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In 1576, James Burbage, a carpenter turned actor impresario had revolutionised the leisure time of Londoners by establishing a new form of theatre. His son, Richard Burbage, was destined to become one of the greatest actors in the early days of the English playhouse and it would be from his lips that audiences would first hear spoken many of William Shakespeare's most immortal words and memorable lines. The two would in time become great friends, and that Richard admired and respected William's work is aptly demonstrated by the fact that he chose to name his daughter Juliet.
For the first time in English history, the play actors who the authorities considered to be a rough and unsavoury bunch, did not need to take their plays to the audience, but rather the audience came to the plays.
It must be remembered that up until this time an actor's life had consisted largely of travelling the country performing with a troupe or company in private houses, inns and courtyards. It was a hand to mouth precarious existence.
The authorities tended to see these acting troupes as little more than rogues who were duly persecuted - the only way they could avoid arrest was to place themselves under the patronage of a powerful nobleman or aristocrat.
James Burbage's company were the Earl of Leicester's men and it was they who had the distinction of being the first to perform at their very own stationery playhouse. It was a good and popular idea. It caught on and soon Burbage's playhouse - known simply as "The Theatre" - had competition, most notably from a playhouse built on the south side of the Thames by Philip Henslow which he named "The Rose".
And, thus, by the late 1580's, the acting profession had settled into a remote semblance of stability and the citizens of London had an ever expanding choice of entertainments.
If you were to stop an Elizabethan citizen in the streets of London and ask them to direct you to Theatre land they would give you a blank stare. Theat reland was not a recognised district. There were a mix of theatres circulating in the city of London
The theatre itself was frowned upon by the puritanical city fathers and the actors looked upon as nothing more than rogues and vagabonds. If you wanted to go to the theatre you went down to the banks of the Thames, you flagged down a waterman and he would row you across. For the theatres were located in the brothel district, the gambling district, the cockfighting and bear baiting district. Theatre was not recognised as a respectable form of entertainment and as such it as the most popular entertainment, and the citizens of Elizabethan London flocked to it in their thousands.
For us today it might seem that the sixteenth century actors and writers were free to do as they chose. But that was not the case. They had to comply with very strict regulations. They could not for example write or perform anything that was treasonous to the person or the reign of Elizabeth 1st or even her forbearers. The plays were closely censored, the theatres were constantly watched - and to ensure the play-actors complied with the rules and the regulations there was an office. The office of the Master of the Revels, and in Shakespeare's day his name was Sir Edmund Tilney. He was based at St. John's gate, part of the old monastery of the Knights Hospitallers of St John, which had been closed down by Elizabeth's father King Henry V111 when he dissolved the monastery of the Knights Hospitallers. Shakespeare would have come to this building on many occasions. For Sir Edmund Tilney's job was more or less as an Elizabethan censor. He had to watch the plays and make sure there was nothing in those plays that would stir the citizens of London to riot. And in extreme circumstances he even had the power to imprison actors, or even to close down their playhouses.