Oct 10, 2008

William Shakespeare | Did Shakespeare act in any of his plays and if so, what roles did he perform?

Shakespeare began his career in the London theater as an actor. We can be reasonably certain of this because a critic of his first play, Robert Greene, wrote a highly unfavorable review in which he stated that it was presumptuous of a "mere actor" to write a play. Shakespeare's name appears in the cast lists of the Chamberlain's Men acting company, but no corresponding role(s) are given. Many scholars believe that Shakespeare did perform the role of Edward I in play by George Peele. The name of William Shakespeare also appears on the cast list of a play by Ben Jonson staged in 1603. But we...