Tuesday 31 July 2018

31 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 31of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon the ...  xxvij

In modern English: 31st July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 27 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Today, the Admiral's Men once again performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

The company last performed Belin Dun just under a week ago, when it had received unexpectedly impressive box office, far higher than normal. Today, its takings have returned to normality, being just under the average. Whatever caused the brief burst of enthusiasm for this play, it did not last.


Henslowe links



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Monday 30 July 2018

30 July, 1594 - The Merchant of Emden

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

Henslowe writes: ye 30 of Julye 1594 ... ne ... R at the marchant of eamden ... iijll and viijs

In modern English: 30th July, 1594 ... New ... Received at The Merchant of Emden ... £3 and 8 shillings.


Today, the Admiral's Men performed a new play, The Merchant of Emden. This is yet another lost play, but we know something about its story, thanks to the existence of a ballad entitled "A Most Sweet Song of an English Merchant born at Chichester", which tells the story of an escape from death in Emden town. The ballad is known to have been in existence as early as March, 1594, so the play was most likely an adaptation of it.


Emden; a detail from Georg
Brand's Civitates Orbis
Terrarum
Emden is a trading city in northern Germany with a large port, and thus a likely destination for an English merchant. The ballad itself is about 'scaffold marriages' - that is, the custom in some parts of Europe that if a woman offers marriage to a man about to be executed, his life will be spared.

Let's take a look at the story told by the ballad. If you would like to hear it being sung, you can, thanks to the English Broadside Ballad Archive!

The song of the merchant


The ballad tells of a Chichester man who kills a German in Emden, "through quarrels that did rise" and is sentenced to beheading. The authorities build a scaffold for his execution in the marketplace, and all the townsfolk come to watch, dressed in black.

But when the merchant is brought onto the scaffold, the women of the town notice that he is very handsome, and think it a pity that he must die; after all,

His stockings were of silk,
As fine as fine might be;
Of person and of countenance
A proper man was he.
The Emden merchants also want him to live, but their offers of compensatory money to the authorities are turned down by the Duke. Meanwhile, the Englishman himself is full of remorse:

With heart I do repent
This most unhappy deed;
And for his wife and children small,
My very soul doth bleed:
He announces that he will bequeath money to the family of the murdered man, on the sole proviso that they promise to speak well of Englishmen.

The onlookers are moved by his penitence, so much so that ten maidens of Emden offer to marry the Englishmen, citing the law that if a woman offers to marry a condemned man his life will be spared. Indeed, they fight over who will marry him:

'Brave Englishman', quoth one,
''Tis I will beg thy life';
'Nay', quoth the second, 'It is I,
If I must be thy wife!'
''Tis I', the third did say;
'Nay', quoth the fourth, ''Tis I!'.
So each one after other said,
Still waiting his reply.

The Englishman nobly turns them down, explaining that he could never marry a woman with whom he was not in love. Instead, he insists, "To  Christ my love I give, / My body unto death", and he gives money to each of the young women.

But as the executioner prepares his weapon, another young women professes her love to the merchant: running onto the scaffold to kiss him, she tells him that even if he dies, she wants him to die in her arms. When he asks her how she can possibly love him after only just seeing him, she says, "Tis not by long acquaintance sir, / Whereby true love doth grow."

The maiden of Emden rescues the Englishman with marriage; from a late seventeenth-century text of the ballad in the Pepys Collection


The merchant is apparently convinced by this statement, and accepts the woman's offer of marriage. The crowd cheers as the maiden approaches the Duke and begs him to spare the man's life. The Duke agrees, the man is pardoned, and the couple marry the same day. And so...

To England came he then,
With this his lovely bride,
A fairer woman never lay
By any merchant's side,
Where I must leave them now
In pleasure and delight.

Hooray! Love, death, and gratuitous English patriotism! This is all good dramatic stuff that is easy to imagine onstage. Still, it doesn't quite feel like an entire play; in his catalogue of British Drama, Martin Wiggins points out that the ballad probably inspired only the last scene of the play, not the entire story. Perhaps the merchant in the play had some other adventures before his climactic rescue on the scaffold.

What went wrong?


