Before Shakespeare’s Hamlet, there may have been another…
Written by a man history almost erased.

On this day in Tudor history—15th August 1594—playwright Thomas Kyd was buried in London, aged just 36. In his short life, he wrote The Spanish Tragedy, one of the biggest theatrical hits of the Elizabethan age—performed 29 times at the Rose Theatre and published in 11 editions, more than any of Shakespeare’s plays at the time.

But Kyd’s meteoric career ended in scandal. Kyd was imprisoned, possibly tortured, and his health was ruined.

And then there’s the tantalising mystery—did Thomas Kyd write the now-lost Ur-Hamlet, the play that inspired Shakespeare’s masterpiece?

Join me, historian and author Claire Ridgway, as I uncover the life, works, scandals, and enduring influence of one of Elizabe ...