In the LIMELIGHT
On 6 September 1769 crowds descended on Stratford-upon-Avon for a groundbreaking event: a three-day Jubilee in honour of William Shakespeare. Not only was it the first major celebration of the Bard’s life and works but it also completely transformed the fortunes of the small Warwickshire town where he was born. A global tourist destination it might be today, but Stratford owes all its glory to the vision of one man – David Garrick.
A veritable superstar of Georgian theatre, Garrick’s celebrity was already closely intertwined with Shakespeare before the advent of the Jubilee. He had burst onto the London theatre scene in 1741
