Siobhan Keenan received two grants from the Society towards the research and publication of her new book on Richard Burbage which has just been published by Bloomsbury.

Richard Burbage and the Shakespearean Stage: A ‘Delightful Proteus’ (Arden Shakespeare/Bloomsbury)

Richard Burbage is best known for becoming the leading actor in Shakespeare’s acting company and as the man for whom Shakespeare created some of his most memorable leading roles, including Othello and King Lear. He was also one of the of the British stage’s first theatrical stars whose reputation came to transcend the roles he played.

Following the example of his father James Burbage, who co-founded The Theatre (1576), Richard was a pioneer in the theatre industry, too, as co-owner of two of London’s earliest professional theatres. Drawing on new archival research, this book offers the first in-depth study of Burbage’s brilliant theatrical career and his ground-breaking contribution to the development of professional theatre in Shakespearean London.

It begins by tracing Burbage’s early life in Shoreditch, and the emergent theatrical community of which he was a part, before moving on to a series of chapters which explore his growing reputation as a player and theatre manager, from his early days as a member of the newly-formed Lord Chamberlain’s players (1594) through to his establishment as one of the leading actors of his era with the King’s players and co-owner of the Globe and Blackfriars Theatres. Burbage’s influence on the era’s leading professional playwrights, including most notably, Shakespeare, but also contemporaries such as Ben Jonson and John Webster, is also examined alongside an assessment of his wider impact on early modern acting traditions and his cultural legacy as a Shakespearean star actor and early theatrical entrepreneur.

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