It's 1594 and you are a young boy in London with dreams of the stage. But once you join a company of players, the reality of being a Shakespearean actor is far tougher than you imagined. You rehearse endlessly, earn almost nothing and must memorise dozens of roles at once, all while performing outdoors for noisy crowds who might cheer, jeer or throw food.
With women banned from the stage, you're trained to play female parts, squeezed into corsets and judged on every gesture and line. When plague sweeps through London and the theatres close, you're forced onto the road, performing anywhere you can to survive. Even back at the Globe, danger is everywhere, from thieves in the audience to real cannons threatening to set the theatre ablaze.
Told in the trademark second-person voice of the You Wouldn't Want to... series, this book blends humour, vivid historical detail and David Antram's energetic illustrations, supported by a glossary and index.
See More History & the past: general interest
No one has written a review for 'You Wouldn't Want to Be A Shakespearean Actor'
Why not be the first to share your opinion?
John Malam studied ancient history and archaeology at the University of Birmingham, after which he worked as an archaeologist at the Iron Bridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire. He is now an author specialising in information books for children. He lives in Cheshire with his wife, a book designer, and their two children.
More about David Antram
