William Shakespeare

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William Shakespeare
by Year 9 students
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William Shakespeare was the son of John and Mary
Shakespeare. He was born in April 1564 in
Stratford-upon-Avon and died in 1616. He was
52 when he died.
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William Shakespeare's Family
Shakespeare lived in Stratford upon-Avon and
London. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582. They
had a daughter called Susannah and twins called
Judith and Hamnet.
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Shakespeare travelled to London to make a living
in the theatre. The Lord Chamberlains Men was
the nameof his first theatre company.
Altogether he wrote 37 plays and about 159
poems.
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At this time Elizabeth I was the queen of
England. She liked Shakespeares plays.
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Shakespeare wrote three types (genres) of play
tragedies, comedies, and histories.
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In those days there were only male actors men
and boys. Women were not allowed on stage. The
boys took the female parts because they were
skinnier and had higher voices.
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Theatres in William Shakespeares Time
The Globe Theatre
The Swan Theatre
The Rose Theatre
Shakespeares plays were performed in lots of
London theatres, such as The Rose, built in 1587,
The Theatre, and The Swan, built in 1589. His
plays were very popular and successful!
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The first Globe burnt down. After the fire they
built another Globe theatre in 1614.
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This Globe Theatre is a reconstruction of the
original Globe. It was built in 1997 in London
and it is one of Londons most successful
playhouses.
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Inside The Theatre
The rich people would sit here
The poor people would stand here
At the theatre the higher class rich people would
sit around the stage in a shaded area on benches.
The lower class people had to stand in the
middle and watch the play. There was no roof and
if it rained they got wet!
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In their spare time, Elizabethan people played
many popular sports such as bowling, skittles,
hockey, football and blood-thirsty sports such as
cock-fighting. There would be a lot of gambling
on which animal would win a fight. The animals
were bears and dogs.