Performances William Shakespeare

it not clear companies shakespeare wrote plays. title page of 1594 edition of titus andronicus reveals play had been acted 3 different troupes. after plagues of 1592–3, shakespeare s plays performed own company @ theatre , curtain in shoreditch, north of thames. londoners flocked there see first part of henry iv, leonard digges recording, let falstaff come, hal, poins, rest ... , scarce shall have room . when company found in dispute landlord, pulled theatre down , used timbers construct globe theatre, first playhouse built actors actors, on south bank of thames @ southwark. globe opened in autumn 1599, julius caesar 1 of first plays staged. of shakespeare s greatest post-1599 plays written globe, including hamlet, othello, , king lear.

the reconstructed globe theatre, london

after lord chamberlain s men renamed king s men in 1603, entered special relationship new king james. although performance records patchy, king s men performed 7 of shakespeare s plays @ court between 1 november 1604, , 31 october 1605, including 2 performances of merchant of venice. after 1608, performed @ indoor blackfriars theatre during winter , globe during summer. indoor setting, combined jacobean fashion lavishly staged masques, allowed shakespeare introduce more elaborate stage devices. in cymbeline, example, jupiter descends in thunder , lightning, sitting upon eagle: throws thunderbolt. ghosts fall on knees.

the actors in shakespeare s company included famous richard burbage, william kempe, henry condell , john heminges. burbage played leading role in first performances of many of shakespeare s plays, including richard iii, hamlet, othello, , king lear. popular comic actor kempe played servant peter in romeo , juliet , dogberry in ado nothing, among other characters. replaced around 1600 robert armin, played roles such touchstone in , fool in king lear. in 1613, sir henry wotton recorded henry viii set forth many extraordinary circumstances of pomp , ceremony . on 29 june, however, cannon set fire thatch of globe , burned theatre ground, event pinpoints date of shakespeare play rare precision.