Molly Ziegler's article in Early Theatre 28.2 examines Aaron's melancholy in "Titus Andronicus" as more than a mere trait. It argues that Aaron’s melancholy provides a perspective through which the play constructs a white, Roman legacy. Available open access here: buff.ly/puWcpvm #Shakespeare

🎉📚 Hello, Bluesky! Edition 28.2 is now available! Dive into this open-access issue, free to read through Project MUSE's Subscribe to Open initiative. Explore here: muse.jhu.edu/journal/687. Follow our post-publication Skeets in the upcoming days to learn what's inside! #EarlyModern #Drama

In Marlowe's The Jew of Malta, Emily Parise argues, conversion is exploited by authorities and individuals for personal gain. Learn more in this Dec 2025 essay: buff.ly/CEkupVb #EarlyModern #Drama

@hollypickett.bsky.social traces how Shakespeare's Romeo negotiates contemporary doubts about confessional identity in his transformation from 'renegade' to 'martyr'. Out now in Early Theatre's December 2025 issue.F14 Access here: buff.ly/UpO7n4Z #Shakespeare #ShakespeareSunday

Conversion and marriage: where might these converge in the play-texts of early modern England? Hannah Korrell's essay points us to one such instance: The London Prodigal. Read more in our December 2025 issue. Access here: buff.ly/7Zyqiwm #Drama #EarlyModern

Jordan Zajac's essay in ET 28.2 explores Thomas Heywood's insights on the 'moral psychology of admiration', the 'complex relationship between passions and conversion', and 'early modern theatre as a site for virtue realization', focusing on Fair Maid of the West. Access it here: buff.ly/XztIGDO #ET

In early modern English domestic tragedy, criminality is transformative, whereas in English city comedy, it appears less serious and even redeeming. For a deeper understanding, see Sheila Coursey's essay in ET December 2025: buff.ly/Odmf7UH #EarlyTheatre #Drama

Discover how early modern English theatre helped navigate identity, belief, and authenticity during religious upheaval and social change. Learn more in our latest Issues in Review by contributing editor @swittek.bsky.social. Access here: buff.ly/yadZHOo

Out now in Early Theatre 28.2: Kirsten Mendoza’s essay on whiteness in Shakespeare studies reviews works by David Sterling Brown, Miles Grier, Farah Karim-Cooper, Arthur L. Little, Jr, and Ian Smith. @universitypress.cambridge.org @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social buff.ly/NRWBvPO #Drama #Shakespeare

Mayra Cortes shows how sound is the medium for working class resistance in A Midsummer Nights Dream: out now in Early Theatre 28.2 Access here: buff.ly/iiVrh3b #Shakespeare #Drama

Emily Bryan (@ebryan.bsky.social) argues in Early Theatre 28.2 that early modern English choirs and theatre companies coerced boys under a guise of benevolence, linking these practices to the Virginia Company’s seizure of Powhatan children. Access here: buff.ly/vhFHQ47 #Theatre #Drama

What do dramatic portrayals of the Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba reveal about the links between fairness, chastity, and the social construction of gender? See Laura DeLuca’s (@lauradeluca.bsky.social) “The Dangers of Idealized Femininity,” out now in Early Theatre 28.2: buff.ly/kM8nYTY #ET

Now in Early Theatre 28.2: Molly Ziegler shows how the single mention of Aaron’s “melancholy” in Titus Andronicus shapes the play’s imagining of race—positioning Aaron to secure a white Roman identity while commodifying Black bodies within early modern racial logics. buff.ly/puWcpvm #Shakespeare

🎉📖 Greetings, Bluesky! Our latest edition (28.2) is now live! This issue is fully open access and free to read via Project MUSE’s Subscribe to Open Access initiative. Start exploring here: muse.jhu.edu/journal/687 Follow us in the next few days to learn more about what's inside! #EarlyTheatre

In our upcoming December issue: Kirsten Mendoza critiques the white/right ways of (reading) Shakespeare. Don't miss her essay reviewing books by David Sterling Brown; Miles Grier; Farah Karim-Cooper; Arthur L. Little, Jr; and Ian Smith. @universitypress.cambridge.org @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social

Emily Parise highlights the paradox in Marlowe's Jew of Malta: while early modern religious conversion suggests an internal change, the need for outward performance can lead to insincerity. Learn more in our Dec 2025 Issues in Review on Drama and Conversion organized by @swittek.bsky.social

