"Shakespeare in Shoreditch": chapter in Cultures of London: Legacies of Migration

Swift, Daniel (2024) "Shakespeare in Shoreditch": chapter in Cultures of London: Legacies of Migration. In: Cultures of London: legacies of Migration. Bloomsbury, London.

Abstract

The neighbourhood of Shoreditch, in north east London, has a long history of immigrants: Romans, Walloons, Huguenots, and many more came here to settle and work. This is in part due to its location, just outside the old City walls and therefore free, at least in the 16th and 17th centuries, from some of the stricter City laws. One immigrant who was rumoured to live in Shoreditch and who certainly worked there was William Shakespeare, who began his career working at a playhouse called The Theatre, which stood next to what is now a branch of Foxton’s on New Inn Yard, south-east of the Old Street roundabout. This chapter suggests that Shakespeare’s plays reflect upon the changing faces of London, and specifically this neighbourhood and its many centuries of immigration.

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