The Merchant of Emden had a very successful premiere, receiving the usual high box office of a debut performance. But something must have gone wrong, because this play will never be performed again.

Why? Did the crowd hate it? Did it include some kind of political commentary that resulted in censorship? We will probably never know, and the failure of The Merchant of Emden must remain another of the unanswered mysteries of Henslowe's Diary.

FURTHER READING

 

The Merchant of Emden information

 

Henslowe links



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Sunday 29 July 2018

29 July, 1594 - Cutlack

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

Henslowe writes: ye 29 of Julye 1594 ... R at cvtlacke ... xxixs

In modern English: 29th July, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 29 shillings

Illustration of Belinus (or Brennius, it's not clear)
from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577)
Today, the the Admiral's Men revived Cutlack, their play about the eponymous Danish king and his violent intervention into a civil war in ancient Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

The players have let Cutlack rest for nearly a fortnight, perhaps to increase enthusiasm for it, but the plan did not work if so; today's box office was lower than last time's. Interest in the bombastic Dane appears to be fading.


Henslowe links



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Friday 27 July 2018

27 July, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: ye 27 of Julye 1594 ... R at the masacer... xxijs

In modern English: 27th July, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 22 shillings.

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 
Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's tragedy about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The players have waited a week and a half since their last performance of The Massacre at Paris but this has not improved its box office, which is now slipping from just-about-average to not-very-good.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because 28 July was a Sunday in 1594, and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 29 July, for a week that will include a new play among the usual suspects.


Henslowe links



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Thursday 26 July 2018

26 July, 1594 - Godfrey of Bouillon

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

Henslowe writes: ye 26 of Julye 1594 ... R at godfrey ... xlvijs

In modern English: 26th July, 1594 ... Received at Godfrey ... 47 shillings

The death of Godfrey of Bouillon.
From a thirteenth century
manuscript of William of 
Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer
Today, the Admiral's Men performed a play that Henslowe calls Godfrey. Is he referring to the play that they premiered last week, The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon? Or is he referring to the First Part, which may have last been staged here back in 1592?

It's hard to say. In the future, Henslowe will often list a Godfrey and occasionally a Second Part of Godfrey, which would imply that he is distinguishing two different plays, Part 1 and Part 2. But in his catalogue of British Drama, Martin Wiggins proposes that all of these entries refer to Part 2; his logic is that the company will never perform Godfrey and The Second Part one after the other, as one might expect them to if the plays were paired together.  He therefore thinks that the Second Part was a self-contained play and that Henslowe was simply inconsistent in how he titled it.

Both the first and second parts of Godfrey of Bouillon are lost, of course, so we will probably never know which one was staged today. All we can say is that Godfrey, whether it was Part 1 or Part 2, told some kind of story about battles with the Turks in Jerusalem, and that it was extremely successful today, with above-average box office, similar to the one received by Belin Dun yesterday.




FURTHER READING


Godfrey of Bouillon information

  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 960.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 25 July 2018

25 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 25 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xlviij

In modern English: 25th July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 48 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Today, the Admiral's Men once again performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

After a brief respite, the company has now gone back to its habit of performing Belin Dun every few days - the last performance of it was only five days ago.  And that decision has paid off handsomely, with a box office far above the average! Exactly why the theatre was so busy today is hard to know, but the actors must have been relieved after a fairly humdrum week.


Henslowe links



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Tuesday 24 July 2018

24 July, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: ye 24 of Julye 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolyto ... xxxs

In modern English: 24th July, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 30 shillings.


Two Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590
Today, the Admiral's Men once again returned to Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

The players are slowing up on their frequent performances of this play, having now waited nearly a week before reviving it. This relative pause has had no effect on the play's box office, though, which is identical to the last outing.

Henslowe links



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Monday 23 July 2018

23 July, 1594 - Galiaso

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

Henslowe writes: ye 23 of Julye 1594 ... R at galiaso ... xxxjs

In modern English: 23rd July, 1594 ... Received at Galiaso ... 31 shillings


A Spanish galleass, one possible subject of this
play. From Ships Through the Ages by Frederick
Leonard King (1934)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost play Galiaso. We do not know what this play was about, as its title could refer to many historical and fictional figures, or even to a kind of ship. You can read more about it in the entry for 28 June.

