description: Henry VIII is a history play generally believed to be a collaboration between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. An alternative title, All is True, is recorded in contemporary documents, the title Henry VIII not appearing until the play's publication in the First Folio of 1623. Stylistic evidence indicates that individual scenes were written by either Shakespeare or his collaborator and successor, John Fletcher. It is also somewhat characteristic of the late romances in its structure. It is noted for having more stage directions than any of Shakespeare's other plays.[1]During a performance of Henry VIII at the Globe Theatre in 1613, a cannon shot employed for special effects ignited the theatre's thatched roof (and the beams), burning the original building to the ground.
language: English
title: King Henry VIII
titlecomplete: King Henry VIII (The Arden Shakespeare)
characters: William Sandys, 1st Baron Sandys, Henry VIII of England, Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon, Patience (Lady in waiting to Katherine of Aragon), Thomas Wolsey, Sir Henry Marney, Anthony Denny, Thomas More, John Longland, Bishop of Lincoln, Charles Knevet, Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden, Eustace Chapuys, Lorenzo Campeggio, John de la Court, William Warham, Old Lady (Attendant to Anne Boleyn), Thomas Cranmer, Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, Griffith, attendant to Katherine of Aragon, George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny, Dr. William Butts, Edward Stafford, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, Gilbert Park, Nicholas Hopkins, Nicholas Vaux, 1st Baron Vaux of Harrowden, Stephen Peacock, Lord Mayor of London, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, 2nd Earl of Surrey, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, Stephen Gardiner, Thomas Lovell, Thomas Cromwell, Elizabeth I of England, Henry Guildford
genres: Drama, Theatre, 17th Century, Historical, Literature, Plays, Poetry, Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction
ratings_count: 9040
publisher: Methuen