William Shakespeare is a name that holds weight as he is known as the greatest playwright in human history. Having written 34 plays, along with countless poems and sonnets throughout his career, the bard’s name has been integral to the learning of many students around the world. Many of his stories are now iconic staples in pop culture, such as Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and Hamlet. Shakespeare is still being studied for a reason: his writings are influenced by many works of art and expressions of love, and every single line in every single play is purposefully written and articulated.
Shakespeare’s work has been analysed and taught for centuries based on the amount of detail Shakespeare put into his work. In The Tempest, he put himself in the show, as that was his last show and a goodbye. The best aspects of his work are the ones in which you can tell that they’re personal. A lot of Shakespeare shows had twins. This was mainly used as a comedic plot point in shows such as Twelfth Night and The Comedy of Errors, which focus on mistaken identities due to sibling dynamics. The thing is, Shakespeare did have twins named Hamnet and Judith, and his time raising twins could have been used as an inspiration. His family lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and had at the time the most expensive house in the town. The town is the current home of The RSC or the Royal Shakespeare Company, which produces Shakespeare plays year-round.
Shakespeare’s personal life is strangely not very well documented. All we know is he had a wife and three kids, but the mysterious parts of his life is what keeps it interesting. Many theories have been made about his life. Some say that he was actually a secret member of the royal family due to his massive amount of knowledge about the royal lifestyle. Another popular theory is that he didn’t even exist, and it was instead multiple people creating his stories. These are little conspiracies that grow the lore and make people still intrigued and want to talk about him because we want to know more about one of history’s most famous artists.
His stories have been retold so many times over the centuries in ways that people may not even realize. Hamlet, one of the most famous stories of all time and the most produced play ever, is the main source of inspiration for the story of The Lion King. A lot of tropes that we now know, such as a misunderstanding in a rom-com, originate from his work. Rom-coms, one of the most popular genres of film, have taken something from stories such as Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, Romeo and Juliet, and The Winter’s Tale. Some of these are direct adaptations, such as the famous comedy 10 Things I Hate About You or the film Anyone But You, which is an adaptation of the play Much Ado About Nothing.
Shakespeare’s personal theatre, the Globe Theatre, is one of the most famous theatres in the world. It first opened in 1599 and has been giving audiences amazing performances every year for centuries. This year’s season run at the Globe Theatre sees productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Mother Courage and Her Children starring Michelle Terry, Much Ado about Nothing, Love’s Labour’s Lost, A World Elsewhere, and As You Like It.
Now, you may have noticed that some of those are not Shakespeare shows, and the theatre wants to expand and tell stories from all different genres, but keeping Shakespeare at its core. The theatre was specifically built to be the home of Shakespeare and his company to tell stories for all audiences, and, amazingly, they are still able to achieve that. However, that’s not the only main theater that produces shows.
The RSC, or the Royal Shakespeare Company, has risen through the ranks as one of the best spots to watch premier theatre across the world. The theatre is located in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is where Shakespeare lived and is known to have given us some of the best theatre productions across the world, such as the 2016 production of Hamlet starring Pappa Essidu or the 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, both of which received massive praise both critically and from audiences.
Audiences are still interested in these stories, and they show up to watch productions of his work; it’s just that many across the world have only interacted with him through being forced to read Romeo and Juliet in high school while not actually taking the time to truly learn and experience the story. Shakespeare is constantly referenced and portrayed in many adaptations, such as the musical Something Rotten, or films such as Shakespeare in Love. He’s referenced and still being called upon because, for starters, he’s that iconic and also because his name brings weight and meaning. With a total of 38 plays and 154 sonnets, William Shakespeare and his work—which is analysed, performed, and marvelled at—will be around for centuries to come and remembered forever.
