Traditional Theatre

There is one obvious playwright to think of when the topic of traditional British theatre is brought up, William Shakespeare. His works consist of 38 plays, 154 sonnets, 2 long narrative poems and many more. All these works have made many regard Shakespeare as the greatest writer in the English language. Shakespeare has numerous plays that a world famous including: Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear and Hamlet.
In the 16th century, these plays were a form of mass communication. Each play held some sort of message that involved political and social issues. Within the Globe Theatre in London, up to 3000 spectators would view a play every night. During this day, that was 1% of the population, so it was not hard to move a strong political message to a wide audience in this time.
Shakespeare has made a lasting impression on many theatre productions after his time. He took part in expanding characterization, plot, language and genre. He has also influenced the works of famous literary writers, Thomas Hardy, William Faulkner and Charles Dickens. During Shakespeare’s lifetime, he never received much praise, this was due to theatre not being held high in society, but in modern day theatre, he is held as a pioneer and master of his craft.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Shakespeare | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globe_theatre