William Shakespeare and Shrewsbury Associations Facts About the Bard

Facts About William Shakespeare Every Shropshire Resident Should Know

Fact 1 - In 1603, William Shakespeare is reported to have joined King James' theatre group and travelled to Shrewsbury.

And, performed in Shrewsbury, one of the very first places they chose to perform.

Shrewsbury was a great place to stage theatre events in those days.

The town was well-served by roads both North-South and East-West, the Shrewsbury of 1603 would have proved a pleasant destination, situated on a peninsula formed by the winding Severn River.

One reason for the King's Men's early plans to tour was no doubt the virulent plague that beset London at the time; it had closed the public theatres in the capital and in fact caused King James to delay his coronation until July 25th 1603.
Fact 2 - Shakespeare set the finale of his historic play Henry IV, in Shrewsbury at "The Battle of Shrewsbury" in 1403.

Remind me! Who was William Shakespeare again?

 "The Bard" was the English author of famous plays which although written over 400 years ago, are still regularly performed, and he lived during the Elizabethan era.

But why is Shakespeare considered such a great artist?

Born in England in 1564, William Shakespeare started his career as an actor and playwright as a member of the actors group the "Lord Chamberlain's company", which later became the "King's Company".

They played in several theatres until eventually they built the famous Globe Theatre in London which was their very first "own" stage.

As there were only male members in the company, every role had to be played by men.

But that wasn't the reason why Shakespeare's plays, like Othello or Hamlet, were very popular.

To match the various tastes of a diverse audience Shakespeare created texts of high complexity, containing relatively simple plots as well as subtle nuances.

Being the key to his success, his stories also contained multiple interlocking plots, twists and confusions, containing something for everyone in the audience.

So it wasn't just for common people, who enjoyed his works, his company even played at the king's court for the amusement of the aristocracy.

Beside the plays, Shakespeare also wrote a multitude of sonnets and poems.

At first his work consisted almost exclusively of histories and comedies, like "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Henry VI".

Later tragedies like "Hamlet" also became part of his portfolio.
In his work, Shakespeare used his own special language, rich in metaphors and vivid images.

He even created new words, which became formally established.
As a consequence many English words used today, like "lonely" and "gossip", make their first appearance in one of his plays or sonnets.

Shakespeare died in 1616 at the age of 52.

His plays still amaze audiences when performed today.

Shakespeare's stories have even found their way into many of today's movies, books and music.

Plus, fortunately, nowadays women can also play Juliet.

Shrewsbury Shakespeare connection source: www.original www.shrewsbury.co.uk/news and the BBC website.

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