25 April, 1592 - Jerusalem

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

Henslowe writes: R at Jerusalem the 25 ap^rell 1592 ... xxxxvj^s 

In modern English: Received at Jerusalem, 25^th April, 1592 ... 46 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men revived Jerusalem, which they had previously performed only once before, just over a month ago. This lost play was most likely about Godfrey of Bouillon's siege of Jerusalem during the eleventh century crusades. You can read more about it in the entry for 22 March.

Statue of Godfrey of Bouillon
in Innsbruck Cathedral

Back in March, Jerusalem had performed poorly at the box office, receiving only 18 shillings. But this time, it was very successful, receiving more than double that. What had changed? It's intriguing that between these two performances of Jerusalem, Lord Strange's Men had introduced a popular new play, Titus and Vespasian, about the other siege of Jerusalem, in the 1st century. Is it possible that the excitement over Titus and Vespasian had reinvigorated the audience's previously waning enthusiasm for Jerusalem's besieging?

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?

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