The History
of Theatre &
Shakespeare
Travel from ancient stages to Shakespeare’s Globe, discover how his plays were saved in the First Folio, weigh the authorship debate fairly, and follow theatre in Canada from Stratford’s tent to Edmonton’s Fringe and Indigenous theatre.
- 00First Principlesp.2
- 01Ancient stagesp.4
- 02Shakespeare’s lifep.5
- 03The Globep.6
- 04Who wrote it?p.7
- 05Theatre in Canadap.8
- ✦Self-check · Make it · 5 Questions · Side Questp.9
You'll need: pencil, a notebook, and someone who loves theatre to interview.
Principles
A first principle is a basic truth you can build on. Theatre history rests on four: every culture tells stories through performance, plays survive because people saved them, evidence matters more than legends and new voices keep reshaping the stage.
What do I already know?
What is necessary?
Everything in this module is built from four bricks. Rate yourself on each one, then check the example to see if your rating holds up.
What is the objective?
By the end, you’ll be able to describe early theatre traditions, outline Shakespeare’s life from the records, explain how the Globe worked, explain the authorship debate and why most scholars accept Shakespeare, and trace key moments in Canadian and Indigenous theatre.
- 01Name 4 early theatre traditions.
- 02Outline Shakespeare’s life from records.
- 03Describe the Globe and its audience.
- 04Explain the First Folio.
- 05Weigh the authorship debate.
- 06Trace Canadian and Indigenous theatre.
The list on the left is ours. Now make it yours. What do you want out of this?
How much do you know about the history of theatre right now? Shade the boxes in pencil. You'll come back at the end (p.9) and shade it again in pen.
Why start this way? When you know what you already have (1), what you need (2) and where you're going (3), you learn faster and you notice the gaps. Every module on the Theatre & Shakespeare Path starts with these same three questions.
Ancient stages
People have performed stories for as long as there have been stories.
Around the world
Older than written plays
Long before written scripts, peoples everywhere told stories through dance, song and masks. First Nations, Métis and Inuit traditions of storytelling and ceremony are thousands of years old.
Some ceremonies are sacred, not performances for an audience. Learn about them from the communities themselves.
A word from a legend
Actors are still called thespians after Thespis, though almost nothing certain is known about him. It’s a good reminder: some theatre history is tradition and legend, not record.
- Why do you think so many cultures developed some kind of performance?
- What would it be like to act in a mask in front of a huge crowd?
Story traditions
Find out about one performance tradition from a culture in your family or community. How is it like theatre? How is it different?About how many years separate Thespis (about 534 BCE) and Shakespeare’s birth (1564)?
Shakespeare’s life
We know more about Shakespeare than many writers of his time, but not everything.
From the records
And what we don’t
Records of his baptism, marriage, children, property, lawsuits and will survive. His exact birthday is unknown; April 23 is a tradition.
We have no letters or diaries from him, so his thoughts and feelings are mostly guesswork.
About 37 to 39 plays
Scholars credit Shakespeare with about 37 to 39 plays (depending on how co-written plays are counted), 154 sonnets and several longer poems.
Life map
Make a timeline of Shakespeare’s life. Mark what is recorded fact and what is guesswork or tradition.How old was Shakespeare when he died in April 1616, if he was born in April 1564?
The Globe
Shakespeare wrote for a noisy, open-air theatre and a mixed crowd.
An open-air playhouse
- In 1599, the company built the Globe on London’s South Bank, using timbers from their earlier playhouse, The Theatre (1576).
- Groundlings paid a penny to stand in the yard; richer people sat in the galleries.
- Shows were in daylight. Boys and young men played women’s roles.
- In Henry V, the Chorus calls the stage “this wooden O” (Prologue, 14).
Then rebuilt
In 1642, England’s theatres were ordered closed. When they reopened after 1660, women began acting on English stages.
A reconstruction, Shakespeare’s Globe, opened near the original site in 1997.
Saving the plays
Seven years after his death, his fellow actors John Heminges and Henry Condell published 36 plays in one book, the First Folio. About 18 had never been printed before. More than 230 copies survive; the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington holds the most.
