Shakespeare in London

A plaque commemorating Shakespeare’s first theatre in Shoreditch

Situated on Great Eastern Street in the East End’s trendy Shoreditch district is this plaque on the local branch of Foxtons estate agents: it marks the site of the first ever custom-built theatre for plays in London.

It was called - with incredible linguistic creativity - “The Theatre”, and it was where a young William Shakespeare got his start as an actor, writer, and director in London.

William Shakespeare

Shakespeare was not a native Londoner - he was born on St George’s Day, 1564, in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, about 100 miles from London. However, it was in London that he made his name as the most successful playwright in British history.

His 38 plays and over 150 poems cover many aspects of life and the human condition, including love stories, tragedies, historical epics, and tales of triumph, disaster, betrayal, and delight.

He died, also on St George’s Day (23rd April), in 1616, but his plays are still performed regularly, not just here in England, but all over the world.

Monument to commemorate Shakespeare’s First Folio

As well as his literary output, Shakespeare was a canny businessman, and had stakes both in the physical theatre, and in the acting company that performed his plays. Known initially as the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, and then later as the King’s Men, this company also included his friends John Heminge and Henry Cordell, as well as Richard Burbage, who played many of the leading roles.

In 1623, Heminge and Cordell collected his plays and published them together in one book for the first time, in the collection known as the First Folio. There are around 200 copies left in existence, of which London’s British Library owns five.

Frontispiece from the First Folio of William Shakespeare’s plays

The plaque to The Theatre is on the corner of Curtain Road, which is itself named after another theatre that used to stand nearby, on the site of what is now the Horse and Groom pub. That pub now has a wonderful piece of street art by graffiti artist Otto, showing Shakespeare’s famous couple, Romeo and Juliet, entwined in an embrace.

The Horse and Groom pub, once the site of The Curtain Theatre

1598, Shakespeare and his fellow actors fell out with the landlord of the site, and legend has it that they dismantled the theatre piece by piece, smuggled it across the Thames in the dead of night, and used its timbers to build the Globe Theatre in Southwark. If you want a taste of what going to the theatre was like in Elizabethan days, you can visit the modern recreation of that famous playhouse, on the riverbank next to the Tate Modern art gallery.

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

The area around the Theatre - known as the Southbank - is rich in Shakespearean stories and history from the time of Queen Elizabeth I: it is a perfect place to explore on a guided walking tour, to find out all the fascinating links to the area.

If you would like to know more, and explore Shakespeare’s London in-depth, please contact me for further information and to book a tour.