The discovery was made in the wall of a house built in the 15th century. The doorway was hidden behind plasterboard and an old brick wall.
British researchers have discovered a doorway in a 600-year-old building believed to have been led by the famous playwright by William Shakespeare to the dressing room.
The doorway was found in the St. George’s Guildhall building in King’s Lynn, UK. It was built at the beginning of the 15th century and still functions as the oldest active theater in the country.
The discovery was reported by, among others, the British media BBC and The Guardian.
According to The Guardian, archaeologists found a doorway under two plasterboards and a brick wall built in the 18th century.
The “strange shape” on the wall of the ground floor had previously attracted the interest of researchers.
– It’s amazing that the strange shape of the wall turned out to be something extraordinary, the theater’s creative director Tim FitzHigham told the BBC.
The building served as a meeting room for the St. George’s Guild before it became an official theater.
According to FitzHigham, the highest-ranking members of the guild that operated in the house used the ground floor spaces to get ready for parties held in the hall upstairs.
When the guild house lost its original purpose, the space became a dressing room for visiting actors, says FitzHigham.
Now researchers envision that Shakespeare himself would have passed through the doorway from the dressing room to the stage of the theater.
The plague drove the Actors out of London
Accounts of the history of St. George’s Guildhall lean heavily on the belief that Shakespeare performed on its stage. However, the authenticity of the events is still disputed.
Some references to Shakespeare’s performances have been found in the past.
Staff at the theater claim to have an old account book which shows the city commissioned Shakespeare to perform at the house in the 1590s. Around the same time, London closed its theaters due to the plague epidemic, which caused theater groups to move elsewhere.
Shakespeare and his company are also believed to have toured King’s Lynn at the time. FitzHigham estimates the doorway to have been in place when Shakespeare visited the house.
Last year, the original of the building was found under the floor of the theater, Plank floor from the 15th centuryon which Shakespeare is envisioned walking.