Blackfriars | Tourope

The Blackfriars Playhouse is the only property in London known to be owned by William Shakespeare. Actually there were two Blackfriars indoor playhouses, both housed at the old Blackfriars monastery site.

The first, smaller theatre, staged plays by boy actors in an upper room of the building from 1576 until 1584. In the Jacobean and Caroline periods the venue became the most important indoor theatre in London and was the premiere theatrical venue of the age.

From 1599 a new Blackfriars theatre staged plays by boy actors and from 1609 to 1642 it was the only indoor theatre of the King’s Men or the Shakespeare company.