4 Apr 1572: b. William Strachey in Saffron Walden #Essex#otd Writer on Virginia, whose work was disliked by the Virginia Company. His accounts are considered to be a source for #Shakespeare's Tempest (eebo)
"Sing no more ditties, sing no more
Of dumps so dull and heavy.
The fraud of men was ever so
Since summer first was leafy.
Then sigh not so, but let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting all your sounds of woe
Into hey, nonny, nonny."
27 Mar 1619: Second players licence of The King's Men issued #otd. John Heminges - an editor of the #Shakespeare First Folio heads the list (Beinecke/NicholasJackson)
19 Mar 1563: Arthur Brooke, the translator of 'The Tragical History of Romeus & Juliet' is drowned in a shipwreck off Rye #otd (BL) Another adaptation of that story has gone on to do quite well... #Shakespeare
A new documentary, "Grand Theft Hamlet," is filmed within Grand Theft Auto Online, and tells the story of the first staged production of a Shakespeare play in a multiplayer online video game. "The doc is an impressive piece of machinima, a niche but increasingly utilized method of filmmaking that exclusively utilizes in-game graphics to create a cinematic experience," writes Allegra Frank for Daily Beast. Here's the full story (may be paywalled).
Though in Shakespeare, Cordelia dies before her father King Lear, in the original British legend she outlives him and becomes Britain's ruler. Cordelia is a warrior queen, leading armies. Sadly, she is overthrown by her two nephews, who resent being ruled by a woman.