Editing Shropshire (section)

=== Drama ===
[[File:Shoe_makers_arbour_Shrewsbury.jpg|thumb|A surviving 1679 arbour in Shrewsbury (that of the Shoemakers Guild). Originally there were many of these for pageantry and performance in Kingsland.]]

Prior to the [[Reformation]], there are accounts of major festivals in the county.<ref name="upload.wikimedia.org">{{cite web|url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/The_Beauties_of_England_and_Wales%2C_or%2C_Delineations%2C_topographical%2C_historical%2C_and_descriptive%2C_of_each_county_%28IA_beautiesofenglan1301brit%29.pdf |access-date=26 August 2023|title=Delineations}}</ref> The "first flowerings of English drama" in the Tudor period are considered to be in the town, according to the 18th century [[Poet laureate]] and scholar [[Thomas Warton]]. [[Whitsun]]tide and mystery plays were performed in the founding years of [[Shrewsbury School]] under [[Thomas Ashton (schoolmaster)|Thomas Ashton]]; they attracted the attention of [[Elizabeth I|Queen Elizabeth I]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Behind the Scenes: Shrewsbury School |url=https://www.independentschoolparent.com/school/shrewsbury-school |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=www.independentschoolparent.com |language=en}}</ref> Later this was expressed in the many arbours built in Shrewsbury for that town's particular tradition of pageantry and performance.<ref name="upload.wikimedia.org"/>

==== Shakespeare ====
[[File:Henry Percy Hotspur (1364or1366–1403).png|thumb|The last two acts of ''Henry IV, Part I'' are set in the county.]]

[[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] memorialised the [[Battle of Shrewsbury]] in ''[[Henry IV, Part 1]]'', in Acts IV (Scenes and 3){{clarification needed|date=March 2025}} and V (Scenes 1–5).<ref>{{Folger inline|Henry IV, Part 1|5|2}}</ref> The arrest of [[Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham|Buckingham]] referred to in ''[[Richard III (play)|Richard III]]'' (Act IV, scene iv) happened near Wem.<ref>[[Buckingham's rebellion#chrimes|Chrimes, Henry VII]] p.25 n. 5</ref> Ludlow castle is also referred to in the same play (Act II, scene ii).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard III: Entire Play |url=http://shakespeare.mit.edu/richardiii/full.html |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=shakespeare.mit.edu}}</ref> There is a tradition that the Stanley monuments in [[St Bartholomew's Church, Tong]] are the work of Shakespeare.<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Bartholomew's Church – Tong, Shropshire – A rural Parish Church serving its local community |url=https://tong-church.org.uk/ |access-date=23 July 2023 |website=tong-church.org.uk}}</ref>

==== Other playwrights ====
[[William Wycherley]] was born at [[Clive, Shropshire|Clive]] near Shrewsbury, although his birthplace has been said to be Trench Farm to the north near Wem later the birthplace of another writer, [[John Ireland (writer)|John Ireland]], who was said to have been adopted by Wycherley's widow following the death of Ireland's parents.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|first=Lionel Henry|last=Cust|wstitle=Ireland, John (d.1808)|volume=29}} {{PD-notice}}</ref>

The playwright [[George Farquhar]]'s 1706 play ''The Recruiting Officer'' is set in Shrewsbury.<ref name="www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk">{{Cite web |date=16 September 2008 |title=Shrewsbury |url=http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/shrewsbu.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110202743/http://www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/shrewsbu.htm |archive-date=10 November 2012 |website=Literary Heritage West Midlands |publisher=Shropshire Council }}</ref>

[[File:A_collection_of_ball-dances_perform'd_at_court_(1706).jpg|thumb|''A Collection of Ball-dances Perform'd at Court''; all compos'd by Mr. Isaac, and writ down in characters, by John Weaver, dancing-master (1706)]]