25 October, 1594 - The Love of an English Lady

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 24 of octobȝ 1594 ... R at the love of & Jngleshe ladey ... xxiij^s 

In modern English: [25^th] October, 1594 ... Received at The Love of an English Lady ... 23 shillings

An English lady in winter,
etching by Wenceslas
Hollar (1644)

How strange. The second performance of The Love of an English Lady is also the last. This lost play may have involved a Venetian in some kind of romance with an Englishwoman; you can read more about it in the entry for 26 September.

The Love of an English Lady had a very disappointing premiere, and, after waiting a month before restaging it, the Admiral's Men have now confronted a theatre less than half full. They will never perform the play again, presumably seeing no future for it. Farewell English lady, we hardly knew ye!

 

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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