In the Season 3 finale of Will: What is He Good For? we explore how Shakespeare’s writing was shaped not only by the theaters and venues where his plays were performed, but also by the monarchy and the shifting tastes of his audiences.

We trace his evolution from writing for traveling troupes—where simple staging and minimal sets were a necessity—to the grandeur of the Globe, where plays like Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and Hamlet thrived on the energy of large, dynamic spaces. Later, with access to the more intimate Blackfriars Theatre, Shakespeare experimented with subtler staging and more introspective storytelling, giving us works like The Winter’s Tale and The Tempest.

Across these spaces, Shakespeare’s characters and stories grew in depth and complexity, reflecting not just his genius but also the demands and opportunities of the stage.

To close the season, we ask: who really shaped Shakespeare? Was it the patronage and influence of monarchs like Elizabeth I and James I, the performance spaces that demanded new styles of writing, or was it simply Shakespeare’s unmatched ability to tune into his world and transform it into timeless art?

Along with the adult acting troupes, such as the Queen's Men, there was another genre of acting troupes that influenced Shakespeare and his writing. Children's, or boy acting troupes and their rise in popularity caught Shakespeare's attention and caused him to elevate his writing.

On February 2nd in 1585, Shakespeare signs a baptismal certificate for his twin children Judith and Hamnet. This is the last record we have of what he is doing for the next seven years and beginning what scholars call his “lost years” There are many, many theories of what he was doing during this time. In this episode, we explore the story of William Knell and the Queen’s Men, and how it may shed some light on the unexpected journey the young man from Stratford would ultimately embark on.