William Shakespear

Yeoman – фермер, мелкий землевладелец; Gentry - мелкопоместное дворянство; From dawn to dusk – от рассвета до заката; Rehearsal – репетиция: Prop – подпорка, поддержка; To assume – предполагать, допускать; Share – часть, доля.

in the village of Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire. At the time of his birth, the village had a population of 1500 people, and only 200 houses. William Shakespeare was born in April of 1564

Shakespeare's father, John Shakespeare, came from a family of yeomen, and he gained many prestigious positions in the community. Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden, came from an ancient family of landed gentry. The whole family was Anglican. The family's financial situation was well off.

Not much information is known about Shakespeare's youth, although undoubtedly he was educated in the local school, where he studied Latin and Greek, among other subjects, during a school day that often lasted from dawn to dusk.

Shakespeare's first exposure to the theater probably occurred when he was young. As a child his father probably took him to see plays when traveling troupes of actors came to town, although that was not often.

Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was 18; she was 26, eight years his senior. The exact wedding date is uncertain, but the marriage certificate was issued on November 27,1582. Anne was the daughter of a respected yeoman farmer. William and Anne had their first child, Susanna, in May of This was followed by the birth of twins, Hamnet and Judith, in January of Most historians believe that Shakespeare was not often around his family in Stratford after that because historical records show him in London during the following years.

It is not known exactly how many roles Shakespeare played himself but we do know that Shakespeare had began his career on the stage by 1592 It is probable that Shakespeare played the title role in Edward I in 1593 It is also assumed that he played smaller roles in a variety of his own plays, including As You Like It (Adam), Macbeth (King Duncan), Henry IV (King Henry), and Hamlet (Hamlet's father)

There was not time for many rehearsals. It was important to put on new plays. Several different plays might show at one theatre in one week - eleven performances of ten different plays Some actors were given their lines by someone whispering them from the side of the stage - This was called "cue acting There were no females in the Theatres. Young boy actors would take on these roles! There were different sound and visual effects and props which made the performances more exciting

The amphitheatres were open to the weather, so they were used during the summer months As time went on Playhouse (similar to our own theatres) were used, especially in the winter Performances started in the afternoon and ended by early evening. William Shakespeare the Actor soon moved on to becoming William Shakespeare the Theatre owner and Playwright!

In addition to his popularity as both an actor and playwright, Shakespeare became joint owner of the famous Globe theater when it opened in His share of the company's management added heavily to his wealth.