Friday, August 08, 2008

Archaeologists Discover Shakespeare Theatre

Museum of London archaeologists believe they've found the site of The Theatre, where some of Shakespeare's first plays (Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, &c.) are said to have debuted. The Theatre's timbers were used in 1599 to construct the more famous Globe, but the "original footings or groundwork of the octagonal Shoreditch venue" have now been discovered "- ironically on a site being prepared for the construction of a new theatre."

Current plans call for preservation of the site: "
Jeff Kelly, chairman of the Tower Theatre Company, which is building the new theatre on the site, added: 'The discovery that we shall be building a 21st century playhouse where Shakespeare played and where some of Shakespeare's plays must first have been performed is a huge inspiration.'"