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.comhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3mk73osz7x22eA Philadelphia #theatre #history tour thread! I walked around Philly today to check out spots where some of America’s first theatres once sat (and still sit, in one case). Let me show you what I found! And hopefully I make @aithpodcast.bsky.social proud. First up…23 Apr 2026 22:46 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mk73osz7x22ehttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3mjwlmob3rk2lMy conversation with Dr. E. Maggie Solberg about representations of Mary in medieval drama is out now on The Pageant Wagon Podcast!20 Apr 2026 13:37 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjwlmob3rk2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3mjdzpixl4s2lTomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow. Tune in for the inaugural episode of the Pageant Wagon Podcast!13 Apr 2026 04:28 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjdzpixl4s2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3mircnw3rts2fA message from your friendly Medieval Latin drama specialist on this #EasterSunday: Liturgical drama ≠ theatre. Early liturgical tropes and practices may have received dramatic treatments as early as the 10th century, but that does not make them #theatre. That is all. Have a beautiful day!05 Apr 2026 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mircnw3rts2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3mipe4pds5s2hIntroducing…The Pageant Wagon Podcast! I talk to scholars, historians, and practitioners of #medieval and #earlymodern theatre. We discuss new perspectives, staging techniques, and pedagogical strategies. Launching April 1st!04 Apr 2026 23:09 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mipe4pds5s2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lynzdkjmfc2wA 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!12 Sep 2025 19:40 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lynzdkjmfc2whttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lwi4o2t6s22aNazi-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.16 Aug 2025 00:33 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwi4o2t6s22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lwhtjpnuec2uThis 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Aug 2025 21:50 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwhtjpnuec2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lw56qb3oe22mLove this company and how we’re re-imagining Store Front Theatre in Chicago! Essay: https://howlround.com/how-stage-left-reopening-storefront-theatre-chicago @howlround.bsky.social11 Aug 2025 16:11 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lw56qb3oe22mhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lvrskwwec22rCheers & 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! https://youtu.be/loaFEyx2338?si=kFerMieQcFHl-6hr07 Aug 2025 03:34 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lvrskwwec22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lpmfybfrc22tCurious 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 May 2025 15:34 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lpmfybfrc22thttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lomtpf5u6s2dListen to me get nerdy about early #medieval #drama and #theatre! Many thanks to @thoetp.bsky.social for having me on [contains quote post or other embedded content]08 May 2025 02:15 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lomtpf5u6s2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lhtx7eam4s26Back 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 https://youtu.be/GanjFWqnsJQ10 Feb 2025 20:09 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhtx7eam4s26https://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lhhgjhqyvs2zI so hope there’s a huge cache of Greek and Roman plays that are amongst these scrolls 🤞🏻 https://www.thetimes.com/uk/science/article/secrets-of-scorched-herculaneum-scroll-revealed-after-2000-years-rkd86vn5k?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Reddit#Echobox=173877350405 Feb 2025 20:39 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lhhgjhqyvs2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lgly5c3ixc2yWhat 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? [contains quote post or other embedded content]25 Jan 2025 22:40 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgly5c3ixc2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lglujc3owc2vI’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!25 Jan 2025 21:35 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglujc3owc2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lglslerbxs24What do you get when you punch a fascist in the face? Justice.25 Jan 2025 21:00 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lglslerbxs24https://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lgbujfukrk2zThe 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…21 Jan 2025 22:08 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lgbujfukrk2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lfpsoxipmk2hThe 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 https://plsplayers.com/2025/01/14/the-york-corpus-christi-plays-return-to-toronto-after-27-years/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR2GtgiaRsdmOWZtJjZjaBNu_qNBR_lHHYq36v5KTGOLujSFDN4IoZtcJ40_aem_Cn8q5fLxEeB3JlO-fhx8Cg14 Jan 2025 17:48 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfpsoxipmk2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lfnaqfx5m225“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! https://www.chicagoonstage.com/the-musical-shucked-is-a-cornucopia-of-fun/13 Jan 2025 17:21 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfnaqfx5m225https://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3lfduhapz2k2jThe 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! 🤔 [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Jan 2025 23:47 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3lfduhapz2k2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3ldyxsc5avs22What 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. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Dec 2024 22:23 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldyxsc5avs22https://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3ldp4y6yvws27Asks British person to do an American accent: “HOW-dee pardner! Can I haave a BUD Liet?” [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 Dec 2024 00:29 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldp4y6yvws27https://bsky.app/profile/kyleathomas.bsky.social/post/3ldm2sulorc22The 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?18 Dec 2024 19:12 +0000at://did:plc:ihbvvdxmlaqbcvke5q3kurx4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ldm2sulorc22