Was Shakespeare's theater closed

Answer 1

From time to time while William Shakespeare was working, the authorities would order that all theatres be closed as a health measure due to outbreaks of the plague. It was thought that a lot of people squeezed in together would help spread the disease (this was true, but strangely enough they did not close the churches which also squeezed a lot of people in together). These closures affected most of the theatres that Shakespeare worked in from time to time: the Theatre, Curtain, Globe and Blackfriars. We have a record that he was acting in the Newington Butts Theatre in 1594 because the Theatre and Curtain were closed for plague.

Theatres were also closed for political reasons. The notorious play the Isle of Dogs caused the Swan Theatre to be closed because of its controversial content. Twenty-five years after Shakespeare died, all of the theatres in the country were closed for political reasons under the regime of the Puritans.