William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. He married Anne Hathaway in 1582 and later went to London, where he became an actor and playwright with the Lord Chamberlain's Men, as well as a poet. His plays are timeless explorations of the human condition, and his dramatic immediacy, poetic imagination, tragic perspectives, compassion, irony and humour make him one of our greatest writers.