Ben Jonson was a younger contemporary of Shakespeare. He was a playwright and poet of the highest caliber. The distance of the four centuries blurs the sharp particulars of the trials all must go through to earn their stripes, especially the greatest. Jonson had to negotiate the rapids of political and social controversy,  a task which, then as now,  requires wisdom and courage.

Let our governments do what they are meant to do: protect the vulnerable.
Seeking wisdom, Jonson made a request of a young and brilliant friend of his, the scholarly lawyer and constitutionalist, John Selden. The time was just before Shakespeare passed away in 1616. It may seem strange to us now, but even in the heyday of greatest English dramatists, the staging of plays was increasingly controversial. The Puritan movement was coming into its own, and in that time and place, religion and politics were tightly intertwined.
The Puritans and their allies were critical of the rule of the Anglican bishops in the English church. They emphasized the primacy of Scripture over the church hierarchy, which they believed corrupt and even idolatrous. Among other things, they had issues with plays, which were to them frivolous at best, and often lewd and idolatrous. Here is William Prynne, writing in 1630:
That popular stage-playes ... are sinfull, heathenish, lewde, ungodly spectacles, and most pernicious corruptions; condemned in all ages, as intolerable mischiefes to churches, to republickes, to the manners, mindes, and soules of men. And that the profession of play-poets, of stage-players; together with the penning, acting, and frequenting of stage-playes, are unlawfull, infamous and misbeseeming Christians.
The point of one biblical spear with which the Puritans attacked the theaters was cross-dressing. In the Globe and other theaters at that time, no women appeared on the stage. (The first time that happened was on the Restoration, in 1660.) One might think that this would be enough to acquit the st...