eldest son of John Shakespeare, a glove-maker who was prominent on the town council until he fell into financial difficulties
married Ann Hathaway and had three children before his 21st birthday
he was an actor before he was a writer
found a role within the company where he patched up old plays
he paid close attention to university-educated dramatists, but knew that they would struggle to appeal to the the common people- 'it was necessary to write for clowns as well as kings'
he became an in-house scriptwriter and essentially collected royalties on his work, a new concept for the time
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Playhouses
Elizabethan playhouses were one-room theatres
Shakespeare wrote for bare platform stages with a standing audience gathered around in a courtyard in full daylight
the capacity of the original Globe Theatre was said to have been around 3000
gatherers would collect the money before the play, then appear as extras on stage after the money had been counted
although women didn't perform on stage at this time, there was no formal prohibition on it
there was a mixed social composition of the audience
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The Ensemble at Work
plays would be read aloud in the absence of typewriters and photocopyers
after the parts were learned there would be as little as a single rehearsal before the first performance
six different plays were put on every week
scenery was limted, although sometimes different set pieces were brought on
no matter the period of the play, actors always wore contemporary costumes
dances symolised the harmony at the end of a comedy
actors needed many skills- 'dancing, activity, music, song, elocution, ability of body, memory, skill of weapon, preganancy of wit'
a degree of part doubling was necessary, as many characters only appeared for one scene
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The King's Man
Shakespeare's productivity rate slowed in the Jacobean era due to constantr plagues which caused the theatres to close for months at a time
Macbeth only survives in its shorter text, showing the signs of adaptation after Shakespeare's death
a few years after his death, his fellow actors began putting together an authorised edition of hus complete Comedies, Histories and Tragedies
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