Did Shakespeare appear at Lathom?

There is an ongoing debate about whether the northern tours of the ‘Queen’s Men’ (offering the ultimate in Elizabethan drama) included Shakespeare himself. What is clear, from the tour itineraries, is that the company performed at the residences of the Stanleys at Knowsley and New Park and Lord Strange at Lathom - important stops on politically motivated tours. Even a theatre company could help Walsingham keep an eye on families whose loyalty was suspect! (And could that be how Shakespeare made the Lancashire connection that would be important later in his career?)

From the building of the first purpose built playhouse in London in 1576 by the entrepreneurs James Burbage and John Brayne (the Theatre) to the spreading of the dramas of Shakespeare, Marlowe and their contemporaries through touring companies, the complex new dramas developed from folksy tales into contemporary commentaries on the economic and political worlds told through the lives of past Kings, battles and the plight of the common man. They served a key role in reflecting and changing the attitudes of ordinary people across the country an influence that did not end with the death of their authors.

As more information is gathered on the Lathom connection to the travelling players of the most famous dramatist in the English speaking world we will publish it here!