Life of William Shakespeare in Stratford. Samuel Schoenbaum speculates that, "Maybe Shakespeare took Knell's place and thus found his way to London and stage-land." Shakespeare's father John, as High Bailiff of Stratford, was responsible for the acceptance and welfare of visiting theatrical troupes. However, there is no direct evidence of Shakespeare's membership of the Queen's Men, so it remains speculation. Though Shakespeare is known today primarily as a playwright and poet, his main occupation was as a player and sharer in an acting troupe. How or when Shakespeare got into acting is unknown. The profession was unregulated by a guild that could have established
Shakespeare: The World as Stage but failed to reach any conclusion. The review concluded by stating that the book worked as a companion to other books which examined Shakespeare's body of work but recommended Frank Kermode's The Age of Shakespeare as a superior alternative. Shakespeare: The World as Stage Shakespeare: The World as Stage is a biography of William Shakespeare by author Bill Bryson. The 199-page book is part of Harper Collins' series of biographies, "Eminent Lives". The focus of the book is to state what little is known conclusively about Shakespeare, and how this information is known, with some discussion of disproved theories, myths,