Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
@kyleathomas.bsky.social
Theatre & Performance Historian
Ensemble Member at Stage Left Theatre (Chicago) • Featured Expert on Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America (Discovery Channel) • Editor of ROMARD Journal • Reviewer for ChicagoOnStage.com
Ensemble Member at Stage Left Theatre (Chicago) • Featured Expert on Mysteries of the Abandoned: Hidden America (Discovery Channel) • Editor of ROMARD Journal • Reviewer for ChicagoOnStage.com
A recently uncovered 3rd-century CE papyrus fragment from Egypt containing excerpts from two lost plays by Euripides also reveals how scripts in the ancient world were constructed for performance!
September 12, 2025 at 7:40 PM
A recently uncovered 3rd-century CE papyrus fragment from Egypt containing excerpts from two lost plays by Euripides also reveals how scripts in the ancient world were constructed for performance!
Nazi-ism is literally 20 years of German history and yet, if you go to a library, the section on German history dedicated to 1925-1945 represents nearly ALL of the books.
Make note of that Americans. Our embrace of MAGA may span 12 or more years. But it’ll DOMINATE our history for decades to come.
Make note of that Americans. Our embrace of MAGA may span 12 or more years. But it’ll DOMINATE our history for decades to come.
August 16, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Nazi-ism is literally 20 years of German history and yet, if you go to a library, the section on German history dedicated to 1925-1945 represents nearly ALL of the books.
Make note of that Americans. Our embrace of MAGA may span 12 or more years. But it’ll DOMINATE our history for decades to come.
Make note of that Americans. Our embrace of MAGA may span 12 or more years. But it’ll DOMINATE our history for decades to come.
This is something the performing arts world can teach academics. So, I’m making a thread.
1. You MUST be the loudest cheerleader for your work. It feels cringey & awkward, but spotlighting your scholarly efforts starts with YOU! After all, you know best how to explain the targets of your work.
1. You MUST be the loudest cheerleader for your work. It feels cringey & awkward, but spotlighting your scholarly efforts starts with YOU! After all, you know best how to explain the targets of your work.
August 15, 2025 at 9:50 PM
This is something the performing arts world can teach academics. So, I’m making a thread.
1. You MUST be the loudest cheerleader for your work. It feels cringey & awkward, but spotlighting your scholarly efforts starts with YOU! After all, you know best how to explain the targets of your work.
1. You MUST be the loudest cheerleader for your work. It feels cringey & awkward, but spotlighting your scholarly efforts starts with YOU! After all, you know best how to explain the targets of your work.
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
Year Two of Shakespeare News!
Featuring an unholy Annie/MacB mashup from @stratfest.bsky.social, Brad Lander sonnets from @drewsof.bsky.social & Lithub, and the history of theater + beer from @kyleathomas.bsky.social.
Featuring an unholy Annie/MacB mashup from @stratfest.bsky.social, Brad Lander sonnets from @drewsof.bsky.social & Lithub, and the history of theater + beer from @kyleathomas.bsky.social.
Jane Austen, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Fairy Daddies
Plus: Who the %#&$ gave Puck heelys?
open.substack.com
August 12, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Year Two of Shakespeare News!
Featuring an unholy Annie/MacB mashup from @stratfest.bsky.social, Brad Lander sonnets from @drewsof.bsky.social & Lithub, and the history of theater + beer from @kyleathomas.bsky.social.
Featuring an unholy Annie/MacB mashup from @stratfest.bsky.social, Brad Lander sonnets from @drewsof.bsky.social & Lithub, and the history of theater + beer from @kyleathomas.bsky.social.
Love this company and how we’re re-imagining Store Front Theatre in Chicago!
Essay: howlround.com/how-stage-le...
@howlround.bsky.social
Essay: howlround.com/how-stage-le...
@howlround.bsky.social
August 11, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Love this company and how we’re re-imagining Store Front Theatre in Chicago!
Essay: howlround.com/how-stage-le...
@howlround.bsky.social
Essay: howlround.com/how-stage-le...
