TREADING THE BOARDS

Stage Once Used by Shakespeare Discovered by Chance

The 600-year-old floorboards are believed to be the only surviving stage on which the Bard performed.

Renovation work at Britain’s oldest working theater last month uncovered what is believed to be the only surviving stage on which William Shakespeare performed. At St. George’s Guildhall in King’s Lynn, east England, timber floorboards were found during the work beneath the floor of the theater’s current auditorium. The boards were dated to between 1417 and 1430, meaning they would have been in place when the Earl of Pembroke’s Men—an acting company—is recorded to have performed in the theater in the late 16th century. Shakespeare is thought to have acted in Pembroke’s Men. “We have the borough account book from 1592-93, which records that the borough paid Shakespeare's company to come and play in the venue,” Tim FitzHigham, the Guildhall’s creative director, told the BBC.