Richard Burbage and the Shakespearean Stage : A 'Delightful Proteus'

Shortlisted for the STR Theatre Book Prize 2026 The first in-depth study of the career of Shakespearean ‘star’ actor and theatrical impresario, Richard Burbage. This book draws on new archival research to offer the first comprehensive study of Burbage’s brilliant theatrical career and his ground-breaking contribution to the development of professional theatre as co-founder and owner of the Globe Theatre and a co-owner and manager of the Second Blackfriars Theatre. Richard Burbage is best known for becoming the leading actor in Shakespeare’s acting company, the Lord Chamberlain’s (later, the King’s) players, and as the man for whom Shakespeare created some of his most memorable leading roles, including Hamlet, Othello and King Lear. He was one of the first ‘star’ actors whose reputation came to transcend the roles he performed and who played a pivotal part in the success of London’s theatre in Shakespeare’s day. Siobhan Keenan begins by tracing Burbage’s early life in Shoreditch, and the emergent theatrical community of which he was a part, before moving on to explore his growing reputation as a player and theatre manager, first 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 as chief player with the King’s Men 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 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.