Celebrating Shakespeare’s Birthday with a Glimpse into Renaissance London’s Theatrical World
As we mark Shakespeare’s birthday today, it’s the perfect moment to spotlight a groundbreaking digital humanities project bringing the world of Renaissance theater to life: Shakespeare’s Theaterscape.
Led by Purdue English Professor Paul White, Shakespeare’s Theaterscape is an international research initiative focused on mapping and analyzing four major theatrical districts in early modern London, including the iconic Blackfriars Playhouse, where The Tempest was staged. This dynamic project weaves together theater history, GIS mapping, and database technology to reconstruct the cultural and spatial dimensions of Shakespeare’s theatrical environment.
The project brings together a diverse team of scholars and specialists, including:
- Prof. Nicole Kong, Director of Purdue Libraries’ GIS Center,
- Kirby Kalbaugh, data specialist in Agriculture,
- Muhammad Tariq Khan, PhD candidate in Civil Engineering,
- And renowned Shakespeare and cartography scholars from institutions such as Ohio State University, the University of Toronto, and Birkbeck College, London.
When completed, Shakespeare’s Theaterscape will offer:
- Interactive maps of playhouse districts,
- A searchable database of places, people, and events,
- An edited collection of archival records and visuals,
- And interpretive essays shedding light on the social and urban fabric of Renaissance theater.
The project has inspired a new Fall 2025 course, “Rediscovering Shakespeare’s London: A Data Mine Approach (ENGL 396/TDM390), which offers students a fusion of GIS and AI-based technology with humanistic methods of learning.
Explore the project’s development at shakespearestheaterscape.org, and join us in celebrating the legacy of the Bard with a look into the vibrant theatrical world he helped shape.