Following a strange, fortnight-long hiatus after its premiere, the company has now waited a week and a half before mounting Galiaso for its third outing. They are being a lot more cautious with this play than they are with Philippo and Hippolito. Today's performance received a solid but unspectacular box office, so Galiaso has clearly already lost its novelty value.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 22 July 2018

22 July, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 22 of Julye 1594 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... xxxjs

In modern English: 22nd July, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 31 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Today, the players once again performed The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

Previously, the players had been performing The Jew of Malta approximately once a week, but they have now ignored it for nearly a fortnight before reviving it today. Perhaps the intention was to encourage a greater desire for it among the regular audience, but today's box office is only a tiny bit higher than the previous outing's.


Henslowe links



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Friday 20 July 2018

20 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 20 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xxvij

In modern English: 20th July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 27 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Today, the Admiral's Men once again performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

Previously, the players had been performing Belin Dun approximately once every four days, but this time, they have left it alone for over a week. Perhaps the intention was to increase the audience's appetite for seeing the play again, but if so, the plan did not really work: it received exactly the same box office that the previous outing did. The public seems reliably OK with Belin Dun, whenever it's performed.

What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because 21 July was a Sunday in 1594, and so the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 22nd, for a week that will include a mixture of classic and more recent plays. See you then!

Henslowe links



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Thursday 19 July 2018

19 July, 1594 - The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon

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

Henslowe writes: ye 19 of Julye 1594 ... ne ... R at 2 pte of godfrey of bullen ... iijll and xjs

In modern English: 19th July, 1594 ... New ... Received at The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon ... £3 and 11 shillings


Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play! The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon is sadly lost, but it must have dramatized episodes from the life of the eponymous Godfrey, a medieval warrior who expelled the Turks from the city of Jerusalem.

Those of you with long memories will recall that way back in March of 1592, Lord Strange's Men performed a lost play called Jerusalem at the Rose. One theory goes that Jerusalem was the original Godfrey of Bouillon play, to which this play was a sequel (you can read the evidence for this in the blog entry on Jerusalem).

If the first play did indeed tell the story of Godfrey's liberation of Jerusalem, The Second Part probably dramatized its aftermath. If so, the playwright's source could have been William of Tyre's narrative of Godfrey's life, available in a 1481 translation by William Caxton.

Godfrey being elected ruler of Jerusalem. From
William of Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer
William of Tyre tells us how, after his expulsion of the Turks from Jerusalem,  Godfrey is elected ruler of the city. Problems arise when the victorious troops start to return home, leaving Godfrey with only a small army. Seeing a chance to retake Jerusalem, the Turks league with Egypt and march on the city. But Godfrey cunningly frightens them away by spreading out his troops to create the illusion that they are more numerous.

The death of Godfrey. From
of William of Tyre's Histoire
d'Outremer
Godfrey then has to rescue Jerusalem from a famine. He does this by so impressing his Arab neighbours with his virtue that they are inspired to donate food. But he then dies of a sickness at the end of the book.

If you are interested, you can read William of Tyre's narrative here, in a rather handsome edition created by William Morris's Kelmscott Press.

Whatever the exact plot of The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon was, its premiere was a great success, with box office suggesting an almost full house.


FURTHER READING


Godfrey of Bouillon information

  • Andrew Gurr, Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company, 1594-1625 (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 205-6
  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 960.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 18 July 2018

18 July, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: ye 13 of Julye 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolyto ... xxxs

In modern English: 13th July, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 30 shillings.


Two Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590
Today, the Admiral's Men once again returned to Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

Philippo and Hippolito received its premiere little more than a week ago, and yet the players have already performed it three times. They are clearly convinced that they are onto a winner, but today's performance received merely average box office, suggesting that the play's novelty is already wearing off.


Henslowe links



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Tuesday 17 July 2018

17 July, 1594 - The Ranger's Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 17 of Julye 1594 ... R at the Rangers comodey ... xvs

In modern English: 17th July, 1594 ... Received at The Ranger's Comedy ... 15 shillings.

