2 September, 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: y^e 2 of septmbȝ  1594 ... R at the Jew of malta ... xxiij^s vj^d 

In modern English: 2^nd September, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 23 shillings and sixpence

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Henslowe's Diary is entering one of its brief phases in which the dates are correct, so we can all relax a little!

On the stage, 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 once-mighty Jew of Malta continues what appears to be its slow fade out.  The players have ignored it for almost a month, and yet today's receipts remain unimpressive. A titan of the stage has become just another play.  

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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