howell. saturday marked the 400th anniversary of the death of william shakespeare, and fans around the worlde works of the british playwright, but not much is known about his perm life, so cnn's nick glass takes us on a tour of some of his rare personal memorabilia and his final resting place. >> reporter: much ado about william shakespeare. a big street parade every april, but this year, they added to the revelry by handing out thousands of facemasks. of course, they had a royal visitor. ben johnson, his friend and fellow play right, shakespeare was not of an age, but for all time. gentle shakespeare he wrote. sweet swan of avon. this is a weekend of what you might call bardolatry. multiple performances, including contributions from ian mckellen, ralph fiennes, and judi dench. in london with its own riverside shakespearean theatre, the weekend is being developed to "hamlet." president obama dropped by, got to briefly tread the boards, and hear a speech from the dane. >> a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. >> on the other side of the thames, some of the great shakespearean documen