As You Like It

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language. He was born in 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon and in his twenties, went to London, where he had a successful career as a playwright, poet and dramatist. He was part owner of the famous acting company, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, which later became known as The King's Men. The author of seminal works such as Romeo and Juliet, The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth and Hamlet, Shakespeare wrote numerous plays and sonnets which are read and celebrated all over the world, nearly five hundred years after his death. Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616 at the age of fifty-two.