(I) In sixteenth-century England, the theatre was a very popular form of entertainment. (II) In many ways it was different from the theatre of our time. (III) Shakespeare, who was the leading dramatist of the time, is still regarded as one of the world's greatest. (IV) For one thing, the theatre had no roof, and plays were acted with no setting. (V) Performances were given in the afternoons, and had to be cancelled if the weather was bad.