The great bard William Shakespeare is one of the most famous writers of all.0:06
For hundreds of years, his plays have been running in theatres all over the world, in just about every language there is.0:13
Shakespeare's plays were fantastically popular in his own time, and they still are today.0:20
The great author was born in 1564 on 23 April to John and Mary Shakespeare.0:27
John Shakespeare was a glove maker and the family was quite comfortable.0:34
They lived in Stratford upon Avon, a small but busy town in central England.0:39
John Shakespeare sent his son William to school.0:45
When the boy left school at the age of about 14, he had to work in the family business.0:48
William Shakespeare didn't go to university and never received a university education.0:54
He married early, at the age of 18.0:59
He and his wife Anne had three children, two girls and a boy.1:02
Sadly, the boy died when he was just 11.1:07
Then suddenly, Shakespeare left Stratford for London.1:10
We don't know for sure why he did it.1:14
A lot of people believe that he was thrilled by the idea of becoming an actor.1:17
In those days, theatre was a very popular and inexpensive form of entertainment in the country.1:22
People watched all kinds of plays which travelling theatre groups performed in the streets and squares.1:29
The performances were rather primitive.1:35
There was no scenery, no music, no special effects.1:37
Probably Shakespeare joined one of such groups when he decided to devote his life to acting.1:41
The city of London was noisy, dangerous and possibly very dirty.1:47
In those days there were several theatres or playhouses.1:51
One of them, the theatre, was popular with Queen Elizabeth I herself.1:56
Here Shakespeare began his acting career and later started to write plays.2:01
In those days, the tastes of the audiences were very different from what we like now.2:07
Theatre goers enjoyed it when they saw cruel scenes.2:12
When there was blood all over the stage, they used sheet blood to produce the effect.2:16
Tragedies in which the central characters died at the end, were especially popular with the public.2:21
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