At the age of 18 Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. They had three children. Shakespeare did a number of different jobs, but he really wanted to be an actor and a writer. He began to write poems and theatre plays.
Whe he was 28 years old he went to London and he joined a group of actors. Soon they began to perform the plays Shakespeare had written. Some of his plays were comedies, which always had happy endings. Some were tragedies, which always had sad endings. Some were plays about the lives of kings, called histories. They became very popular. Even Queen Elizabeth I invited the actors to perform at her court.
In 1603 James I became king of England. He also enjoyed watching the actors perform. He decided that they should be called "The King's Men".
Shakespeare became a rich man. When he was 46 years old he returned to Stratford. He died in 1616, when he was 52.
Shakespeare used words so cleverly and beautifully that many people think he was a genius. Today, his plays are performed all over the world.
Read more about Shakespeare.
The Globe Theatre
Many actors travelled around the country performing plays in the open air. Some theatres were then built in London. The most famous of these was the Globe. It was a round building with an open roof. People came to the Globe and paid to watch plays. Plays were acted from two o'clock in the afternoon until night. There were no women actors, so the women's parts had to be played by young actors. 
Rich people sat in seats in the galleries, while poor people stood on the ground.
Shakespeare was one of the owners of the Globe. Many of his plays were performed there. He must have been very sad when, in 1613, the Globe caught fire during a play and was completely burnt.
However, it was reconstructed and reopened in 1997 by the river Thames, and many plays are performed there
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