Thursday 28 February 2019

28 February, 1595 - The Wise Man of West Chester

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

Henslowe writes: ye 28 of febreary 1594 ... R at the wisman of weschester ... xxxixs 
In modern English: 28th February, 1595 ... Received at The Wise Man of West Chester ... 39 shillings

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral
Today, the Admiral's Men returned The Wise Man of West Chester to the stage. This lost play appears to have been about a wizard in the English city of Chester; you can read more about it in the entry for 3 December.

After dominating the Rose's repertory for several weeks, The Wise Man of West Chester is gradually starting to decline to more normal levels of popularity. But even today, its box office is above the average for the Rose.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 27 February 2019

27 February, 1595 - The French Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 27 of febreary 1594 ... R at the frenshe Comodey ... xxxxs 

In modern English: 27th February, 1595 ... Received at The French Comedy ... 40 shillings.

French commedia dell'arte performers,
from a 17th-century engraving by Jacques Callot
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to The French Comedy, a lost play about which we know almost nothing. You can read more about this play in the entry for February 11 

The company premiered The French Comedy two weeks ago and have only now brought it back for its second performance. As with the premiere, the box office is good but not spectacular; the play is not a disaster, but not setting the theatre scene alight either.



Henslowe links



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Tuesday 26 February 2019

26 February, 1595 - A Knack to Know an Honest Man

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

Henslowe writes: ye 26 of febreary 1594 ... R at the knacke ... xxiiijs

In modern English: 26th February, 1595 ... Received at The Knack ... 24 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived A Knack to Know an Honest Man, their comical moral romance set in Venice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23rd October.

Again the company has waited three weeks to revive A Knack to Know an Honest Man - and it has returned exactly the same box office.

Henslowe links



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Monday 25 February 2019

25 February, 1595 - The Venetian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 25 of febreary 1594 ... R at the venesyan comodey ... xxs 

In modern English: 25th February, 1595 ... Received at The Venetian Comedy ... 20 shillings

The Quack Doctor by Pietro Longhi (late
18th century)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Venetian Comedy, a play about which we know nothing beyond its title. You can read more about it in the entry for 27 August.

The players have waited a fortnight to revive The Venetian Comedy. The box office keeps on being unimpressive, though never disastrously so.


Henslowe links



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Sunday 24 February 2019

24 February, 1595 - The French Doctor

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

Henslowe writes: ye  24 of February 1594 ... R at the frensh doctor ... xxxxxiiijs 

In modern English: 24th February, 1595 ... Received at The French Doctor ... 54 shillings

A French Physician, by
Matthew Darly, 1771
Today, the players revived again their lost play about a doctor from France. We know very little about this play, which was probably a comedy; you can read more in the entry for 19 October.

Whoah! This is a huge surprise! The French Doctor, despite normally being one of the more unpopular plays in the company repertory, has today attracted an extremely large crowd. What could have suddenly caused this?


Henslowe links



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Friday 22 February 2019

22 February, 1595 - The Grecian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 22 of febreary 1594 ... R at the gresyan comodey ... xxs 

In modern English: 22nd February, 1595 ... Received at The Grecian Comedy ... 20 shillings

The Love of Helen and Paris
by Jacques-Louis David (1789)
Today, the players revived The Grecian Comedy. We know nothing about this play beyond its title, although Henslowe sometimes calls it The Grecian Lady, which adds a tiny bit more information; you can read more about it in the entry for 5 October, 1594.

The players are continuing with their on-off relationship with The Grecian Comedy, this time choosing to wait three weeks before reviving. Despite last time's uptick, this weeks box office is resolutely below average.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 23rd February was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 24th; see you then!


Henslowe links



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Thursday 21 February 2019

21 February, 1595 - The Mack

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

Henslowe writes: ye 21 of febreary 1594 ... ne ... R at the macke ... iijll 

In modern English: 21st February, 1595 ... New ... Received at The Mack ... £3

Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play, The Mack! Unfortunately, this lost play is very mysterious. It also probably wasn't very good, since the company will never perform it again.

