History & Heritage News

Shoreditch is well-defined as an area of tremendous rolling change and regeneration. Originating as a sphere of Victorian entertainment and primary textile trade, Shoreditch slowly descended into debauchery and…

Dating back more than 400 years, eager theatregoers flocked to Shakespeare’s Curtain Theatre to see the first performances of plays now considered to be the timeless hallmarks of British culture and…

Shakespeare’s enduring tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, is thought to have been performed at the Curtain Theatre in the late 16th century. The play – written centuries ago in Elizabethan England and set in Medieval…

Traditionally, many of us think of a play as being either a comedy or a tragedy. But for William Shakespeare, comedy and tragedy were not clear cut. In fact, merging these two genres was one of his favourite…

London’s West End theatres attract millions of people every year – from seasoned theatre-goers to those out for a special celebration. However, every spectator expects to enjoy the performance and emotionally…

David Divers is a Senior Project Manager at MOLA and has worked on archaeological projects across London for over 25 years. In this blog, he explains why The Stage is unlike any other archaeological project he…

We all faced it at school: dealing with Shakespeare’s mysterious “metre”, and the brain-scrambling term “iambic pentameter” (yes, apparently those are real words).Iambic pentameter means a line of poetry ten…

Today’s theatre actors are celebrated; tickets can go for hundreds of pounds and must be booked months in advance. But though today’s thespians attract crowds of autograph-seeking fans to the stage door, actors…

“Speak Count, it is your cue”, Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing“You are now out of your part”, Olivia, Twelfth Night“As an unperfect actor on the stage,Who with his fear is put besides his part” Sonnet 23Early…

In the 16th century, theatres sprang up all over London. A key figure on London’s burgeoning theatre scene, William Shakespeare was involved with many of these playhouses, either investing financially, or…

Just like a maturing fine wine or cask-strength whiskey, Shakespeare is more popular now than ever before. To those of us involved with The Stage development this is obvious, as eyewitnesses to the…

“He was not of an age, but for all time!”Ben Jonson (1573-1637), Preface to the First FolioShakespeare’s works have had untold influence on our society and culture. Not only were Shakespeare’s plays and…

Neil Constable, Chief Executive, Shakespeare’s Globe. Photographer, Simon Kane.Shakespeare: from Shoreditch to SouthwarkShakespeare’s London was, as you’d expect, very different from our own—Covent (or…