@howlround.bsky.social
Cheers & Booze is my series on the intersections of drama/theatre and alcohol. For obvious reasons it’s a lot of fun to work on this content.
To Beer or Not To Beer is out! Check out where and when beer/brewing shows up on stage.
If you like #drunkhistory, you’ll love this silliness!
To Beer or Not To Beer is out! Check out where and when beer/brewing shows up on stage.
If you like #drunkhistory, you’ll love this silliness!
To Beer Or Not To Beer - Cheers & Booze, Episode 2
YouTube video by The Theatre History Professor
youtu.be
August 7, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Cheers & Booze is my series on the intersections of drama/theatre and alcohol. For obvious reasons it’s a lot of fun to work on this content.
To Beer or Not To Beer is out! Check out where and when beer/brewing shows up on stage.
If you like #drunkhistory, you’ll love this silliness!
To Beer or Not To Beer is out! Check out where and when beer/brewing shows up on stage.
If you like #drunkhistory, you’ll love this silliness!
Curious about this whole York Mystery Plays in Toronto thing?? Well, you should be!
Listen to me talk about the plays and our approach to performing medieval drama.
Listen to me talk about the plays and our approach to performing medieval drama.
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/s6e56
Hear about upcoming performances of Medieval Mystery Plays in today's new podcast episode with @kyleathomas.bsky.social
#theatre #theatrehistory #podcast #medieval #mysteryplays #cycleplays
Hear about upcoming performances of Medieval Mystery Plays in today's new podcast episode with @kyleathomas.bsky.social
#theatre #theatrehistory #podcast #medieval #mysteryplays #cycleplays
Performing Medieval Theatre: A Conversation with Kyle Thomas
Episode 169 A welcome return for Kyle Thomas to the podcast where we discussed Kyle’s work on preparing three of the York Cycle plays for performance this summer in…
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
May 20, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Curious about this whole York Mystery Plays in Toronto thing?? Well, you should be!
Listen to me talk about the plays and our approach to performing medieval drama.
Listen to me talk about the plays and our approach to performing medieval drama.
Listen to me get nerdy about early #medieval #drama and #theatre!
Many thanks to @thoetp.bsky.social for having me on
Many thanks to @thoetp.bsky.social for having me on
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/s6e54
On today's guest episode I'm joined by @kyleathomas.bsky.social to discuss the origins of medieval period drama as the Roman empire fell through to how religion and education influenced the development of theatre
#theatre #theatrehistory #medieval #podcast
On today's guest episode I'm joined by @kyleathomas.bsky.social to discuss the origins of medieval period drama as the Roman empire fell through to how religion and education influenced the development of theatre
#theatre #theatrehistory #medieval #podcast
The Origins of Medieval Theatre: A Conversation with Kyle Thomas
Episode 167 A conversation with Kyle Thomas where we discussed the long transition period between Roman theatre and medieval theatre. As you may remember from my e…
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
May 8, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Listen to me get nerdy about early #medieval #drama and #theatre!
Many thanks to @thoetp.bsky.social for having me on
Many thanks to @thoetp.bsky.social for having me on
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/s2e6
Ep 30: In my first podcast interview Dr Elodie Paillard kindly agreed to discuss the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Still out there on the podcast feed. #theatre #theatrehistory #greektheatre #podcast
Ep 30: In my first podcast interview Dr Elodie Paillard kindly agreed to discuss the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Still out there on the podcast feed. #theatre #theatrehistory #greektheatre #podcast
The Development of Roman Theatre with Dr Elodie Paillard
Episode 30 An interview with Dr Elodie Paillard discussing the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Dr Paillard i…
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com
February 27, 2025 at 12:31 PM
www.thehistoryofeuropeantheatre.com/s2e6
Ep 30: In my first podcast interview Dr Elodie Paillard kindly agreed to discuss the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Still out there on the podcast feed. #theatre #theatrehistory #greektheatre #podcast
Ep 30: In my first podcast interview Dr Elodie Paillard kindly agreed to discuss the development of Roman theatre and the extent to which it developed out of Greek theatre. Still out there on the podcast feed. #theatre #theatrehistory #greektheatre #podcast
Back in July, I posted about an archaeological find of a possible theatre/performance site from Peru that could be ~4000 yrs old.
