Basically, because of all the plagues everyone had been through, says Royal Shakespeare Company artistic director Greg Doran. “There is a big change in tone in his later work. Academics have speculated that this was to do with political unrest and change, the wake of the gunpowder plot, but experiencing the pandemic this year has made it clearer to me what lies behind it. Shakespeare just could no longer write straightforward comedies, or give a happy ending to Lear.” – The Observer (UK)