Dig unearths remains of England’s first purpose-built playhouse

An archaeological dig, ordered by Tower Hamlets council before giving the go-ahead for a development of new flats, has uncovered the remains of the Red Lion playhouse – an Elizabethan venue thought to be the earliest purpose-built playhouse in Britain. It is belived that the structure found in East London was a prototype for a theatre that staged plays by a young William Shakespeare.