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As Simon Russell Beale stars as King Lear in a new Sam Mendes' National Theatre production, we look at some of the past great King Lears including Sir Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi

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King Lear - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. He based it on an old British story about a king named Leir or Lyr. The play might have been first performed in December 1606. It was first printed in 1608. It was printed again in 1623 in the First Folio.

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Elisabeth Shue and Steve Coogan in Hamlet 2 (2008)

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Hamlet - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Claudius murders Hamlet's father and becomes king. He marries Gertrude. Hamlet's father appears as a ghost and tells Hamlet that he was murdered by Claudius. Hamlet kills Polonius because he thinks he is Claudius. Laertes decides to kill Hamlet in revenge. He challenges Hamlet to a sword fight, and puts poison on his own sword.

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Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting in Romeo and Juliet (1968)

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Romeo and Juliet - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Montague has only one child, a teenage boy called Romeo. Capulet also has only one child, a beautiful 14-year-old daughter called Juliet. One evening, Romeo sneaks into a party at the Capulet's house. He meets Juliet and they fall in love with each other.

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Books: shakespeare (sorted by popularity)

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Project Gutenberg offers 59,206 free ebooks for Kindle, iPad, Nook, Android, and iPhone.

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Find out what's on, buy tickets and learn more about Shakespeare's plays and his life. The RSC tours the UK and worldwide, and broadcasts into cinema.

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Globe Theatre, London

The Globe Theatre in London was founded by the American actor and director Sam Wanamaker and is used as an international destination to discover the work of Shakespeare. Visitors can enjoy traditional theater and the playhouse along with ongoing talks, lectures, and events. With a focus on education, Shakespeare's Globe provides events, classes, research and resources for teachers, families and a diverse set of people.

A Brief History

The Globe was built in 1599 using timber from The Theatre, an earlier theater built by the Burbage family. The most well-known plays performed at the Globe included Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Twelfth Night. The original Globe Theatre in London was demolished in 1644 after it fell into disuse during the Puritan era. This important building was lost for centuries until the original foundations were rediscovered in 1989. In the mid-1990s, the Globe Theatre London was reconstructed using traditional materials and techniques just a few hundred yards away from the original site.

Explore Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in this digital photo tour, where pictures from this outstanding building can give you a real insight into the world of William Shakespeare.

Elizabethan Theatre

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre gives us a fascinating glimpse into the world of Elizabethan theater. Also known as English Renaissance theater or early modern English theater, performances in England from 1562 and 1642 included plays from Shakespeare, Marlow and Jonson. Playwrights and poets were the leading artists during this time as the theater became the way of socializing in the sixteenth century.

Making Noise Was Commonplace

The theater experience was very different back then. Audiences would talk, eat and sometimes brawl during performances. Today, audiences tend to be better behaved, but the Globe Theatre gives us first-hand experience of Elizabethan theater.

The trust stage and high seating areas brought the performer and spectator into close proximity, where performances were often played out in the afternoon for two to three hours. Shakespeare's language is very direct and designed for the Elizabethan theater space.

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Explore William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London

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The Globe Theatre in London was founded by the American actor and director Sam Wanamaker and is used as an international destination to discover the work of Shakespeare. Visitors can enjoy traditional theater and the playhouse along with ongoing talks, lectures, and events.

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Explore our range of engaging teaching resources for all ages and levels

Whether you're teaching remotely, working from home with your children, or teaching in school, you'll find a range of inspiring resources from Shakespeare's Globe.

Options to support you include:

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Explore our range of engaging teaching resources for all ages and levels Whether you're teaching remotely, working from home with your children, or teaching in school, you'll find a range of inspiring resources from Shakespeare's Globe. Options to support you include: After the most challenging year in our charity's history, we still need our supporters to help us recover.

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A world-renowned theatre, education centre, and cultural landmark in London, UK.

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King's Men (playing company) - Wikipedia

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The royal patent of 19 May 1603 which authorised the King's Men company named the following players, in this order: Lawrence Fletcher, William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage, Augustine Phillips, John Heminges, Henry Condell, William Sly, Robert Armin, Richard Cowley, "and the rest of their associates...." The nine cited by name became Grooms of the Chamber.

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William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised a few days later on 26 April 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do landowner from Wilmcote, South Warwickshire. It is likely Shakespeare was educated at the local King Edward VI Grammar School in Stratford.
Marriage
The next documented event in Shakespeare's life is his marriage at the age of 18 to Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local farmer, on November 28, 1582. She was eight years older than him and their first child, Susanna, was born six months after their wedding. Two years later, the couple had twins, Hamnet and Judith, but their son died when he was 11 years old.

Again, a gap in the records leads some scholars to refer to Shakespeare's life between 1585 and 1592 as 'the lost years'. By the time he reappears again, mentioned in a London pamphlet, Shakespeare has made his way to London without his family and is already working in the theatre.
Acting career
Having gained recognition as an actor and playwright Shakespeare had clearly ruffled a few feathers along the way - contemporary critic, Robert Green, described him in the 1592 pamphlet as an, "upstart Crow".

As well as belonging to its pool of actors and playwrights, Shakespeare was one of the managing partners of the Lord Chamberlain's Company (renamed the King's Company when James succeeded to the throne), whose actors included the famous Richard Burbage. The company acquired interests in two theatres in the Southwark area of London near the banks of the Thames - the Globe and the Blackfriars.

In 1593 and 1594, Shakespeare's first poems, 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece', were published and he dedicated them to his patron, Henry Wriothesley, the Earl of Southampton. It is thought Shakespeare also wrote most of his sonnets at this time.
Playwright
Shakespeare was prolific, with records of his first plays beginning to appear in 1594, from which time he produced roughly two a year until around 1611. His hard work quickly paid off, with signs that he was beginning to prosper emerging soon after the publication of his first plays. By 1596 Shakespeare's father, John had been granted a coat of arms and it's probable that Shakespeare had commissioned them, paying the fees himself. A year later he bought New Place, a large house in Stratford.

His earlier plays were mainly histories and comedies such as 'Henry VI', 'Titus Andronicus', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream', 'The Merchant of Venice' and 'Richard II'. The tragedy, 'Romeo and Juliet', was also published in this period. By the last years of Elizabeth I's reign Shakespeare was well established as a famous poet and playwright and was called upon to perform several of his plays before the Queen at court. In 1598 the author Francis Meres described Shakespeare as England's greatest writer in comedy and tragedy.

In 1602 Shakespeare's continuing success enabled him to move to upmarket Silver Street, near where the Barbican is now situated, and he was living here when he wrote some of his greatest tragedies such as 'Hamlet', 'Othello', 'King Lear' and 'Macbeth'.
Final years
Shakespeare spent the last five years of his life in New Place in Stratford. He died on 23 April 1616 at the age of 52 and was buried in Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. He left his property to the male heirs of his eldest daughter, Susanna. He also bequeathed his 'second-best bed' to his wife. It is not known what significance this gesture had, although the couple had lived primarily apart for 20 years of their marriage.

The first collected edition of his works was published in 1623 and is known as 'the First Folio'.

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William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire and was baptised a few days later on 26 April 1564. His father, John Shakespeare, was a glove maker and wool merchant and his mother, Mary Arden, was the daughter of a well-to-do landowner from Wilmcote, South Warwickshire.