Detail from The Triumph of Deathby
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1562)
Mack was a card game of the period, and the Oxford English Dictionary notes that it was often linked to the game of Maw; for example, the dictionary quotes George Tuberville's Book of Falconry (1575) which describes some common pastimes: "To check at chess, to heave at Maw, at Mack to pass the time." In his catalogue of British drama, Martin Wiggins proposes that The Mack was thus connected with The Set at Maw, another card-related play in the repertory of the Admiral's Men.

Sadly, the rules of the game of Mack are lost in the mists of time, so we cannot speculate on what the play might have been like. And even more sadly, the players will never again perform The Mack, despite the large crowd that attended its premiere. Something about it must not have worked.


FURTHER READING


The Mack information

  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 990.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 20 February 2019

20 February, 1595 - Long Meg of Westminster

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

Henslowe writes: ye 20 of febreary 1594 ... R at longe mege ... xxxxviijs

In modern English: 20th February, 1595 ... Received at Long Meg ... 48 shillings

Long Meg, from
a 1750 edition
of the jest-book
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Long Meg of Westminster, their play about the Amazonian warrior woman of London legend. You can read more about this play in the entry for 14 February.

Long Meg premiered a week ago, and today's follow-up performance has attracted a goodly crowd size. Meg is clearly a hit, although not on the scale of the season's greatest success, The Wise Man of West Chester.


Henslowe links



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Tuesday 19 February 2019

19 February, 1595 - The Wise Man of West Chester

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

Henslowe writes: ye 19 of febrey 1594 ... R at the wisman of weschester ... xxxxvjs 
In modern English: 19th February, 1595 ... Received at The Wise Man of West Chester ... 46 shillings

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral
Today, the Admiral's Men returned The Wise Man of West Chester to the stage. This lost play appears to have been about a wizard in the English city of Chester; you can read more about it in the entry for 3 December.

The Wise Man of West Chester continues to be the smash hit of this season, and the players must be restraining themselves from performing it every day.  They have brought it back after only a week, and it is still receiving exceptional box office.



Henslowe links



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Monday 18 February 2019

18 February, 1595 - The Second Part of Tamburlaine

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

Henslowe writes: ye 18 of febreay 1594 ... R at the 2 pt of tamberlen ... xxxvjs

In modern English: 18th February, 1595 ... Received at The Second Part of Tamburlaine ... 36 shillings

The mausoleum of Timur (or Tamburlaine)
in Samarkand
Today, the Admiral's Men performed the sequel to Tamburlaine, in which the conqueror of Asia meets his inevitable doom; you can read more about this play in the entry for 19th December.

The company continues to perform the two Tamburlaine plays as a pair on subsequent days. The box office takings for The Second Part are beginning to ebb, becoming closer to those for the original play after outclassing it for some time.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 17 February 2019

17 February, 1595 - Tamburlaine

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

Henslowe writes: ye 17 of febreye 1594 ... R at tamberlen ... xxxs 

In modern English: 17th February, 1595 ... Received at Tamburlaine ... 30 shillings.


Illustration of the historical Tamburlaine
from Richard Knolles' General History

of the Turks (1603).
Today, the players performed Tamburlaine, Christopher Marlowe's spectacular epic about the bloodthirsty conqueror of Asia. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30th August.

The players have waited two and a half weeks before returning Tamburlaine to the Rose, and it has received exactly the same - very average - box office. I am sure the historical Tamburlaine is rolling in his grave about that last point.

Incidentally, over the next few days, you can watch Henslowe experimenting with new ways to spell 'February'.

Henslowe links



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Friday 15 February 2019

15 February, 1595 - Tasso's Melancholy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 15 of febreary 1594 ... R at tasso ... xixs 

In modern English: 15th February, 1595 ... Received at Tasso ... 19 shillings

Tasso in the Madhouse
by Eugene Delacroix (1839)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Tasso's Melancholy, a lost play that dramatized the lovesick insanity of the Italian poet Torquato Tasso; you can read more about it in the entry for 13th August.

It has been three and a half weeks since the players last revived Tasso's Melancholy, and it has not drawn much of a crowd. Could this play be for the chop soon?


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 16th February was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 17th, for a week that will include a new play. See you then!

