In Which ‘The Atlantic’ Argues That Theatre Shutdowns Could Be Good For Plays

Shakespeare apparently wrote King Lear while the Globe was shuttered because of the bubonic plague (a trope that echoed heavily on Twitter over the weekend). Then there’s the economic opportunity: “Given that the bubonic plague particularly decimated young populations, it may also have wiped out Shakespeare’s theatrical rivals—companies of boy actors who dominated the early-17th-century stage, and could often get away with more satiric, politically dicey productions than their older competitors. Shakespeare’s company took over the indoor Blackfriars Theatre in 1608 after the leading boy company collapsed, and started doing darker, edgier productions, capitalizing on a market share that was newly available.” – The Atlantic