William Kempe

William Kempe was an English comic actor and dancer active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He performed clown roles with Shakespeare’s company and became famous for his public morris dance from London to Norwich.

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William Shakespeare: William Shakespeare was an English playwright and actor whose works include Hamlet, King Lear, and Othello. Kempe performed in Shakespeare’s company and is associated with comic roles in its plays.
Nine Days’ Wonder: Nine Days’ Wonder is William Kempe’s 1600 account of dancing a morris from London to Norwich. Kempe’s book documents the journey that became his best-known public performance.
Clown: A clown is a comic performer whose role may use physical humor, verbal wit, costume, or improvisation. Kempe’s stage identity belonged to the broad tradition of theatrical clowns.
King’s Men: The King’s Men was the royal-patronized acting company formed when James I took Shakespeare’s company under his protection in 1603. The company continued Kempe’s theatrical world after he had left it.
Richard Burbage: Richard Burbage was an English actor and theatre manager, celebrated for originating leading roles in Shakespeare’s plays. Burbage and Kempe were prominent performers in the same acting company.
Morris dance: Morris dance is a traditional English folk dance performed by groups, often with rhythmic steps and props. Kempe’s Norwich journey was a celebrated solo performance of this dance tradition.
Elizabethan theatre: Elizabethan theatre is English drama and performance produced during the reign of Elizabeth I, from 1558 to 1603. Its companies and performance conventions shaped Kempe’s working life.
Hamlet: Hamlet is a tragedy by William Shakespeare about a Danish prince seeking to avenge his father’s murder. The play’s gravedigger scene is often discussed in connection with the company’s comic performance tradition after Kempe.
John Heminges: John Heminges was an English actor and theatre manager who helped publish the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays. Heminges was a fellow member of Shakespeare’s company during Kempe’s career.
Lord Chamberlain’s Men: The Lord Chamberlain’s Men was an English acting company formed in 1594 and later renamed the King’s Men. The company provides the institutional setting for Kempe’s Shakespearean career.