Henslowe links



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Thursday 14 February 2019

14 February, 1595 - Long Meg of Westminster

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

Henslowe writes: ye 14 of febreary 1594 ... j ... R at longe mege of westmesster ... iijll ixs

In modern English: 14th February, 1595 ... 1 ... Received at Long Meg of Westminster ... £3 and 9 shillings.

Today, the Admiral's Men staged a play that we have not before seen at the Rose, Long Meg of Westminster. It was probably a new play: for some reason, Henslowe marks this performance with a "1" instead of his usual "Ne", but the large audience is typical of the premiere of a new play.

Long Meg of Westminster is lost, like so much of the company's repertory. This is a shame, because the play told the story of one of the most fascinating icons of Elizabethan popular culture, a semi-legendary warrior woman who beats up her enemies. The prospect of seeing this topsy-turvy heroine drew a large crowd to the Rose today. So, who was Long Meg of Westminster?


The real Meg


Bridewell Prison depicted in
William Hogarth's A Harlot's
Progress (1732)
In 1998, Bernard Capp discovered that Long Meg was a real person. The evidence exists in the archives of the Bridewell prison, a common destination for arrested prostitutes. A woman named "Margaret Barnes, otherwise called Long Meg", came to Bridewell in 1561 because she had been accused of being a "common bawd" - that is, a brothel-keeper. She stated that she had been falsely accused, but according to the records the accusations against her were "vehemently justified" so that "she could not deny the same and so departed with shame".

Records of the lives of prostitutes in the area suggest that Meg was indeed keeping a brothel disguised as a victualling-house (a tavern selling food). We know nothing more of her life after her visit to Bridewell. Was she very tall? Did she beat up men? We do not know. But somehow she became a familiar name in London, and stories about her circulated long after her death.



The legend of Long Meg


The most important repository of Long Meg tales is a jest-book (a collection of short, funny stories) entitled The Life of Long Meg of Westminster, which was first published in 1590, although the earliest surviving copy dates from 1635; you can read it here in this 19th century edition. The play was probably based on this book.

Meg beating the carrier, from a 1750 edition
of the jest-book
The tales of Long Meg have very little to do with the woman glimpsed in the Bridewell records. Meg at first works in a tavern in Westminster, but then sets up her own in Islington (these institutions really are taverns, not disguised brothels). She frequently cross-dresses and beats up men who annoy her. Later she goes to the wars in France and performs valiant acts as a soldier.

The jest-book tells many stories about Meg, but here is a one short one that captures its flavour (which you can read it in full here). Meg's mistress in Westminster is a woman with two lovers: a poet called Skelton and a Spanish knight called Sir James of Castile. Sir James suspects he has a rival, so the mistress persuades Meg to dress in man's attire to fight him, promising a new petticoat if she wins. Meg says "the Devil take me if I lose a petticoat", and disguises herself in a man's white satin suit. 

The mistress tells Sir James that a man in a white suit has insulted her. Sir James finds the disguised Meg and challenges her, whereupon she knocks his weapons away and threatens to kill him with a dagger. Meg forces Sir James to agree that he will attend a social gathering, admit in public that 'he' is the better swordsman, and wait on 'him' at table. Sir James agrees, and in front of a gathering of guests including Sir Thomas More (!) he does so, only to be mortified when his vanquisher reveals that "He that hurt you today is none other but Long Meg of Westminster!" Everyone laughs, including Sir James, who continues to serve Meg for the whole evening. "Thus," concludes the jest-book, "was Sir James  disgraced for his love and Long Meg counted a proper woman".

Many other such adventures may have appeared in the play. In the jest-book, Meg beats a carrier, a cheating vicar, a bailiff, and a gang of thieves. She travels to France with the English army and at the siege of Boulogne beats French soldiers off the walls. Unfortunately, her girl-power status ebbs when she gets married and obediently allows her husband to beat her.


