17 January, 1594 - Abraham and Lot

Here's what the Earl of Sussex's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: R at abram & lotte the 17 of Jenewarye 1593 ... xxx^s 

In modern English: Received at Abraham and Lot, 17^th January, 1594 ... 30 shillings

Abraham and Lot going their separate ways,
by Wenceslas Hollar

Today, Sussex's Men returned Abraham and Lot to the Rose stage. This lost play retold stories from the Old Testament, perhaps including Abraham's rescue of Lot from the Elamites, and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; you can read more about it in the entry for 9th January.

The company had last performed this play just over a week ago, when it had received an above average box office of 52 shillings. Like many of the plays this season, we now see an unsurprising descent into merely average box office, as audience interest lowers after the initial performance.

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)

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