By exploring the cross-platform interoperability of new or relatively new digital projects in development, this talk will present a street view of theatre routes that London playgoers walked before and during the Shakespearean period. It will examine the physical environs experienced while ambling to the theatres inside and outside the city and also probe into another crucial walk, the stroll through the St Paul’s precinct.

The nave of St Paul’s, then called Paul’s Walk, and the bookshops of Paul’s Cross churchyard instantiated, by a type of cultural accident, a general centre for hearing the news and, for readers, the gateway to remaining au courant. Walking and browsing in this area was something of a prerequisite for playgoers and, for playwrights, a locale where one could hear what was on the buzz and also a reservoir from which to cull material for successful plays.

There have been a number of recent and fines studies connecting London city life with the early modern theatre. This talk will examine how digital initiatives may advance this field by offering more insights into theatre going and into how plays were fashioned for then current audiences by Shakespeare and other playwrights.