Performing Meg


Long Meg, from
a 1750 edition
of the jest-book
The play of Long Meg of Westminster must have made an impression on London's theatregoers, because there are references to it in numerous dramatic works of the period; you can read an impressive array in Roslyn L. Knutson's article on the play for the Lost Plays Database. Among them is Ben Jonson's description of her in a 1624 masque, The Fortunate Isles and their Union:
 
Or Westmister Meg,
With her long leg,
As long as a crane;
And feet like a plane:
With a pair of heels
As broad as two wheels;
To drive down the dew,
As she goes to the stew:
And turns home merry
By Lambeth ferry.
Meg's enormous size makes one wonder who played her onstage. Normally, female roles were played by teenage boys. But one cannot help suspecting that Edward Alleyn, the leading man of the Admiral's Men, who was famed for his tall frame and ear-splitting voice, might have taken the opportunity to have had some fun in a drag role for this play.

It is a great shame that the text of Long Meg of Westminster has not survived; we will just have to imagine that it was as much fun as it sounds.

FURTHER READING


Long Meg of Westminster information


 

Henslowe links



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Wednesday 13 February 2019

13 February, 1595 - The Siege of London

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

Henslowe writes: ye 13 of febreary 1594 ... R at the sege of london ... xxixs 

In modern English: 13th February, 1595 ... Received at The Siege of London ... 29 shillings

Thomas Neville's siege of London, from a
1391 French manuscript
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to The Siege of London, an enigmatic lost play that might have portrayed the attacks on London by Canute in 1016 or by Thomas Neville in 1471. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 December, 1594.

The players are continuing to perform The Siege of London every week. Although down from last week, its box office remains at the comfortably average level.

Henslowe links



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Tuesday 12 February 2019

12 February, 1595 - The Wise Man of West Chester

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

Henslowe writes: ye 12 of febreary 1594 ... R at the wisman of weschester ... liijs 
In modern English: 12th February, 1595 ... Received at The Wise Man of West Chester ... 53 shillings

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral
Today, the Admiral's Men returned The Wise Man of West Chester to the stage. This lost play appears to have been about a wizard in the English city of Chester; you can read more about it in the entry for 3 December.

Wow, The Wise Man of West Chester really is a stonking success! Today's box office has dipped a little, but it still represents a huge crowd and is much higher than what other plays are achieving these days.



Henslowe links



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Monday 11 February 2019

11 February, 1595 - The French Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 11 of febreary 1594 ... ne ... R at the frenshe Comodey ... ls 

In modern English: 11th February, 1595 ... New ... Received at The French Comedy ... 50 shillings.


Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play! Unfortunately, it is yet another play that has been lost to the vicissitudes of time, and its title is so generic that we know nothing about it - except, of course, that was a comedy set in France.

French commedia dell'arte performers,
from a 17th-century engraving by Jacques Callot
Elizabethans enjoyed making fun of the French, but it is impossible to speculate on what, if anything, the audience laughed at in this play. All we can say is that The French Comedy earned 50 shillings today, which suggests a large crowd, but not as big as one might normally expect at a premiere.


FURTHER READING


The French Comedy information


  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 989.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 10 February 2019

10 February, 1595 - The Venetian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 10 of febreary 1594 ... R at the venesyan ... xxs 

In modern English: 10th February, 1595 ... Received at The Venetian ... 20 shillings

The Quack Doctor by Pietro Longhi (late
18th century)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Venetian Comedy, a play about which we know nothing beyond its title. You can read more about it in the entry for 27 August.

The players have not performed this play for two and a half months, but today they have decided to revive it. The box office remains unimpressive, however, as it has done almost every time the players have performed this comedy.


Henslowe links



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Friday 8 February 2019

8 February, 1595 - Doctor Faustus

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

Henslowe writes: ye 8 of February 1594 ... R at docter fostes ... xviijs 

In modern English: 8th February, 1595 ... Received at Dr Faustus ... 18 shillings

Faustus summoning Mephistopheles: from the
1616 text of the play 
Today, Admiral's Men returned to Christopher Marlowe's famous tragedy Dr Faustus, in which a scholar summons a demon and sells his soul to the devil. You can read more about this play in the entry for 2 October.

The players seem now to be in a groove of performing Dr Faustus once a fortnight. Its box office is sliding downward, however, so the play's glory days appear to be over. We need some new plays at this theatre!


