Drama was introduced to Britain from Europe by the Romans, and auditoriums were constructed across the country for this purpose.
Roman theatre at Verulamium (St Albans)
Nineteenth-century engraving of a performance from the Chester mystery play cycle.
William Shakespeare, chief figure of the English Renaissance, is here seen in the Chandos portrait.
Aphra Behn was the first professional English woman playwright.
The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England during the late 15th, 16th and early 17th centuries. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance that is usually regarded as beginning in Italy in the late 14th century. As in most of the rest of Northern Europe, England saw little of these developments until more than a century later within the Northern Renaissance. Renaissance style and ideas were slow to penetrate England, and the Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance. Many scholars see its beginnings in the early 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII. Others argue the Renaissance was already present in England in the late 15th century.
The First Appearance of William Shakespeare on the Stage of the Globe Theatre by George Cruikshank
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest dramatist of all time.
Paradise Lost elevated John Milton's reputation as one of history's greatest poets.
Edmund Spenser was best known for The Faerie Queene, an epic poem and fantastical allegory celebrating the Tudor dynasty. He is considered one of the great poets of his time.
