Actors tread boards on site of Shakespeare's Shoreditch theatre

WITHNAIL star Paul McGann took to the stage on the spot where Shakespeare s Romeo and Juliet was premiered as the Museum of London puts some of the treasures they have discovered on show. The actor performed the prologue from the play which he thinks was

WITHNAIL star Paul McGann took to the stage on the spot where Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was premiered as the Museum of London puts some of the treasures they have discovered on show.

The actor performed the prologue from the play which he thinks was first spoken by the playwright himself on the site of Shakespeare's theatre in Shoreditch.

He was joined last night by Susannah Harker to act a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream as Museum of London archaeologists showed off the outline of the 1576 theatre.

Fundraisers from the Tower Theatre Company are halfway to their target of raising �6.9 million to build a 135-seater theatre on the site of Shakespeare's arena on New Inn Broadway.

Building work is due to start in September and tower theatre hopes it might be completed by the summer of 2012.

Details of the dig can be seen at http://www.mymuseumoflondon.org.uk/blogs/blog/category/excavations-at-shakespeare%E2%80%99s-theatre/