In Shakespeare’s time London was one of the biggest cities. It was the capital of England and had a population of 200,000 people, most of whom lived in cramped conditions inside the city walls.
London was a maze of narrow, twisting, muddy lanes. It was dirty, smelly and dangerous, with robbers waiting to attack passers-by. Despite this, London was visited by people from all over the world for business, trade and entertainment.
Part of the entertainment of London was its theatres. They were located outside the city walls so they could not be controlled by the city authorities. The Theatre was built in 1576 and was the first purpose-built theatre in London since Roman times.
Plays were performed everyday in London. When there was going to be a performance, a silk flag was flown from the theatre’s roof to let people know. Just before the play was to start at 2 o’clock, a trumpet would sound to remind people to hurry to their seats.
To find out heaps of stuff about Shakespeare have a look at what we’ve got in the library!