Richard Burbage and the Shakespearean Stage

The first in-depth study of the career of Shakespearean star actor and theatrical impresario, Richard Burbage. Richard Burbage is best known for becoming the leading actor in Shakespeares acting company, the Lord Chamberlains (later, the Kings) players, and as the man for whom Shakespeare created some of his most memorable leading roles, including Hamlet, Othello and King Lear. He was one of the first 'star' actors whose reputation came to transcend the roles he played and who played a pivotal part in the success of London's theatre in Shakespeare's day. This book draws on new archival research to offer the first in-depth study of Burbages brilliant theatrical career and his ground-breaking contribution to the development of professional theatre as co-founder and owner of the Globe Theatre and a co-owner and manager of the Second Blackfriars Theatre. Siobhan Keenan begins by tracing Burbages early life in Shoreditch, and the emergent theatrical community of which he was a part, before moving on to explore his growing reputation as a player and theatre manager, first as a member of the newly-formed Lord Chamberlains Players (1594), through to his establishment as one of the leading actors of his era as chief player with the Kings Men and co-owner of the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Burbages influence on the eras leading professional playwrights, including, most notably, Shakespeare, but also contemporaries such as Ben Jonson and John Webster, is examined alongside an assessment of his wider impact on early modern acting traditions and his cultural legacy as a Shakespearean star actor and early theatrical entrepreneur.