15/04/2026
I'm looking forward to appearing next month as Elizabeth I in Stratford-upon-Avon. It's always a pleasure to go to Stratford even when I'm not working - so many beautiful buildings (and nice places to eat!) and such a sense of history - but there is something special about appearing there as a Tudor. I have always loved the poems and plays of Shakespeare since I was young, and that has helped form my fascination with the Elizabethan period.
I have had the pleasure before of appearing as Elizabeth I in the parade for Shakespeare's birthday, and have also spoken about S*x and the Tudors for audiences at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, but this is the first time I have had the chance to perform in an actual theatre in Stratford. No, not the RSC, but the Rother Street Arts House, a lovely little theatre just off the market place in the centre of town, and even after so many performances in so many places, that's quite an exciting prospect for me.
We don't know for certain whether or not Shakespeare ever met Elizabeth in person, although it seems very likely. Shakespeare's plays were certainly performed at Elizabeth's court by Shakespeare's own company, and it seems very unlikely that as both playwright and actor he would not have been there in person. Tradition tells us that Elizabeth herself commissioned Shakespeare to write 'The Merry Wives of Windsor' because she wanted to see the character of Falstaff in love. It's one of my favourite plays by Shakespeare - not one of the best written, perhaps, but I like the fact that it focuses on the lives of women of the middling classes, which is one of my own particular interests within the period. Of course, as a historian I don't accept the association with Elizabeth as fact without the evidence to support it, but it's a pleasing idea. In any case, Shakespeare's plays were certainly performed at Elizabeth's court, so it seems only fitting for Her Majesty to return the compliment!
There is no record of Elizabeth visiting Stratford itself, but she did visit the area, and again there are some interesting Shakespearian connections. In 1572 she stayed at Charlecote Park, just to the north of Stratford, on her way to Warwick and Kenilworth. Charlecote Park was the home of the Lucy family, and it was here that the young Shakespeare was allegedly involved in poaching deer (not during the royal visit!), although the earliest surviving evidence of this comes from nearly a century after Shakespeare's death. Elizabeth visited both Warwick and Kenilworth again in 1575, with her favourite Robert Dudley, earl of Leicester. It was at Kenilworth in 1575 that Dudley made his last attempt to persuade Elizabeth to marry him, with a grand pageant and other entertainments, but without success. Detailed accounts of this visit survive, and it is suggested that these may have inspired a passage in Shakespeare's 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Whether the young Shakespeare witnessed the events at Kenilworth himself (again unrecorded, but not impossible) the royal visit would certainly have been the talk of the area, and he could easily have been inspired by accounts of the event.
Because of these associations, I will be giving a slightly different version of Elizabeth I from my usual performance, bringing out the Warwickshire connections in more detail. Do come along on May 18th, and find out for yourselves! I look forward to seeing some of you there.
For more details, and to book tickets, please click the link below:
Elizabeth I by Lesley Smith There is no doubt that Gloriana had one of the most profound effects on English and European politics. The Protestant queen in the
