Speaker: Professor Elspeth Graham
William Shakespeare has a historical connection to Prescot through the existence, in Prescot itself, of the earliest, known, purpose-built English playhouse outside London and the theatrical interests of the Stanleys, the family of the Earls of Derby.
In the Elizabethan era, Prescot was home to a playhouse built by a local man, Richard Harrington. There are links between Harrington and members of the household of the Lancashire-based Earls of Derby, one of whose major residences, Knowsley Hall, bordered Prescot – as it still does today.
Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange (later 5th Earl of Derby) was the patron of a troupe of players, Strange’s Men. This important theatre company performed in the Stanley residences and at the royal court of Elizabeth I, as well as touring England. And several of its members, including Shakespeare, went on to form Shakespeare’s company, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, at The Globe in London. This means that Shakespeare was associated with the Earls of Derby as a member of a troupe of actors playing under the Earls’ patronage at their Lancashire homes before the Globe was built in London. After the 5th Earl’s untimely death by poisoning, his brother, William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby, continued the family interest in theatre, as a patron and host to several companies and – scandalously for an aristocrat the time – as a playwright himself.
By tracing links between the theatrical activities of the 4th, 5th and 6th Earls of Derby, Shakespeare, Richard Harrington, and the Prescot Playhouse, Shakespeare’s connections with Prescot are revealed.
Our speaker Professor Elspeth Graham is Emeritus Professor of Early Modern Literature at Liverpool John Moores University. She worked at LJMU for over 30 years, teaching, leading the English Department, and researching 16th and 17th century literature and cultural history. She is known for her work on 17th century women’s writing, religious radicalism, human/animal relationships, and theatre history. Most particularly, in 2004, along with a former colleague, Elspeth initiated the Prescot Playhouse project which morphed into the Shakespeare North project. Her work on developing the project both through scholarly research and practical, organisational input continued until shortly before the Shakespeare North Playhouse opened in Prescot in 2022.
