ABSTRACT
Commedia dell’Arte and the plays created by Shakespeare shared many common roots, despite evolving into distinctive and separate beasts. Their creators were educated in the emerging neo-classical tradition, and were among the first early modern theatre professionals in Europe, literally making up the rules as they went along. These rules were highly influenced by local and national politics, the country-urban divide, the power and relationship between church and state, as well as many local cultural factors such as high days, feast days, local carnival and midsummer.
