Shakespeare’s Scoundrels
EXPERT BIO —
PROFESSOR ELIZABETH SCHAFER
Schafer is Professor of Drama and Theatre Studies at Royal Holloway, University of London. She has written extensively on the performance history of Shakespeare’s plays and about women directors of Shakespeare’s work.
The name William Shakespeare today is associated with high art and prestige performance. However, in his own time Shakespeare’s name, if it were known by many at all, was associated with the lowest order of entertainment. As a playwright, he worked in an industry that sat side by side with bloodsports, brothels, taverns and all sorts of criminality.
“It would be hard to get to The Globe without encountering some aspects of what might be described as the seedier side of life,” explains Elizabeth Schafer, professor of drama and theatre studies at Royal Holloway. “That would be hard geographically. It’s right next to the bear baiting house so it’s hard to go to work, even if you’re just doing the laundry for The Globe or collecting the laundry, without encountering that sort of thing.”
It’s believed that Shakespeare arrived in London around 1588, but by then the playhouses of the capital were already a booming trade. At least nine playhouses were built between 1567 and 1622 in London alone, with plenty more popping up in cities like Bath, Bristol, Norwich and York. Before then players (as actors were referred to
