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The year that Shakespeare's home town banned plays

Shakespeare’s birthplace of Stratford-upon-Avon continued to enjoy visits of travelling players right up until the turn of the 17th century - but then we see from the town’s records that something quite dramatic occurred.

Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall (c) John Cairns and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall

Guildhall Stratford upon Avon (c) John Cairns and Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall

In 1602, when Shakespeare would have been around 38 years of age, the town council passed an order effectively banning plays from taking place in the usual venues of the Guild Hall or council Chamber. Anybody trying to do so could risk a steep fine.

The fine was a powerful deterrent, because records of visiting players appear to have ceased. Or did they? In February 1612, the council suggested otherwise, complaining that their ban was being ignored when in other towns and cities across the country, they were being dutifully respected.

In what appears to be a fit of panic, the council in Stratford-upon-Avon voted to increase the penalty from 10 shillings to £10! The following July saw a modification of this order, but one which made specific reference to 'prohibited' places: nobody was to licence or suffer any manner of 'playes or enterludes' to be played or acted within the 'Towne Hall, Councell Chamber, Schoolehouse', the place called the 'Guyld Courte or yarde there' or any 'parte thereof by any person or persons whatsoever', with the penalty being set at £2 for each breach.

This was just around the time that Shakespeare was returning to his native town to retire – what a melancholy state of affairs to greet him. We do note, however, that playing was not forbidden in other private locations such as inns, for which no records have survived. What might Shakespeare have felt about Stratford’s official hostility to travelling players? We cannot know, but we note that in his will he left only £10 to the poor of the town, not an inconsiderable sum but not a handsome one either.

After Shakespeare’s death in 1616, his 'official' group of actors, The King’s Men, would continue to perform up and down the country as his reputation grew. However, the last reference to the King’s Men in Stratford’s records in 1622 is again a negative one. In fact, the town’s accounts record that a sum of money was paid to the players for not playing. This is remarkable because it is the only time that a reward appears to have been paid for not playing. Normally, The King’s Men were singled out for preferential treatment, just as were the Queen’s Men in 1568-9.

Bans on travelling players didn't happen frequently, but they did happen…

Sometimes bans were 'blanket' - that is, playing was simply forbidden anyplace in a town, as happened in Newcastle under Lyme.

By Alan Somerset, Prof. Emeritus, University of Western Ontario and Records of Early English Drama (REED) Editor for Warwickshire
Word would get around among the travelling troupes that a ban was in place... so the troupes would simply go elsewhere

Word would get around among the travelling troupes that a ban was in place, for instance in Newcastle or Stratford-upon-Avon, so the troupes would simply go elsewhere, somewhere where there would be a welcome.

Sometimes a restriction would be put on playing in, say, the town hall, or a prohibition against any town funds being spent on playing (these were both in place at Bridgnorth). Then the players could play in another venue, such as an inn.

At Stratford they banned the use of town funds, and any part of the Guildhall buildings or grounds - this would not prevent players from setting up in an inn. What is remarkable at Stratford is the hysterical tone of the second ban, and the HUGE fine that was to be levied. This was rethought a few months later when saner heads prevailed.

Why these bans, in whatever form we find them? There are a number of ostensible reasons, such as town poverty (Bridgnorth) or fear of the spread of plague. But behind many of them was an unspoken motive: Puritanism. This was behind events in Stratford, which had, at different times, markedly Puritan clergy.

The other aspect of these bans was that they were by definition impermanent. A council, in any year, was free to amend or undo the decrees of a predecessor council. But in practice there was great continuity of personnel on councils from year to year, so changes might come about only slowly. A council might decide to make an exception, as at Bridgnorth in 1603-4. I take the Stratford payment not to play as just such an exception - the only occasion when a troupe was paid, and asked not to play in the town.

It is also apparent that hostility to players and Puritan sentiment became more widespread. Then came the Civil Wars, when Parliament banned playing altogether, everywhere...

What was the impact of the plague on Shakespeare's world?

The BBC's Moira Rawlings heads to Tudor World's 'plague-room' exhibit to find our more

William Shakespeare, the King’s Men and Stratford-upon-Avon

Picturesquely situated in the vale of the Avon River, in the middle of southern Warwickshire, Stratford-upon-Avon owes much of its present bustling prosperity to its most famous native son, William Shakespeare.

Only four years after Shakespeare’s birth in 1564, we find the first reference to travelling professional entertainers in the town records: in 1568-9 the Queen’s players received a reward of 9 shillings and the earl of Worcester’s men were paid 12 pennies.

Such favouritism towards important royal companies was not uncommon. A steady stream of players, many with local connections, are recorded in following years, and these are companies that Shakespeare might well have seen as a growing boy: Worcester’s Men, Warwick’s Men, Leicester’s Men, Essex’s Men, Lord Strange’s Men and Lord Berkeley’s Men among others, might have excited the imagination of the maturing William Shakespeare.

The last early record of the dramatist in Stratford occurs in 1587, when the young man of 23, a father of three, was named in a lawsuit. In that year Stratford recorded five visiting professional troupes: the Queen’s Men, Leicester’s Men, Essex’s Men, Stafford’s Men, and an unnamed company.

It has long been a pleasing conjecture that one or another of these companies recruited Shakespeare as one of their number, to go on the road with them and ultimately to London, where we find records of him as a dramatist and man of the theatre, beginning in 1592.

Shakespeare on Tour

From the moment they were written through to the present day, Shakespeare’s plays have continued to enthral and inspire audiences. They’ve been performed in venues big and small – including inns, private houses and emerging provincial theatres.

BBC English Regions is building a digital picture which tracks some of the many iconic moments across the country as we follow the ‘explosion’ in the performance of The Bard’s plays, from his own lifetime to recent times.

Drawing on fascinating new research from Records of Early English Drama (REED), plus the British Library's extensive collection of playbills, as well as expertise from De Montfort University and the Arts and Humanities Research Council, Shakespeare on Tour is a unique timeline of iconic moments of those performances, starting with his own troupe of actors, to highlights from more recent times. Listen out for stories on Shakespeare’s legacy on your BBC Local Radio station from Monday 21 March, 2016.

You never know - you might find evidence of Shakespeare’s footsteps close to home…

Craig Henderson, BBC English Regions

Related Links

Shakespeare on Tour: Around the country