22 May, 1592 - Harry VI

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

Henslowe writes: R at harey the vj the 109 of maye 1592 ... xxx^s

In modern English: Received at Harry VI, 22^nd May, 1592 ... 30 shillings

Henslowe's Diary becomes very messy this week. He wrote today's date hopelessly wrong, and although he corrected it later, his correction was wrong too, so that his recorded dates become increasingly out of sync with reality. It's further evidence that Henslowe may have been entering the data into his account book some time after the actual performances.

1540s portrait of King
Henry VI

Anyway, today, Lord Strange's Men performed Harry VI again. This play was almost certainly Shakespeare's First Part of Henry VI; you can read more about it in the blog entry for 3rd March.

The company have returned to their practice of staging Harry VI once a week. After the boost it received during the Whitsuntide holidays, the play has returned to being merely an average performer at the box office.

• Friday, 3rd March - 75 shillings (premiere)
• Tuesday, 7th March - 60 shillings
• Saturday, 11th March - 47 shillings
• Thursday, 16th March - 31 shillings
• Tuesday, 28th March - 68 shillings (Easter Week)
• Wednesday, 5th April - 41 shillings
• Thursday, 13th April - 26 shillings
• Friday, 21st April - 33 shillings
• Thursday, 4th May - 56 shillings
• Tuesday, 9th May - 22 shillings
• Tuesday, 16th May - 50 shillings (Whitsuntide)
• Monday, 22nd May - 30 shillings

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!