"I said the world was mad, and the world said I was mad, and they outvoted me." In this first episode of a new podcast that explores the backstage gossip from the colourful world of theatre throughout history, we look at the rise and tragic downfall of Nathaniel Lee (1649-92), a key playwright during the Restoration whose work was seeped in the passions of the age.

Gin&Gossip: Theatre History Between the Acts

01 The Life and Death of Nathaniel Lee

More backstage gossip: today we're examining the lives of John Dryden and the Earl of Rochester - two Restoration literary superstars whose rocky relationship culminated in Dryden's public humiliation.

02 John Dryden's Worst Day Ever

Nell Gwyn and Aphra Behn: two Restoration giants of the stage! This week we're looking at how their lives intersected and thinking about seventeenth-century female friendships more generally.

03 Gwyn and Behn

04 William Smith: A Lucky Man

"I am a peer of England, stop me if you dare!" This episode delves into the history of Baron Mohun, a belligerent seventeenth-century rake, and his encounter with the actor William Mountfort - which ended in tragedy.

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