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 9 February was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 10 February for a week that will include two new plays!


Henslowe links



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Thursday 7 February 2019

7 February, 1595 - The French Doctor

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

Henslowe writes: ye  7 of February 1594 ... R at the frenshe docter ... xxjs 

In modern English: 7th February, 1595 ... Received at The French Doctor ... 21 shillings

A French Physician, by
Matthew Darly, 1771
Today, the players revived again their lost play about a doctor from France. We know very little about this play, which was probably a comedy; you can read more in the entry for 19 October.

After its rather dismal outing last week, the company has for some reason rushed the play back. The results can only be described, however, as a bit less dismal.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 6 February 2019

6 February, 1595 - A Knack to Know an Honest Man

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

Henslowe writes: ye 6 of febreary 1594 ... R at the knacke ... xxiiijs

In modern English: 6th February, 1595 ... Received at The Knack ... 24 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived A Knack to Know an Honest Man, their comical moral romance set in Venice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23rd October.

For a long while this has been one of the company's more frequently-performed plays, but his time they have waited 3 and a half weeks before reviving it. The results are not encouraging, as absence does not appear to have made the audience's hearts grow fonder.

Henslowe links



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Tuesday 5 February 2019

5 February, 1595 - Mahamet

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

Henslowe writes: ye 5 of febreary 1594 ... R at mahemett ... xxvjs

In modern English: 5th February, 1595 ... Received at Mahamet ... 26 shillings
1629 Portuguese illustration of the Battle of Alcazar
Today, the company returned to Mahamet, which may survive today as The Battle of Alcazar. If so, it was a popular old play that told the story of Abd el-Malik's struggle for the throne of Morocco against the vicious usurper Muly Mahamet; you can read more about it in the entry for 21st February, 1592.

The players have ignored Mahamet for two months before reviving it today (with the previous gap being a month). Its box office today, is fine but unspectacular; the company may be gradually phasing it out.


Henslowe links



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Monday 4 February 2019

4 February, 1595 - The Wise Man of West Chester

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

Henslowe writes: ye 4 of febreary 1594 ... R at the wysman of weschester ... iijll iiijs 
In modern English: 4th February, 1595 ... Received at The Wise Man of West Chester ... £3 and 4 shillings

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral
Today, the Admiral's Men returned The Wise Man of West Chester to the stage. This lost play appears to have been about a wizard in the English city of Chester; you can read more about it in the entry for 3 December.

Inconceivable! The Wise Man of West Chester has yet again drawn an enormous crowd to the Rose. That's four in a row! This never happens! The play is officially a mega-hit. It is a real shame that the text has not survived, because it would be fascinating to know why Londoners loved it so much.



Henslowe links



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Sunday 3 February 2019

3 February, 1595 - The Siege of London

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

Henslowe writes: ye 3 of febreary 1594 ... R at the sege of london ... xxxxvs 

In modern English: 3rd February, 1595 ... Received at The Siege of London ... 45 shillings

Thomas Neville's siege of London, from a
1391 French manuscript
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to The Siege of London, an enigmatic lost play that might have portrayed the attacks on London by Canute in 1016 or by Thomas Neville in 1471. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 December, 1594.

The players seem to be settling into a groove of performing The Siege of London weekly. And today's profits are very impressive, well above the average for the Rose; this is a play that has been growing in popularity rather than waning.

Henslowe links



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Friday 1 February 2019

1 February, 1595 - Caesar and Pompey


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

Henslowe writes: ye j of febreary 1594 ... R at seaser ... xxiiijs 

In modern English: 1st February, 1595 ... Received at Caesar ... 24 shillings


Detail from Caesar Contemplating
the Head of Pompey
by Tiepolo (1746)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Caesar and Pompey, their retelling of the civil war that erupted in Ancient Rome between Julius Caesar and Pompey the Great. You can read more about this play in the entry for 8th November.

Caesar and Pompey continues to chug along, solidly but unimpressively. Like many plays that began strongly, it has quickly descended to mediocrity.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because 2 February was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 3rd. See you then!


Henslowe links



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