Well, here’s the follow-up video w/ pics, videos, & the lead archaeologist himself, Dr. Ynoñán, talking about performance rituals in the Americas!
youtu.be/GanjFWqnsJQ
Well, here’s the follow-up video w/ pics, videos, & the lead archaeologist himself, Dr. Ynoñán, talking about performance rituals in the Americas!
youtu.be/GanjFWqnsJQ
Ritual • Theatre • Archaeology: Digging Up Performance with Dr. Luis Muro Ynoñán (Field Museum)
YouTube video by The Theatre History Professor
youtu.be
February 10, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Back in July, I posted about an archaeological find of a possible theatre/performance site from Peru that could be ~4000 yrs old.
Well, here’s the follow-up video w/ pics, videos, & the lead archaeologist himself, Dr. Ynoñán, talking about performance rituals in the Americas!
youtu.be/GanjFWqnsJQ
Well, here’s the follow-up video w/ pics, videos, & the lead archaeologist himself, Dr. Ynoñán, talking about performance rituals in the Americas!
youtu.be/GanjFWqnsJQ
I so hope there’s a huge cache of Greek and Roman plays that are amongst these scrolls 🤞🏻
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
February 5, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I so hope there’s a huge cache of Greek and Roman plays that are amongst these scrolls 🤞🏻
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
www.thetimes.com/uk/science/a...
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
"I’ve had a whole lifetime of being told that computers are the future, and sort of stubbornly being like, 'Well, I still care about my dying art form, theatre'...I have an ambivalence about technology I can’t escape entirely and it drives me to write." www.americantheatre.org/2025/02/03/j...
Jordan Harrison’s Emotional Sci-Fi
His new play ‘The Antiquities’ offers a kind of history of our post-human future, while a new collection of his plays suggests some common themes.
www.americantheatre.org
February 4, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"I’ve had a whole lifetime of being told that computers are the future, and sort of stubbornly being like, 'Well, I still care about my dying art form, theatre'...I have an ambivalence about technology I can’t escape entirely and it drives me to write." www.americantheatre.org/2025/02/03/j...
What I love about the Pope Joan legacy is that it was borne of an imaginative answer to why the ‘cathedra Petri’ has a hole in it. Surely, it was to ensure that a celibate man held all the…faculties of masculinity.
Why must the body be gendered in the performance of Papal obligations?
Why must the body be gendered in the performance of Papal obligations?
Next week on @BBCInOurTime Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the story of Pope Joan. Here Pope Joan is depicted in a procession giving birth.
BL Royal 16 G V; Giovanni Boccaccio, De claris mulieribus in an anonymous French transl; c.1440; France, N. (Rouen); f.120r @realmandeville.bsky.social
BL Royal 16 G V; Giovanni Boccaccio, De claris mulieribus in an anonymous French transl; c.1440; France, N. (Rouen); f.120r @realmandeville.bsky.social
January 25, 2025 at 10:40 PM
What I love about the Pope Joan legacy is that it was borne of an imaginative answer to why the ‘cathedra Petri’ has a hole in it. Surely, it was to ensure that a celibate man held all the…faculties of masculinity.
Why must the body be gendered in the performance of Papal obligations?
Why must the body be gendered in the performance of Papal obligations?
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
No other classic text has left such a mark on how we tell stories, create theatre, and structure film. But what does it actually say?
Guide to the classics: Aristotle’s Poetics is a bible for screenwriters – but it’s often misread
theconversation.com
January 22, 2025 at 8:14 PM
No other classic text has left such a mark on how we tell stories, create theatre, and structure film. But what does it actually say?
I’ve got a video in the works on archaeological sites that appear to be associated with performance. But I need a little help…
Anyone here know of any ancient sites (earlier than 500 BCE) that clearly have spaces reserved for public performance?
