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Ellie Cawthorn (2:03)
Welcome to the History Extra Podcast. Fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine Today. Shakespeare is a towering figure of global theatre, but in the 1590s he was just an up and coming young playwright trying to scratch out a living in Shoreditch's emerging theatre scene. Daniel Swift revisits this early stage of the Bard's career in his new book the Dream Factory, linking it with the story of a long lost Shoreditch Playhouse simply called the Theatre. I spoke to Daniel to find out more about how Shakespeare may have been inspired by a terrible play called Hamlet and what it would have been like to see one of his original productions in your book the Dream Factory you say that the Globe is Shakespeare's famous playhouse, but before it, there was another. So what was this playhouse? And why are we sat here talking about it today?
Daniel Swift (3:05)
Thank you, Ellie, and thank you for having me. My sort of beginning for this book was by thinking about where Shakespeare came from. And it seems to me that we have now, for very good reasons, a kind of extremely high sense of Shakespeare's value, his worth, his importance and so on. And that's a wonderful thing. And I'm not for a moment denying Shakespeare's greatness, his genius, the extraordinary work he did. But it seems to me, and it's an obvious point, and it's one that Shakespeare touches on in his plays, which is that nothing comes from nothing. Everybody has to come from somewhere. And what I became interested in when I was first thinking about this project was how did he become the person who we celebrate now? How did he become this confident, assured, settled writer? And I should say that part of my initial thinking about that is also a reflection on our own times, a kind of point of worry that we have now, which is that it's virtually impossible to make a living in being a playwright, being a poet, being a novelist in the arts. And as I read about kind of early Shakespeare, it amused me and interested me that that was true also of Shakespeare's time, too, that when Shakespeare sets out as a playwright, it's an extremely unlikely way to make a living. It was a kind of chancey, disreputable trade to go into. So I became interested in that idea of origins themselves, where things come from. And you mentioned the Globe Theatre, which is, again, for me, an extraordinary kind of symbol of Shakespeare's success and his security and his stability. But Shakespeare doesn't move to the Globe. The Globe isn't constructed until Shakespeare's 35 years old and a long way into his career. So I'm interested in everything that came before that and how he got to that point.
