Acting during the Elizabethan Era was very different compared to acting today. Many, many things have changed over the hundreds of years since Shakespeare's time. For example, women were not allowed to participate in acting during the Elizabethan Era. Now, there are many famous actresses everywhere you look; on television, in movies, and on stage. Also, most theater groups owned their own theaters instead of traveling from place to place.

One of the things that mattered most in acting was your status as an actor. This status determined how much you got paid, if you got paid at all. It also determined what kind of training you received and how much recognition you got for your efforts. The lowest status that you could have was to be a young apprentice. These apprentices were usually younger boys around the age of nine or ten, and were trained by the...