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| Scene from Henry VI, part I |
Today is the estimated date of the first production of
William Shakespeare's first play,
Henry VI, Part I in 1592. The date is "estimated" because Shakespeare's plays weren't actually published until after his death. Being a playwright was a dangerous occupation in Elizabethan times as an author who expressed slanderous or heretic views in their writing could be subjected to torture and, possibly, execution.
The Queen was a
patron of Shakespeare. There is mythology that Elizabeth was, in fact, William Shakespeare herself. But when would she have found the time? Plus, many of his plays were written after her death, so this myth doesn't hold water.