An Elizabethan hunting scene; one
of the possible subjects of this play
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost Ranger's Comedy. We do not know what this play was about, as the word could refer to a gamekeeper, a rake, a wanderer, or an organizer of troops. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 April.

The company appears to be settling into a groove of performing The Ranger's Comedy approximately once every week and a half. But its previous outing had been unimpressive and this one was two shillings worse. The play does not seem to be a great draw for audiences.

Henslowe links



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Monday 16 July 2018

16 July, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: ye 16 of Julye 1594 ... R at masacre ... xxxjs

In modern English: 16th July, 1594 ... Received at Massacre ... 31 shillings.

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 
Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's tragedy about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The players are performing The Massacre at Paris once a week, and it continues to be the definition of solid and reliable, with yet another average-sized audience at the Rose.


Henslowe links



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Sunday 15 July 2018

15 July, 1594 - Cutlack

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

Henslowe writes: ye 15 of Julye 1594 ... R at cvtlacke ... xxxvs

In modern English: 15th July, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 35 shillings

Illustration of Belinus (or Brennius, it's not clear)
from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577)
Today, the the Admiral's Men revived Cutlack, their play about the eponymous Danish king and his violent intervention into a civil war in ancient Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

After possibly having overdosed their audience on Cutlack by staging it once every few days, the Admiral's Men have let it simmer for a week and a half before reviving it again. This tactic seems to have worked, as the box office for this performance has returned to a healthy average.


Henslowe links



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Friday 13 July 2018

13 July, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: ye 13 of Julye 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolyto ... xxxxs

In modern English: 13th July, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 40 shillings.


Two Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590
Today, the Admiral's Men quickly returned to the stage Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

The players were obviously pleased with the debut performance of Philippo and Hippolito four days ago. Unlike Galiaso, which languished a fortnight after its premiere, this play has been rushed back to the Rose, and has been rewarded with  handsome, if not jaw-dropping, box office.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 14 July was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 15 July, for a week that will include another new play alongside the old favourites.

Henslowe links



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Thursday 12 July 2018

12 July, 1594 - Galiaso

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

Henslowe writes: ye 12 of Julye 1594 ... R at galiaso ... xxxxvjs

In modern English: 12th July, 1594 ... Received at Galiaso ... 46 shillings.


A Spanish galleass, one possible subject of this
play. From Ships Through the Ages by Frederick
Leonard King (1934)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost play Galiaso. We do not know what this play was about, as its title could refer to many historical and fictional figures, or even to a kind of ship. You can read more about it in the entry for 28 June.

Galiaso received its successful premiere two weeks ago; for some reason, the players have waited until now to restage it. Were they perhaps refining things that hadn't worked well during the first performance? Whatever the reason for the delay, today's performance was very successful, producing a larger-than-average audience at the Rose.

Henslowe links



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Wednesday 11 July 2018

11 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 11 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xxvij

In modern English: 11th July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 27 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)
Today, the Admiral's Men once again performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

The players are continuing to perform Belin Dun approximately once every four days. The play is still earning solid box office, but it is strange that they are staging it more frequently than some of the other, equally reliable plays in their repertory. Could the reason be that the play is relatively new and the players want to get more comfortable at performing a play that promises to be a long-lived success?

Henslowe links



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Tuesday 10 July 2018

10 July, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 10 of Julye 1594 ... R at the Jewe ... xxvijs

In modern English: 10th July, 1594 ... Received at The Jew ... 27 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Today, the players once again performed The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

The players are now settling into a routine of performing The Jew of Malta approximately once a week. Its box office receipts always seem to be solid even if, as today, they are a little below average. The play's reliability is extremely impressive: it is a consistently safe bet, just as it was back in 1592 when Henslowe's records began.


Henslowe links



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Monday 9 July 2018

9 July, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: ye 9 of Julye 1594 ... ne ... R at the phillipo & hewpolyto ... iijll ijs

In modern English: 9th July, 1594 ... New ... Received at The Philippo and Hippolito ... £3 and 2 shillings

Last week, the Admiral's Men played it safe by cycling through their existing repertory. But today, they premiered a new play.

