27 May, 1592 - Titus and Vespasian

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

Henslowe writes: R at titus & vespacia the 16 24 of maye 1592 ... xxx^s 

In modern English: Received at Titus and Vespasian, 27^th May, 1592 ... 30 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men revived Titus and Vespasian, which they had last performed ten days ago. This lost play was probably a gruesome tale about the Roman siege of Jerusalem in the 1st century; you can read more about it in the entry for 11th April.

The previous performance of Titus and Vespasian had been a great success as it was performed during the Whitsuntide holidays. But in its more regular performances, the play's popularity had begun to wane. Today receipts confirm that this once new play was now receiving the box office of an average Rose performance.

Nicholas Poussin, The Destruction and Sack of the Temple at Jerusalem (1637)

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 28th May was a Sunday in 1592. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 29th May.

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!