Sources:LondonStageDatabase;UKTheatreWeb*Includesadaptationsbyotherauthors
Pastandpresentpopularityofplays
ShareofShakespeareanperformances*,%
ShareoftheatreeventsinLondon*
Byauthor,%
Shakespeareanperformancesbygenre*,%
Shakespeareisaspre-eminentinLondontodayashewas 200 yearsago,butthecity’sfavouriteplayshavechanged
0
5
10
15
1660-
1679
1680-
1699
1700-
1719
1720-
1739
1740-
1759
1760-
1779
1780-
1799
2000-
2019
William
Shakespeare
1564-1616
John
Fletcher
0
50
25
75
100
1660-
1679
1680-
1699
1700-
1719
1720-
1739
1740-
1759
1760-
1779
1780-
1799
2000-
2019
Tragedies
Histories
Comedies TwoGentlemenofVerona
TheComedyofErrors
MuchAdoAboutNothing
Love’sLabour’sLost
A Midsummer
Night’sDream
AsYouLikeIt
All’sWellThatEndsWell
TwelfthNight
TheWinter’sTale
RichardII
HenryIV,Part 1
HenryIV,Part 2
HenryV
HenryVI,Part 1
HenryVI,Parts2 and 3
TroilusandCressida
TitusAndronicus
Hamlet
AntonyandCleopatra
Pericles
TwoNobleKinsmen
TheTempest
TheMerryWivesofWindsor
MeasureforMeasure
TheMerchantofVenice
TheTamingoftheShrew
KingJohn
RichardIII
HenryVIII
Coriolanus
RomeoandJuliet
TimonofAthens
JuliusCaesar
Macbeth
KingLear
Othello
Cymbeline
←Morepopularthen Morepopularnow→
1660-1800 2000-19 1660-1800 2000-19
0
2
4
6
8%
Comedies Histories Tragedies
TheEconomistOctober 26th 2019 81
“H
e was notof an age, but for all time,”
wrote Ben Jonson, a peer of William
Shakespeare’s, in the preface to the First
Folio—a collection of the bard’s works pub-
lished in 1623, seven years after he died. To-
day, those words seem prophetic. In Jon-
son’s time, they were mostly just polite.
Shakespeare was popular in his day. His
company drew large crowds at the Globe
Theatre in London, and sometimes per-
formed at court. But other authors of that
era were more acclaimed. Francis Beau-
mont was buried in Poets’ Corner at West-
minster Abbey, near Geoffrey Chaucer. Jon-
son received a royal pension for writing.
When Will died, few would have guessed
that all the world would become his stage.
A newly digitised version of “The Lon-
don Stage”, a record of performances from
1660-1800, tracks Shakespeare’s ascent to
unquestioned supremacy. Mattie Burkert,
the project’s leader, says the data are patchy
from 1660, when theatres reopened after a
Puritan ban, to 1700, when daily newspa-
pers began. Moreover, attributing shows to
authors is tricky in the 17th century, since
most were advertised without naming the
playwright. Nonetheless, of 2,300 events
recorded in this period, just 122 (5%) in-
cluded material that might have been by
Shakespeare. The data give more credits to
two newer writers, John Fletcher (with 191)
and John Dryden (137). Courtiers returning
from France preferred libertine heroes and
neo-classical styles. Shakespeare’s untu-
tored mingling of fools and kings seemed
odd, so dramatists often rewrote his texts.
Shakespeare’s star began to rise a cen-
tury after his death. Fiona Ritchie, a scholar
who specialises in his 18th-century reputa-
tion, notes a few causes. Some adaptations
of his work, such as a happily ending “King
Lear”, became popular. In the 1730s the
Shakespeare Ladies’ Club, a group of aristo-
cratic women, petitioned theatre owners to
stage his plays rather than foreign operas.
Comedies such as “Twelfth Night” and “As
You Like It”, now featuring female ac-
tresses, came back into fashion.
Even as the appetite for comedies grew,
eminent actors—above all David Garrick—
used sturdier roles, such as Richard III and
Macbeth, to boost their careers. In 1769 Gar-
rick organised a jubilee of Shakespeare’s
birth, to celebrate “the god of our idolatry”.
Shakespeare has held that status ever since.
Harold Bloom, a critic who died on October
14th (see Obituary), called his plays “the
outward limit of human achievement”.
By 1800, 9% of shows in London used
his material—down from a peak of 17%, but
much more than his rivals. Today, London-
ers still lend him their ears. Using listings
from ukTheatre Web, an online archive,
we estimate that the city’s big theatres have
put on 360,000 performances since 2000
(including musicals and operas to mimic
the older data). Of those, Shakespeare ac-
counts for some 19,000, or 5%. Although
this share is similar to that of the 17th cen-
tury, it is far more impressive, since Shake-
speare must now compete with thousands
of writers who had not been born in 1700.
London’s taste for specific plays has
evolved. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”,
once seen as insipid, is now the most per-
formed. But the split among comedies,
tragedies and histories remains similar to
that in 1740-1800. It was the thespians of
that age who prepared him for all time. 7
William Shakespeare’s reputation took
a century to surpass those of his peers
Greatness thrust
upon him
Graphic detailShakespeare