Archeologists Dig Up Remains Of Shakespeare's First Theatre
The AFP is reporting that archeologists have dug up the remains of a London theater that they are saying was the original theater where William Shakespeare's early works such as "Romeo and Juliet" were performed.
The theater remains are said to be those of the "Theater of Shoreditch"- a local theater where Shakespeare performed as an actor for many years and also tested out many of his early writing endeavors. Though nothing can be totally confirmed, historians speculate that those plays could have included "A Midsummer Night's Dream", "Richard III", and "Antony and Cleopatra". After a 1599 disagreement between owners, the theater was disbanned and torn down in the middle of the night The timbers were used to construct the famous Globe Theatre on the River Thames which became Shakespeare's new theatrical home.
Museum of London archeologists have discovered what now looks to be remains of footing from the groundwork of that first theater. With this discovery they hope to be able to formulate a sketch of what that theatre looked like-- an important discovery that would add to knowledge of theater during the time of Elizabeth I. The remains were discovered as they were digging up the area to build a new theater on the site. They are now hoping with this new knowledge the theater will resemble its original as best as possible.
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