how were shakespeare's plays received at the time ?

Most were received well. The reviews in the Daily Mail were very favorable.

Unlike many authors who do not become famous until after their deaths, Shakespeare has always been recieved with great critical acclaim. In his own day, he would probably have been considered pop culture, and might even have been looked upon the same way Britney Speares and Madonna are seen today. Like them, Shakespeare was also extremely controversial, and many people considered him scandelous and low class. Unlike them, Shakespeare is one of the most talented artists in the modern age! lol.

They were very well received; however, he was NOT the most famous playwright of the time. Christopher Marlowe was very well known, for instance. Shakespeare became increasingly famous over time, especially since he has such a huge number of surviving plays and a mystery surrounding his identity.

No other London playwright was more popular in his heyday. After Marlowe died early in Shakespeare's career, Sh. ruled the roost. Ben Jonson said of him that he was not just "of an age, but for all time." Coming from Jonson, this is pretty solid proof that he was respected as both a popular as well as a serious dramatist.

In the later part of the seventeenth century, only three performances of twelfth Night are recorded, but samual Pepys went to all of them. He didn't seem to like them much, the first one he said "and I took no pleasure at all in it" the second time, he said "but a silly play, and not relating at all to the name or day" and the third time he said "one of the weakest plays that ever i saw on stage"

So there you go!

The theatres were packed but the people who couldn't sit threw stuff at the stage. Most were received well.

Very well, he probably would still be famous but not so well renowned if he wasn't popular in his own time.