10 January, 1593 - Friar Bacon

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

Henslowe writes: R at fryer bacon the 10 of Jenewary 1593 ... xxiiij^s

In modern English: Received at Friar Bacon, 10^th January, 1593 ... 24 shillings

From the title page of a prose tale of Friar Bacon, 1629,
which was re-used for the 1630 edition of the play.

Today, for the first time since their return to the Rose playhouse, Lord Strange's Men revived their magical fantasy about the wizard Friar Bacon.

The exact identity of this play is uncertain: it may have been Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, or it may have been the anonymous John of Bordeaux; you can read more about it in the entry for 19th February 1592. Whichever of the two it was, the play would have been a spectacular one, full of magic, romance and special effects.

Unfortunately, Londoners do not seem to have had fond memories of Friar Bacon. The play had never been at all popular in their previous season, and today's performance achieved an equally unimpressive audience. Few people seem to have been interested in the return of the wizard to the Rose.

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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