Profiles

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. His father was a glove-maker and served as alderman in Stratford. After completing school, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, Judith and Hamnet. By 1594, he had joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a theatre company in London, as an actor and playwright and had written three comedies, THE COMEDY OF ERRORS, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW and THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, and two tragedies, TITUS ANDRONICUS and RICHARD III. He had also written the narrative poems “Venus and Adonis” (1593) and “The Rape of Lucrece” (1594), as well as over 150 sonnets, which were published in 1609. Over the next few years, Shakespeare wrote and produced several of his plays with the Lord Chamberlain’s Men at The Theatre in Shoreditch, including the comedies LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM and THE MERCHANT OF VENICE, the history plays KING JOHN, RICHARD II, HENRY IV and HENRY V, and the popular tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET. In 1599, after their lease on The Theatre had expired, Shakespeare and the Lord Chamberlain’s Men dismantled it and rebuilt it as the Globe. Shakespeare, who was a part owner of the theatre, produced his greatest plays there, including the comedies MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, AS YOU LIKE IT, TWELFTH NIGHT, ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL, MEASURE FOR MEASURE, TROILUS AND CRESSIDA and THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, and the tragedies JULIUS CEASAR, HAMLET, OTHELLO, KING LEAR, MACBETH, ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, CORIOLANUS and TIMON OF ATHENS. After the death of Queen Elizabeth in 1603, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men became the King’s Men and received the patronage of King James I. In 1608, the King’s Men bought the indoor theatre Blackfriars, where Shakespeare produced his final plays. These later works, PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, which he wrote with George Wilkins, CYMBELINE, THE WINTER’S TALE and THE TEMPEST, were comedies that featured spectacle, romance and magic. He also collaborated with John Fletcher on HENRY VIII, THE TWO NOBLE KINSMEN and the lost play CARDENIO. After the Globe was destroyed in a fire in 1613, Shakespeare retired and returned to Stratford. He died on April 23, 1616. The first collected edition of his plays appeared as “The First Folio” in 1623 and included thirty-six plays.

Exclusive Corporate Sponsor