Ancient theater dig reveals Shakespeare legacy

British archaeologists raised the curtain recently on a 16th-century theater that staged William Shakespeare plays like Romeo and Juliet and where the Bard of Avon himself acted in "London's first theaterland".

The Curtain Theatre put on productions between 1577 and 1625 as one of the city's first two purpose-built theaters, but all traces of it were subsequently lost over time.

Its location in Shoreditch, east London - a vibrant party district dotted with restaurants, bars and clubs - was eventually pinpointed in a trial excavation in 2011.