Shakespeare’s Time & Gardens
The Bard himself tells us about the interesting time in which he lived, his theatre companies, and how and why plants are important to the plays.
Our audience was of all degrees, from nobles and tradespeople in tiered seating to groundlings paying a penny to stand. Everyone knew plants and their properties. Inhabitants of city, town, and village alike grew plants and gathered herbs from woods and meadows, and understood their uses. Moreover, Queen Elizabeth, like King James after her, encouraged her subjects to plant large gardens, and took interest in the curious, unlikely plants coming to our shores as English ships returned from the Indies, the Americas, and other strange and distant lands. Wealthy nobles duly devised great and intricate gardens and planted them lavishly, hoping to win a royal visitation.
The Bard himself tells us about the interesting time in which he lived, his theatre companies, and how and why plants are important to the plays.