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1564-1616
Shakespeare was the son of an alderman of the town of Startford-on-Avon, near Birmingham. His father later became Mayor of Startford and young William benefited from an education - paid for by the lochal council - at Startford Grammar School. I have no other information about his early life, but I do know that, at eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a wealthy lochal landowner. They had three children and it is quite likely that Anne's money helped Shakespeare to move to London and become a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Company of players, but it wasn't long before he began to write plays rather than act them. London had several thetres at this time, but the one he is most accociated with Shakespeare's plays was the Globe. This was a cicular in shape. Wealthy people watched the performances from the gilleries, protected by a thatched roof. The less well-off-who paid one penny - stood below in the open air, watching the actors on stage above them. The Globe was destroyed a few years before Shakespeare's death when a cannon fired during one of his plays and accidently set fire to the roof.
Shakespear's plays were usually based on stories he had read or heard (eg. Julius Caesar, Anthony and Cleopatra, Henry V, Richard III, Remeo and Juliet and The Merchant of Venice).
Shakespeare wrote comedies, tragedies and poetry, noteable sonnets.
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