Thanks in advance!
Anyone here know of any ancient sites (earlier than 500 BCE) that clearly have spaces reserved for public performance?
Thanks in advance!
January 25, 2025 at 9:35 PM
I’ve got a video in the works on archaeological sites that appear to be associated with performance. But I need a little help…
Anyone here know of any ancient sites (earlier than 500 BCE) that clearly have spaces reserved for public performance?
Thanks in advance!
Anyone here know of any ancient sites (earlier than 500 BCE) that clearly have spaces reserved for public performance?
Thanks in advance!
What do you get when you punch a fascist in the face?
Justice.
Justice.
January 25, 2025 at 9:00 PM
What do you get when you punch a fascist in the face?
Justice.
Justice.
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
tying theatre to property limits the imagination
January 21, 2025 at 5:20 AM
tying theatre to property limits the imagination
The gestures we use in a performative setting are formed of our natural habits.
If you don’t regularly do a Nazi salute, or if you’ve conditioned yourself to avoid doing it in normal circumstances, you wouldn’t do one while speaking to a crowd of people.
Just saying…
If you don’t regularly do a Nazi salute, or if you’ve conditioned yourself to avoid doing it in normal circumstances, you wouldn’t do one while speaking to a crowd of people.
Just saying…
January 21, 2025 at 10:08 PM
The gestures we use in a performative setting are formed of our natural habits.
If you don’t regularly do a Nazi salute, or if you’ve conditioned yourself to avoid doing it in normal circumstances, you wouldn’t do one while speaking to a crowd of people.
Just saying…
If you don’t regularly do a Nazi salute, or if you’ve conditioned yourself to avoid doing it in normal circumstances, you wouldn’t do one while speaking to a crowd of people.
Just saying…
The medieval York Mystery Plays will once again make for an exciting 24 hours of theatre this June in Toronto!
I’m honored to be one of the directors associated with this production.
Come be part of a nearly 700 year-old theatre tradition!
#medievalsky #theatresky
plsplayers.com/2025/01/14/t...
I’m honored to be one of the directors associated with this production.
Come be part of a nearly 700 year-old theatre tradition!
#medievalsky #theatresky
plsplayers.com/2025/01/14/t...
The York Corpus Christi Plays Return to Toronto After 27 Years
On Saturday, June 7, 2025, PLS will host York Plays 2025. It promises to be a rare and historically significant theatrical event: a full production of the medieval York Corpus Christi Plays. This m…
plsplayers.com
January 14, 2025 at 5:48 PM
The medieval York Mystery Plays will once again make for an exciting 24 hours of theatre this June in Toronto!
I’m honored to be one of the directors associated with this production.
Come be part of a nearly 700 year-old theatre tradition!
#medievalsky #theatresky
plsplayers.com/2025/01/14/t...
I’m honored to be one of the directors associated with this production.
Come be part of a nearly 700 year-old theatre tradition!
#medievalsky #theatresky
plsplayers.com/2025/01/14/t...
“Shucked, like every good corn maze, is a couple hours of corny fun.”
My review of the Chicago stop for the National Tour of the musical, Shucked, is out!
www.chicagoonstage.com/the-musical-...
My review of the Chicago stop for the National Tour of the musical, Shucked, is out!
www.chicagoonstage.com/the-musical-...
The Musical Shucked is a Cornucopia of Fun |
By Kyle A. Thomas It feels too on the nose to describe Shucked (book by Robert Horn, music by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally, direction by Jack O’Brien) as “corny,” but I think that’s exactly what th...
www.chicagoonstage.com
January 13, 2025 at 5:21 PM
“Shucked, like every good corn maze, is a couple hours of corny fun.”
My review of the Chicago stop for the National Tour of the musical, Shucked, is out!
www.chicagoonstage.com/the-musical-...
My review of the Chicago stop for the National Tour of the musical, Shucked, is out!
www.chicagoonstage.com/the-musical-...
