1. Background Information

2.  Born in Stratford-on-Avon in 1564  Married Anne Hathaway in 1582  His daughter, Susanna, was born on May 26, 1583. Two years later, on February 2, 1585, twins Hamnet and Judith were born,. Hamnet later died of unknown causes at age 11.  After twins’ birth – there are seven years (“lost years”) where there is no information about Shakespeare.  The Lord Chamberlain’s Men – company of players and writers, including Shakespeare and Richard Burbage was created in 1594.  By 1597 Shakespeare published 15 plays.  In 1599 – Shakespeare and his business partner built the Globe.  1617 Shakespeare dies – 37 plays are attributed to him

3.  1595 - R&J was first performed in the outdoor theatres  1597 - R&J appears in print, bootlegged, with many errors  1599 - R&J appears in print again with may corrections and a longer length  1623 - The First Folio (leather bound, full page books) of thirty-six of Shakespeare’s play is published. R&J is further modified and appears in the “Tragedy” section.

4.  There were three periods of performance, in which R&J changed:  The Grand Repertory Period (1594-1642)  The Star System Period (1660-1918)  The Multi-media and Variable Expansion Era (1919- Present)

5.  Boys played all roles (only four female roles in R&J )  Performances took place in outdoor theatres, like the Globe Theater  Shakespeare would play various roles in the play  Actors had to compete with whatever was going on in the audience.

6.  Built in 1599  Destroyed in a fire in 1613  Second theatre was built, then closed.  Up to 100 feet in diameter  Based on the Roman Coliseum but built on a much smaller scale  An open arena design & structure  The Pit (the Yard) - the area located around the stage. The stage structure projected halfway into the ' yard ' where the commoners (groundlings) paid 1 penny to stand to watch the play. They would have crowded around the 3 sides of the stage structure.  The seats were more expensive and reserved for the wealthy  Stage had a balcony to hold musicians, a trap door, and backstage area.