The Enterlude of the Godly Queen Hester and Purim Spiel

On the performance of The Enterlude of the Godly Queen Hester and Purim Spiel at the British Shakespeare Association Conference, University of York, 25 June 2025, introduced by Professor Elisabeth Dutton.

This double bill captures the essence of what Edward’s Boys do so well. The first part of the performance brings to life The Enterlude of Godly Queene Hester (c.1529), a neglected dramatic entertainment animated by a sense of curiosity and creativity, while the second part reimagines the same material in an original short comedy: the Edward’s Boys Purim Spiel. The double bill arises from a collaboration with Professor Elisabeth Dutton’s ‘Women, Martyrdom, & Religious Drama in the Abrahamic Traditions’ (WOMARD) project, which is conducting a comparative study of the religious drama of Jewish, Christian and Shi‘i Islamic traditions. As such, it is the latest in a veritable tradition of Edward’s Boys’ fruitful collaborations with academics, offering, as ever, an opportunity not only to engage with an early modern play that would not otherwise be performed, but also to see it performed with that striking level of virtuosity which has become the hallmark of the Edward’s Boys.

The Enterlude is a satirical entertainment conceived and likely performed during the reign of King Henry VIII, although it comes down to us in an edition printed in 1561, in the early years of Queen Elizabeth I’s reign. The basis of The Enterlude is the Old Testament Book of Esther, which recounts how King Ahasuerus of Persia (‘Assuerus’, a suitably regal Ritvick Nagar) takes a new wife and in so doing inadvertently chooses a Jewish woman, Esther (‘Hester’, masterfully played by Rufus Round). The play follows the scheming of the dastardly minister Aman (in a suitably conniving depiction by Theo Richter), who seeks to manipulate King Assuerus into massacring the Persian Jews. This tragedy is prevented by Hester’s revelation that she too is Jewish and her plea to Assuerus that her people be spared. Hester’s commitment to justice likewise sees her ensure that Aman be hung on the gibbet he had ordered to be made ready for her uncle and adoptive father Mardocheus (Joe Valiaparambil).

As Professor Greg Walker’s programme notes explain, the anonymous author utilizes the biblical story as a means of ‘commenting upon matters of acute political and personal sensitivity at the time’, namely praising the virtues of Henry’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon, drawing attention to the plight of monastic houses, and satirizing the recently fallen chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey. Mills’ direction and use of the text from Walker’s edition of the Enterlude lends itself to a particular clarity in performance, breathing life into a Tudor courtly entertainment that is quite unlike most of the plays that the Boys have performed to date. The production did not shy away from the difficulties that this Tudor piece presents in terms of language, and the boys delivered their lines with characteristic clarity and energy. The performance was underpinned by numerous extended moments of solemnity, often heightened by song. Comic interjections and asides were a welcome addition, helping to draw the audience’s attention to topical allusions and satirical references that would otherwise be missed. The figure of a glowering Henry VIII (played by Rémy Aughey-Koning) was present onstage during the performance, sometimes slumped and at other times starting up from his seat in reaction to the onstage action. This worked particularly well as a subtle yet powerful reminder of the play’s intended audience and satiric intent.

The story of Queen Esther and the salvation of the Jews that is the basis of The Enterlude is the foundation of the Purim festival. As Dutton’s introduction to the performance noted, for centuries a key part of Purim celebrations had been the purimshpil (farcical dramatizations that mixed song, dance, disguises, and mimes). In a fitting tribute to this dramatic tradition, the second part of the Hester double-bill offered audiences precisely this: the Purim Spiel devised by Perry Mills and Edward’s Boys. This boisterous retelling of the story in The Enterlude retained the lead actors in the roles of Assuerus, Haman (Aman), Hester, and Mordechi (Mardocheus). The addition of some original characters pulled the retelling firmly into pantomime territory, most notably by the introduction of Haman/Aman’s wife (brilliantly played by Zac Savidge) and the ‘fairy godfather’ rendering of Mordechai.

Although not without its comic moments under Mills’ direction, The Enterlude showcases the young actors’ ability to lend gravitas to their portrayal of biblical personages (particularly Rufus Round as Hester). By contrast, the Edward’s Boys’ Purim Spiel unabashedly indulges in the full range of their considerable talents, encompassing physical comedy, singing and dancing, with a liberal supply of limericks, irreverence and cheekiness supplied by Mills’ script. While the costuming of the main characters largely echoed their appearance in the Enterlude, the panto get-up of Haman’s wife, Mardocheus and the fleet of dancers who burst onto the stage when Haman starts bellowing a rendition of Beyoncé’s ‘Bow Down’ captures the air of festivity typically associated with Purim. An unforgettable part of Purim Spiel’s set design was Assuerus’ regal, curtained privy, which served as the focal point of a seemingly boundless range of scatological jokes that ran throughout the play and had the audience in stitches. The decision to end the show with a song opened by ‘Little Henry VIII’ (Oliver Edwards) inverts the more mature depiction of the largely silent Henry VIII in the first part of the double bill, and at the same time brings full circle the satirical depiction of powerful figures at the heart of The Enterlude.

This performance took place at the British Shakespeare Association’s conference, ‘Practising Shakespeare: New Collaborations, Expanding Horizons’, which brought together academics, educators, theatre practitioners and creatives. It was a particular pleasure to see this double bill performed at the conference, not least because Edward’s Boys were the winners of the 2024 British Shakespeare Association ‘Innovation Award’. The double bill captured brilliantly the valuable contribution that Edward’s Boys bring to the study and performance of early modern drama, not only in terms of animating long-neglected pieces that would not otherwise be performed, but showing us how—under Perry Mills’ masterful direction—new theatrical terrain can be explored in powerful collaborations between past and present forms of entertainment.