The play is called Rossum's Universal Robots and the word “robot” in Czech is connected to feelings & ideas of forced labor. The robots are forced to work for a wealthy, ruling class which they attempt to overthrow.
Maybe we should be mounting more productions of Čapek’s play! 🤔
Maybe we should be mounting more productions of Čapek’s play! 🤔
Hey, let's celebrate the birthday of Karel Čapek, who wrote a lot of cool things and also gave us the word "robot."
January 9, 2025 at 11:47 PM
The play is called Rossum's Universal Robots and the word “robot” in Czech is connected to feelings & ideas of forced labor. The robots are forced to work for a wealthy, ruling class which they attempt to overthrow.
Maybe we should be mounting more productions of Čapek’s play! 🤔
Maybe we should be mounting more productions of Čapek’s play! 🤔
What an asinine take.
1 publicly-visible white space where segregationists and racists were happy to see black people was in blackface minstrelsy. Black performers participated in - white framing to escape economic oppression. Segregationists used Black performers to verify their racist beliefs.
1 publicly-visible white space where segregationists and racists were happy to see black people was in blackface minstrelsy. Black performers participated in - white framing to escape economic oppression. Segregationists used Black performers to verify their racist beliefs.
That is ahistorical. Segregationists explicitly favored the removal of ALL non-whites from white spaces. That is why they called *themselves* segregationists.
Show me a DEI proponent who demands all non-whites be fired from white-owned companies and I'll agree the label fits that person.
Show me a DEI proponent who demands all non-whites be fired from white-owned companies and I'll agree the label fits that person.
December 23, 2024 at 10:23 PM
What an asinine take.
1 publicly-visible white space where segregationists and racists were happy to see black people was in blackface minstrelsy. Black performers participated in - white framing to escape economic oppression. Segregationists used Black performers to verify their racist beliefs.
1 publicly-visible white space where segregationists and racists were happy to see black people was in blackface minstrelsy. Black performers participated in - white framing to escape economic oppression. Segregationists used Black performers to verify their racist beliefs.
Asks British person to do an American accent:
“HOW-dee pardner! Can I haave a BUD Liet?”
“HOW-dee pardner! Can I haave a BUD Liet?”
I love when auditions ask to do “a British accent”
As if there was even any consensus on ONE single particular British accent
As if there was even any consensus on ONE single particular British accent
December 20, 2024 at 12:29 AM
Asks British person to do an American accent:
“HOW-dee pardner! Can I haave a BUD Liet?”
“HOW-dee pardner! Can I haave a BUD Liet?”
The varied lexical terminologies & taxonomies of theatre/drama/performance are hard to navigate for historians.
But we still use multivalent language for those things:
Theatre/er
Drama
Play/ing
Performance
I think of saying ‘drama’ in high school but ‘theatre’ in college. What’s your experience?
But we still use multivalent language for those things:
Theatre/er
Drama
Play/ing
Performance
I think of saying ‘drama’ in high school but ‘theatre’ in college. What’s your experience?
December 18, 2024 at 7:12 PM
The varied lexical terminologies & taxonomies of theatre/drama/performance are hard to navigate for historians.
But we still use multivalent language for those things:
Theatre/er
Drama
Play/ing
Performance
I think of saying ‘drama’ in high school but ‘theatre’ in college. What’s your experience?
But we still use multivalent language for those things:
Theatre/er
Drama
Play/ing
Performance
I think of saying ‘drama’ in high school but ‘theatre’ in college. What’s your experience?
Reposted by Kyle A. Thomas, Ph.D. (he/him)
After 35 years and nearly $40 million of regranting to thousands of performing artists, the MAP Fund has discontinued its program, citing the end of support from the Duke and Mellon foundations.
MAP Fund Retires National Regranting Program
With major funders Duke and Mellon pulling out, the 35-year-old program, which awarded nearly $40 million to performing artists, is ending.
www.americantheatre.org
December 13, 2024 at 5:24 PM
After 35 years and nearly $40 million of regranting to thousands of performing artists, the MAP Fund has discontinued its program, citing the end of support from the Duke and Mellon foundations.