Shakespeare Buys New Place

1597

William Shakespeare, doing well enough as playwright and shareholder in the Lord Chamberlain's Men, bought the second-largest house in Stratford, a substantial property called New Place. His father's fortunes had recovered through his son's success. Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream were already on the stage. The purchase reflected his growing wealth from the Globe, where his shares made him one of England's most prosperous theater entrepreneurs.