About this Event
Explore the history behind the world of "A Lamentable Tragedy" with Lucy Ryell's lecture on True Crime on the Early Modern Stage.
Abstract
This lecture will explore the little-known play, Two Lamentable Tragedies (c. 1601). As a notable example of early modern domestic tragedy, the drama prefigures a contemporary fascination with true crime narratives. Focusing on the first plot, in which alehouse keeper Thomas Merry murders his neighbour, Thomas Beech, the talk will examine how the play dramatises criminal process, investigation and punishment. It explores how everyday spaces and people outside the social elite become the focus of public spectacle, and considers how the play invites audiences to reflect on notions of morality and justice. In doing so, it reveals striking parallels between early modern theatre and modern true-crime storytelling.
Biography
Lucy Ryell is a doctoral researcher and Associate Lecturer in English at the University of Lincoln. Her PhD thesis examines issues of gender, violence and power in early modern domestic tragedy, focusing on how real acts of M**der were adapted for the public stage in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
Content Warning: This lecture contains discussion of violence and M**der.
This lecture is part of "A Lamentable Tragedy" Peformance and Lecture Series at Lincoln's Historic Guildhall as part of Lincoln's 2026 Festival of History.
Events in this series:
Saturday 3rd May
3pm - Performance: "A Lamentable Tragedy"
6pm - "Two Lamentable Tragedies (c. 1601): True Crime on the Early Modern Stage"
7pm - Performance: "A Lamentable Tragedy"
Saturday 4th May
3pm - Performance: "A Lamentable Tragedy"
6pm - “Wives, Wills and Wool: An Introduction to the Church Courts of the Medieval Diocese of Lincoln”
7pm - Performance: "A Lamentable Tragedy"
Entry is free
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Lincoln's Historic Guildhall, Saltergate, Lincoln, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
