Maldon has many interesting Tudor and Jacobean links, as we might expect for a town of its age and significance.

Among these is speculation that our greatest playwright may have performed in Maldon. Research by Siobhan Keenan (quoted in the Maldon Museum newsletter in 2005) shows that Maldon has a well documented history of visits by travelling players in Elizabethan and Stuart times.

Although purpose-built theatres were mainly confined to London, drama was performed all over the country, using the courtyards of inns, known as inn-yards. The first theatres mimicked this layout, with an enclosed yard where most of the audience stood, and galleries in the surrounding wings where others could watch in comfort.

There are records of many visits by acting troupes in the late fifteenth to the early seventeenth centuries. Some had wealthy patrons: the Earl of Oxford and the Duchess of Suffolk sponsored visits in the 1560s and 1570s. The Earl of Sussex paid one troupe twenty shillings in 1575, an unusually large payment.

Bizarrely, the civic authorities paid one troupe NOT to perform: 6s 8d was given to some players in 1635 'not to shewe their playes in this towne.' This shows that travelling players were not always welcome. Lady Elizabeth's Players in 1619 insulted the town bailiff in 1619 when he tried to impose a curfew on a play that was going on beyond 11.00 p.m. at the Blue Boar. This led to a court appearance.

26 different groups are known to have given over seventy performances between 1560 and 1635, at venues including the Moot Hall, large private houses and inns (including the Blue Boar).

The practice declined over the seventeenth century, mainly due to failing relations between the town and central government in London.

Legend has it that Shakespeare performed at the Blue Boar, though the inn's website is careful to avoid the claim. Shakepeare's troupe, the King's Men (formerly The Lord Chamberlain's Men) performed extensively in London, but we know that they did tour the provinces – for example in 1609 when Plague closed the London theatres.

We are unlikely to ever know for sure. It is easy, however, to imagine Shakespeare, or one of his contemporaries, holding forth in the courtyard of the Blue Boar.