William Shakespeare (1564–1616) is widely considered to be the world’s greatest playwright. During his life he wrote at least 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and many poems. His plays have been translated into every major language and to this day are performed all over the world. Shakespeare grew up in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, but by 1592 his plays were being performed on London stages and he went to live in the capital around that time. There were already several open-air theatres in the city, but the Lord Chamberlain’s Men – a theatre company which included Shakespeare – decided that London needed a much grander theatre, and so the Globe was built on the South Bank of the Thames, in 1599. On the Globe’s flag, flown from the top of the theatre, there was a figure of Hercules carrying a globe on his shoulders, together with the motto ‘Totus mundus agit histrionem’ (the whole world is a playhouse). Shakespeare made this ‘all the world’s a stage’ in his play As You like It, which was performed at the Globe. Sometimes they flew a flag with a picture of the next play that was on. They also used different colours depending on the type of play: red for a historical drama, white for a comedy, and black for a tragedy.