KING’S LYNN, ENGLAND—Floorboards dating to the early fifteenth century have been uncovered in the oldest working theater in the United Kingdom, where performances date back to at least 1445, according to a BBC News report. The timber floorboards, which measure one foot wide and six inches deep, were discovered beneath the existing floor during renovations at St. George’s Guildhall last month. Archaeologist Jonathan Clark used a combination of tree-ring dating and study of the building's construction to date the floorboards to between 1417 and 1430. This suggests that William Shakespeare may have performed on the boards. The Earl of Pembroke’s Men, a theatrical company thought to have included Shakespeare, performed at the theater in 1592 or 1593, at a time when London’s theaters were closed due to the plague. “We know that these [floorboards] were definitely here in 1592, and in 1592 we think Shakespeare is performing in King's Lynn, so this is likely to be the surface that Shakespeare was walking on,” says Clark. If Shakespeare did indeed perform in the hall, then the newly discovered floorboards would make up the only surviving example of a stage on which he acted. Not everyone in the area appreciated Shakespeare’s talents, however. A Norfolk writer named Robert Green described him as an “upstart crow” in 1592. To read about a theater in London where Shakespeare’s plays were performed, go to “Behind the Curtain.”