- Would you rather be a groundling or sit in the galleries? Why?
- How would plays change if every show was in daylight?
Penny seat or gallery?
Draw a plan of the Globe. Mark the stage, yard, galleries and “heavens”. Where would you stand, and why?How many years after the original Globe was built did the reconstruction open?
The authorship debate
Asking who wrote the plays is a great way to practise weighing evidence.
A debate on the fringe of scholarship
Since the 1800s, some people have argued that someone else wrote Shakespeare’s plays: candidates include Francis Bacon, Edward de Vere (Earl of Oxford) and Christopher Marlowe.
Most historians and literary scholars accept that William Shakespeare of Stratford wrote them, based on title pages, the First Folio, and comments by people who knew him.
Sharing the pen
Playwrights often worked together. Scholars agree Shakespeare co-wrote Henry VIII and The Two Noble Kinsmen with John Fletcher.
The New Oxford Shakespeare (2016) credited Marlowe as co-author of the Henry VI plays; not all scholars agree.
Think like a historian
Ask: what are the sources, who made them, and when? For example, Oxford died in 1604, yet several plays seem to have been written after that. Doubters offer explanations; most scholars find them unconvincing. You can respect people and still test their claims.
- Why do you think some people doubt that Shakespeare wrote his plays?
- How can you disagree about evidence respectfully?
Evidence table
List 3 pieces of evidence for Shakespeare as author and 1 argument doubters make. Which evidence is strongest, and why?Why do historians trust a 1623 book by Shakespeare’s fellow actors?
Theatre in Canada
Canada’s theatre grew from a tent to hundreds of companies and festivals.
Some milestones
Stories on their own terms
Native Earth Performing Arts (Toronto, 1982) is Canada’s oldest professional Indigenous performing arts company. Cree playwright Tomson Highway’s The Rez Sisters (1986) and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing (1989) changed Canadian theatre.
In Calgary, the Indigenous-led Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society (begun in 2012) creates theatre and events about Treaty 7 (1877) and its peoples.
Edmonton and Calgary
The Edmonton Fringe calls itself the oldest and largest Fringe festival in North America. Edmonton also has Theatre Network and Workshop West; Calgary has Alberta Theatre Projects and Vertigo Theatre.
Local stage
Find a theatre or festival near you. When did it start, and what does it perform?How many years after Stratford’s first season did the Edmonton Fringe begin?
Quick self-check
Six questions, covering every stop. Show your thinking. Answers are upside down at the bottom; no peeking till you're done.
1 · What is Noh?
2 · When was Shakespeare baptized, and where?
3 · Who were the groundlings?
4 · What is the First Folio, and why does it matter?
5 · Why do most scholars accept Shakespeare as the author?
6 · What did Tomson Highway write in 1986?
Re-shade your knowledge meter
How much do you know about the history of theatre now? Flip back to p.3 and shade the meter again in pen (or shade this one). Did any of the four bricks on p.2 move from "Not yet" to "Got it"?
A show to remember
Interview someone about a performance they remember and turn it into a short oral history.
1 · Plan
Interview a relative, neighbour or theatre-lover about a show they remember. Ask permission to take notes or record.
- Permission asked
- 5 questions written
- Notes or recording
- Thank-you said
2 · My questions
| Question | Notes |
|---|---|
| What show, when, where? | |
| What do you remember most? | |
| How did the audience react? | |
| Why does it stay with you? | |
3 · Check it
- Dates checked
- Memory vs. record compared
- Speaker credited
- Shared only with permission
4 · Their story
Ask permission before recording anyone. If an Elder shares a story, follow their wishes about how and when it can be retold. Don’t post anyone’s story or photo without permission.
5 Questions
I Still Have
This module didn't answer everything. Good. Write 5 new questions it didn't answer, one of each type below. There are no wrong questions, only ones nobody's asked yet.
★ Star the one question you'd most like answered. You'll need it on the next page.
1What I'll find out
Break your big question into 2 or 3 smaller ones you could actually answer.
2Where I'll look
3How I'll share it
Who I'll share it with:
Done by: