A New Play every fortnight? Elizabethan theatre repertoire and how they did it.
Callum Coates
- Region:
- Anywhere
- Notice Period:
- Regular (more than one month's notice)
- Type:
- Professional
- Fee:
- Paid: £200 plus reasonable travel expenses.
- Category:
- History
- Updated:
- 4th November 2026
- Tagged:
- Shakespeare | Early Modern Theatre | Theatre History
In Shakespeares time, playgoing was the most important form of entertainment available in London. Competing with bear baiting, cock fighting, marshall training, drinking, gaming and public punishment, theatre was the only real escapism for the citizens of London. Playhouses served as sumptuous temples for the soul, with story telling, music, awesome special effects, fashions beyond the purse of many a citizen, and the best actors in the country. But, audiences craved novelty. The companies would present a different play almost every day and a new play every two weeks. No time to rehearse, the actors learned their lines from cue scripts, with little knowledge of what the whole play was about. Building on a host of documentary evidence and 30 years of experience with cue scripting, I will endeavour to explain how they were able to achieve this repertoire and how to study play texts to unlock the directions left by Shakespeare himself. This talk is great for those already interested in Shakespeare and Early modern theatre, but is also revelatory to students struggling with Shakespeare at school, college or university.
Views: 11 | Enquiries: 0About Callum Coates
When was England’s first theatre built and by whom? What was it like to see a play? What was the complex relationship between City authorities, playgoers and theatre practitioners? What was London like in the Tudor and Stuart era. These are all questions that fascinate me and I have been endeavouring to find truthful answers for over thirty years. You may find my conclusions somewhat at odds with what you have previously heard. I’m an actor by profession and have worked at Shakespeare’s Globe, The RSC, The Old Vic and theatres across the UK, as well as TV, but my spare time is spent trying to understand what it was really like in Shakespeare’s London. Using letters, diaries, travelogues, church and court records, City ordinances, pamphlets, ballads and the plays themselves, I use the words of those who were there, to seek truth. My talks give insight to our ancestors’ experiences, but also unlock a way of looking at Early Modern play texts in a way that is practical, exciting and illuminating.
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