William Shakespeare still has a profound influence on theater. We can summarize this influence in five big changes: 1. The theater was exclusively reserved for the wealthy and the educated. With the emergence of his writings, came tales that appealed to the masses. 2. His plays were often imbued with universal truths of human existence, rather than acting as mirrors of the privileged life. 3. The way in which Shakespeare’s plots move forward has helped define modern play-writing. 4. A new type of storytelling in which characters’ choices drive plots forward and as a consequence, journeys in his plays are dynamic. 5. Shakespeare invented genres that mixed both tragedy and comedy.
