I’m on sabbatical at present, and my reading is skewed towards my research on lost plays from Shakespeare’s England. The overwhelming majority of plays written and performed during Shakespeare’s lifetime have not survived. We know of at least 744 by name but estimate that a further 1700 or more must have been written in order for the commercial playing companies in London to have enough titles in their repertories to remain competitive in the marketplace. Against these staggering figures for the lost plays, we know of only a paltry 543 plays that have actually survived (Shakespeare being responsible for about 40 of those). So, what to do about this vital but lost context for understanding Shakespeare’s work?

Since 2009, I’ve worked with an international team of theatre historians who share the conviction that something can be done to better understand what Shakespeare was responding to and influencing in the repertories of rival playing companies. Our Lost Plays Database brings together the historical records pertaining to lost plays, summarises the insights that other critics have offered, and explores the likely subject matter of plays known only from their often enigmatic titles.