13 March, 1592 - The Comedy of Don Horatio

Here's what Lord Strange's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: R at the comodey of doneoracio the 13 marche 1591 ... xxviiij^s 

In modern English: Received at The Comedy of Don Horatio, 13^th March, 1592 ... 29 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men gave another performance of The Spanish Comedy of Don Horatio, which they had previously performed just over two weeks ago. This lost play was most likely about the events leading up to those in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy; you can read more about it in the entry for 23rd February.

On this outing, Don Horatio made twice as much money as it did on its previous performance. One reason may be that tomorrow, Lord Strange's Men will perform The Spanish Tragedy itself; it appears that the two plays were being staged on consecutive days to emphasize their linked narratives. Perhaps this increased the audience's interest in the comic precursor to the much-loved tragedy.

Henslowe links

• Transcript of this page of the Diary (from W.W. Greg's 1904 edition)
• Facsimile of this page of the Diary (from the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitisation Project)

Comments?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!