“The world’s a theatre, the earth a stage
Which God and Nature do with actors fill.”

—  Thomas Heywood

Apology for Actors, (1612). Compare: "The world's a stage on which all parts are played", Thomas Middleton, A Game of Chess (1624), Act v. Sc. 1.; "All the world ’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players", Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act ii. Sc. 7.

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Thomas Heywood6
English playwright, actor, and author 1574–1641

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