THE FIRST PERFORMANCES OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE PLAYS
We cannot be totally accurate about the actual first performance dates of many Shakespeare’s play because the documented evidence is simply not available but we can estimate the year in which they were performed
Plays were performed very soon after they were written! The theatres wanted the Profit! New Performances meant Bigger Audiences!
As soon as a play had been written it was immediately produced – printing followed productions! So the actors initially used draft scripts called ‘foul papers’ or were prompted from off-stage
Plays were blatantly copied and stolen – read the section on Quarto Texts – and this plagiarism led to different versions of some of William Shakespeare’s plays! In Shakespeare’s time Copyright did not exist!
The plays were performed in a variety of venues. The huge open- air amphitheatres such as the Globe Theatre or the smaller, indoor Playhouses such as The Blackfriars Theatre Playhouse
THE PERFORMANCES!
The performances were exciting! New Theatres! Great costumes and Props! Sound Effects! Visual effects!
In the amphitheatres there were smoke effects, the firing of a real canon, fireworks and spectacular ‘flying’ entrances from the rigging in the top of the theatre called the ‘heavens’
Music also accompanied productions at the Globe Theater
Summer performances would be held in the open air Theatres like the Globe and winter performances would be produced in the indoor Playhouses like Blackfriars
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”
Shakespearean Actors generally only got their lines as the play was in progress called “ cue scripting ” the Actors did not know the plot until the play was being performed!
Zero rehearsal time enabled a fast turnover in terms of new productions and a huge portfolio of different plays. More Money!
There were no females in the Theatres. Young boy actors would take on these roles!
How much did it cost to see a play? Globe audiences paid one penny (which they put in a box by the door – hence the term ‘Box Office’)
The penny allowed them to view the play by standing on the ground, in front of the stage ( these people were called the Groundlings!)
The Playhouses were more expensive – the cheapest being two pennies!
Shakespeare acted in some of his own plays – read about this in William Shakespeare the Actor
The performances were divided into three types – Histories, Comedies and Tragedies:
THE FIRST KNOWN PERFORMANCE DATES OF THE PLAYS BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Each of the Plays first known performance dates are detailed below
FULL SCRIPT, SUMMARY, CHARACTERS AND INFO ABOUT THE PLAYS BY SHAKESPEARE
The links highlighted below will provide access to the following:
Full Text/Script of the whole Play
Short Summary of each of his Plays
Information about each of his plays – first publications, number of words, history etc
The Cast and Characters in each of his Plays
Famous Quotes from each of his Plays
1592 March 3, Henry VI Part I is first printed 1594
1592-93 Henry VI, Part II first performed
1592-93 Henry VI, Part III first performed
1594 January 24 Titus Andronicus first performance
1594 December 28, Confirmed performance of The Comedy of Errors
1593-94 Taming of the Shrew first performed
1594-95 Two Gentlemen of Verona first performance
1594-95 Love’s Labour’s Lost first performed
1594-95 Romeo and Juliet first performance
1595-96 A Midsummer Night’s Dream first performed
1596-97 The Merchant of Venice first performed
1597-98 Henry IV, Part I first performed
1597-98 Henry IV, Part II first performance
1598-99 Much Ado About Nothing first performed
1598-99 Henry V first performed
1599-00 As You Like It first performed
1600-01 Julius Caesar first performance
1601 February 7 First Recorded production of Richard II
1600-01 Richard III first Recorded performance
1600-01 Hamlet first performed
1600-01 The Merry Wives of Windsor first performance
1602 February 2 First Recorded production of Twelfth Night
1602-03 All’s Well That Ends Well first performed
1604 February 7 First Recorded production of Troilus and Cressida
1604 December 26 First performance of Measure for Measure
1604-05 Othello first performed
1606 December 26 First recorded performance of King Lear
1605-06 Macbeth first performance. First printed 1623
1606-07 Antony and Cleopatra first performed. First print 1623
1607-08 Coriolanus first performed
1607-08 Timon of Athens first performance
1608-09 Pericles first performed
1611 November 1 – First Recorded production of The Tempest
1611-12 Macbeth First recorded performance
1611-12 Cymbeline First recorded performance
1611-12 The Winter’s Tale First recorded performance
1612-13 Henry VIII first performance
1612-13 The Two Noble Kinsmen. First printed 1634
