Background Information

Born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564 Married Anne Hathaway in 1582 His daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two

years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born,. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.

After twins’ birth – there are seven years (“lost years”) where there is no information about Shakespeare.

The Lord Chamberlain’s Men – company of players and writers, including Shakespeare and Richard Burbage was created in 1594.

By 1597 Shakespeare published 15 plays. In 1599 – Shakespeare and his business partner built

the Globe. 1617 Shakespeare dies – 37 plays are attributed to him

1595 - R&J was first performed in the outdoor theatres

1597 -R&J appears in print, bootlegged, with many errors

1599 -R&J appears in print again with may corrections and a longer length

1623 - The First Folio (leather bound, full page books) of thirty-six of Shakespeare’s play is published. R&J is further modified and appears in the “Tragedy” section.

There were three periods of performance, in which R&J changed: The Grand Repertory Period (1594-1642) The Star System Period (1660-1918) The Multi-media and Variable Expansion Era

(1919-Present)

Boys played all roles (only four female roles in R&J)

Performances took place in outdoor theatres, like the Globe Theater

Shakespeare would play various roles in the play

Actors had to compete with whatever was going on in the audience.

Built in 1599 Destroyed in a fire in 1613 Second theatre was built, then closed. Up to 100 feet in diameter Based on the Roman Coliseum but built on a much

smaller scale An open arena design & structure The Pit (the Yard) - the area located around the

stage. The stage structure projected halfway into the ' yard ' where the commoners (groundlings) paid 1 penny to stand to watch the play. They would have crowded around the 3 sides of the stage structure.

The seats were more expensive and reserved for the wealthy

Stage had a balcony to hold musicians, a trap door, and backstage area.