What did Shakespeare do that was significant/different from other playwrights?
As well as all the points that Keelen made, Shakespeare was one of the first playwrights to own shares in his own theatre along with actors from the Lord Chamberlains Men. Before this, plays would be written and sold for a small fee, meaning the author didn’t earn much (no royalties for repeat performances etc.). Having their own theatre meant that the shareholders kept a percentage of the profits, rather than just receiving low wages. Shakespeare also tried to raise the profile of the theatre and playwrights it was seen as a lowly profession. The Chamberlain’s Men performed at a theatre called the Theatre, owned by Richard Burbage’s father. When the lease was up, the landlord wouldn’t renew it and said he owned the building as well as the land, although it had been built by Burbage. There’s a story that the actors took the building down and transported the timber across the Thames and built their own theatre, the Globe, on the south side. Not all Shakespeare’s plays were ‘originals’,
