Week One - When Shall We Three Meet Again When we first met the children, most of them had heard of Shakespeare, but they didn't know exactly who he was. We provided a simple introduction booklet to put him into context. . William Shakespeare was born in a small Midlands town called Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564. William came from quite a normal family and went to a local grammar school where he was taught Latin. William loved to read books and this helped him to develop a keen imagination and a talent for writing. In Shakespeare's time, London was something like modern day Hollywood. Shakespeare and his theatrical friends became the famous stars of their generation and can therefore be compared to people like Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, Madonna, and Emma Thompson. .