What's in a name -- Romeo's name? And what's conversion (not just love) got to do with it? Read more in @hollypickett.bsky.social's essay on Romeo's transformation 'from renegade to martyr': forthcoming in our upcoming Issues in Review, ET 28.2 (Dec 2025). @swittek.bsky.social

What happens to faithful wives in early modern English plays where prodigal sons give way to prodigal husbands? Hannah Korrell explores how "Griselda Fights Back," along the way changing trajectories of gender in conversion narratives. Forthcoming in 28.2's Issues in Review. @swittek.bsky.social

Bess Bridges in Fair Maid of the West, analyzed by way of Linda Trinkaus Zagzebski’s theory of moral exemplarity: learn more from Jordan Zajac SJ's forthcoming essay, out soon in ET's Dec 2025 'Drama and Conversion' Issues in Review organized and edited by @swittek.bksy.social. #EarlyModern

What counts as lawful, as opposed to criminal, conversion? And what are the stakes of each? This depends on which genre of early modern English drama is taking up such questions, according to Sheila Coursey. Read more in ET's upcoming Dec 2025 issue. #EarlyTheatre #EarlyModern @swittek.bsky.social

Up next in December 2025: Issues in Review contributing editor @swittek.bsky.social introduces a brace of short, cutting edge essays tackling how early modern English drama represented conversion -- a complex process shaped, this IR shows, by by race, gender, politics, and performance. #EarlyDrama

Coming soon in Early Theatre 28.2: @ebryan.bsky.social analyzes the connections between the conscription of boys by early modern English choirs and theatre companies and how the Virginia Company prompted authorities to take Powhatan children to populate Henerico College. #EarlyModern #Drama

Coming soon in Early Theatre 28.2: Molly Ziegler explores how Aaron’s melancholy in Titus Andronicus becomes a tool, shaping early modern ideas of race. Though mentioned only once, "melancholy" helps the play define whiteness, showing how Black bodies were commodified to secure a white Roman legacy.

Coming soon in Early Theatre: Laura Deluca (@lauradeluca.bsky.social) theorizes representations of Carthaginian noblewoman Sophonisba in plays by Marston (c. 1606), Nabbes (1637), and Lee (1704) as an idealized white woman. #EarlyModern #Drama

Coming soon to Early Theatre 28.2: Mayra Cortes asks us to look again at - or rather listen to - the play-within-a-play of A Midsummer Night's Dream. #Shakespeare #MND

🎄❄️ Greetings, Bluesky! The release of our forthcoming edition (28.2) is just around the corner this December! Eager to know what’s inside? Keep an eye on our Skeets in the coming days. This edition will be completely open access! #EarlyTheatre #Drama

Our newest edition is out now! ✏️ (4/4) Building on our earlier conversation, this concluding thread reveals what more you can find in our latest issue (28.1)! #StayInformed #ExcitingNews

Our latest edition has been released! 📖 🤓 (3/4) muse.jhu.edu/issue/55088 Following up on the previous discussion, here's what else awaits you in our newest issue (28.1)! #StayAlert #ThrillingUpdates

Our newest issue is out!!! 🎙️ (2/4) muse.jhu.edu/issue/55088 Following the last thread, here's what more you can find in our latest issue (28.1)! #StayTuned #ExcitingNews

🎭 Hello, Bluesky! (1/4) We're excited to share that Early Theatre 28.1 is now live! buff.ly/tFadeCz This issue is fully open access and free to read via Project Muse’s Subscribe to Open Access. Curious what’s inside? Follow this post and the threads that follow for highlights, links, and more!!

We can’t wait to share ET's upcoming Issues in Review section on Queer and Trans Issues in Medieval Drama edited by @jeffgstoyanoff.bsky.social. Look for this work in issue 27.2 of Early Theatre by the end of the year!

Upcoming this December 2024: Look for issue 27.2 of Early Theatre. We’re featuring two Issues in Review sections comprised of exciting new research, one on queer and trans issues in medieval drama and one on dramatic works by George Gascoigne

Early Theatre is on Blue Sky! Please follow, and share our posts.

The journal Restoration ( @restorationjournal.bsky.social ) is on BlueSky now. Give them a follow!

The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare and Race is here! There are so many brilliant chapters for you to read including one I wrote entitled Editing Shakespeare and Race. academic.oup.com/edited-volum...