Shakespeare's Rival

Nandini Das imagines an alternative history of Elizabethan theatre through the work of Robert Greene, rival writer to Shakespeare in the 1590s and originator of the insult, 'upstart crow'.

Robert Greene was the hot young name on the Elizabethan writing scene in 1592. With his university education and his friendship with other literary lights Christopher Marlowe and Thomas Nashe, he was the man to watch.

He'd written plays for the Queen's Men, sold pamphlets exposing commons cons, and was a bestseller, as much as you could be in an age before copyright or royalties.

But when he died at the age of 34, in 1592, his reputation gradually faded, and he mostly became known for one thing: calling Shakespeare an 'upstart crow' - celebrated in the recent BBC TV sitcom of the same name starring David Mitchell. Now we think of Shakespeare as the greatest poet of all time - so how did Greene get it so wrong? Or did he?

Professor Nandini Das tells Robert Greene's story, uncovering the economic realities that underpinned many of his decisions: realities that Shakespeare didn't necessarily face. We hear the innovation and literary exuberance of Greene's plays, the canny knack he had of capitalising on the popular, and the way his education came with a price during a time of rapid change. Nandini explores how the life and works of Robert Greene can offer us new insight into what English theatre might have been, beyond the shadow of Shakespeare... with the help of the occasional flaming head.

With contributions from:

Dr Darren Freebury-Jones, Lecturer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust,

Professor Farah Karim Cooper, Director of Education and Research at Shakespeare's Globe and Professor of Shakespeare Studies at King's College London,

Dr Harry McCarthy, Lecturer in Early Modern Literature at the University of Exeter,

Dr Eoin Price, Senior Lecturer in English Literature at Swansea University,

Dr Elisabeth Chaghafi, Early modern scholar at the University of Tubegen,

and Professor Dinah Birch, former Pro Vice Chancellor for Cultural Engagement at the University of Liverpool.

Presented by Professor Nandini Das

Produced by Leonie Thomas

Executive Produced by Steven Rajam

An Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 3

How neglected playwright Robert Greene offers an alternative history of English theatre.

Nandini Das tells an alternative history of Elizabethan theatre via the work of Robert Greene, rival writer to Shakespeare in the 1590s and originator of the upstart crow insult.

But when he died at the age of 34, in 1592, his reputation gradually faded, and he mostly became known for one thing: calling Shakespeare an ‘upstart crow'. Now we think of Shakespeare as the greatest poet of all time - so how did Greene get it so wrong? Or did he?

Professor Nandini Das tells Robert Greene's story, uncovering the economic realities that underpinned many of his decisions, realities that Shakespeare didn't necessarily face. We hear the innovation and literary exuberance of Greene's plays, the canny knack he had of capitalising on the popular, and the way his education came with a price during a time of rapid change. We ask how the life and works of Robert Greene can offer us new insight into what English theatre might have been, beyond the shadow of Shakespeare? And there are flaming heads and bad accents.

It was an Overcoat Media production for BBC Radio 4

Nandini Das recounts the daring life and work of Elizabethan writer Robert Greene.