Sonnets in Solitude
www.rsc.org.uk

Shakespeare’s career was punctuated by theatre-closing plagues, and we may wonder now if his fondness for having one actor speak alone on stage was an early attempt at social distancing to reduce infections among casts.

During our own time of virus, solo shows of Shakespeare soliloquies, performed to a spread-out audience, are a popular option being explored by theatres looking at ways in which live work might resume in some form before a vaccine or herd immunity is achieved.