Day 173: New book claims Elizabethan children were kidnapped and forced to perform as child actors

source: The Independent

According to a new book by Oxford academic Dr. Bruce van Es, some Elizabethan children were kidnapped and forced to perform as child actors in the Queen's theatre company. He cites the case of Thomas Clifton, a 13-year-old boy who was snatched from his school and dragged away by a gang of men, according to court documents. 

Dr. van Es claims that William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre was opposed to the use of kidnapped child actors but that the practice was prevalent at the time.

Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (source: BBC)

Other academics refute van Es' claims, including Professor Michael Dobson, the director of the Shakespeare Institute, saying that the Thomas Clifton case was not enough evidence to claim child abduction was a widespread problem in the Elizabethan era.

You can read more about it in these articles:

New book claims child-catchers kidnapped boys for the Elizabethan stage (independent.co.uk) 

Elizabethan child actors 'kidnapped and whipped' (bbc.co.uk)