Two Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590
Sadly, Philippo and Hippolito is a lost play and we know nothing at all about it. The title offers no clues except that it was clearly about two men of that name. What those two men got up to, and whether their adventures were funny or tragic, we will never know.

But whatever took place on stage, the premiere of Philippo and Hippolito was a great success. As was typical of debut performances, the theatre was packed and the players filled their coffers.

FURTHER READING


Philippo and Hippolito information


Henslowe links



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Sunday 8 July 2018

8 July, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: ye 8 of Julye 1594 ... R at the masacer ... xxvijs

In modern English: 8th July, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 27 shillings.

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 
Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's drama about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

As with its previous outing last week and the week before, The Massacre at Paris seems to be holding steady as a reliable if unspectacular guarantee of a fairly average audience at the Rose.


Henslowe links



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Friday 6 July 2018

6 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 6 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xxxiiij

In modern English: 6th July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 34 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)
Today, the Admiral's Men performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

It has been only four days since the last - very successful - performance of Belin Dun and the players are rapidly bringing it back to the stage. It's receipts today were a comfortable average, which suggest that the play was not dwindling in popularity as it had seemed to be doing last week.

What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 7 July was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 8 July for a week that will include a brand new play among the familiar repertory.

Henslowe links



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Thursday 5 July 2018

5 July, 1594 - The Ranger's Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 5 of Julye 1594 ... R at the Rangers comodey ... xviijs

In modern English: 5th July, 1594 ... Received at The Ranger's Comedy ... 18 shillings.

An Elizabethan hunting scene: one of
the possible subjects of The
Ranger's Comedy
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost Ranger's Comedy. We do not know what this play was about, as the word could refer to a gamekeeper, a rake, a wanderer, or an organizer of troops. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 April.

The Ranger's Comedy has not been revived since its very successful performance on  Midsummer's Day, a week and a half ago. Today's staging was not successful, producing a very unimpressive box office. Perhaps it required a festival day to persuade people to see this comedy.

Henslowe links



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Wednesday 4 July 2018

4 July, 1594 - Cutlack

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

Henslowe writes: ye 4 of Julye 1594 ... R at cvtlacke ... xxiiijs

In modern English: 4th July, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 24 shillings.

Illustration of Belinus (or Brennius, it's not clear)
from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577)
Today, the the Admiral's Men revived Cutlack, their play about the eponymous Danish king and his intervention in the civil war between the British kings Brennius and Belinus. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

The company has been performing Cutlack more frequently than the others in its repertory;  it was last performed only 4 days ago, and the gap before that was only 3 days, compared to the full week that has been typical for other plays. But this approach may have resulted in overkill, because today's performance was a disappointment, the first below-average audience of this week at the Rose.


Henslowe links



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Tuesday 3 July 2018

3 July, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: ye 3 of Julye 1594 ... R at the masacer ... xxxjs

In modern English: 3rd July, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 31 shillings.

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 
Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's play about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The Massacre at Paris is holding steady, with a second average box office receipt in a row after it was last staged a week ago. The play is no Jew of Malta, but it's chugging along.


Henslowe links



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Monday 2 July 2018

2 July, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: ye 2 of Julye 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xxxxijvjd

In modern English: 2nd July, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 42 shillings and sixpence

A highwayman portrayed in Richard
Head's The English Rogue (1666)
The big news today is that Henslowe has finally started to record his dates correctly again, after a long period of muddle. For the rest of the month, they will now make perfect sense!

Meanwhile, on the stage, the Admiral's Men performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

This newish play had appeared to be dwindling in popularity after its most recent appearance at the Rose just over a week ago; however, just as with The Jew of Malta yesterday, there has been a marked uptick in audience size.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 1 July 2018

1 July, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 30 of June 1594 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... xxxxjs

In modern English: 1st July, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 41 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Today, the players once again performed The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

It had been a week since the Admiral's Men last performed The Jew of Malta and it had received a rather disappointing turnout. This performance would have pleased the actors much more, bringing in an above average audience to the perennially popular play. It's a reminder, as always, that the audience size must be determined by factors that we cannot fully know, such as weather; after all, we are now in the height of summer, and perhaps today was simply a nice day for outdoor theatre.


Henslowe links



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