23 September, 1595 - The First Part of Hercules

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 22 of septmbȝ 1595 ... R at j pte of herculos ... xxxj^s 

In modern English: [23^rd] September, 1595 ... Received at First Part of Hercules ... 31 shillings

Hercules fighting the Nemean Lion by
Francisco de Zurbarán (1634)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The First Part of Hercules, which retold some of the legends of the Greek mythological strongman, perhaps focusing on his Twelve Labours. You can read more about this play in the entry for 7 May.

Today is a bit of a comedown for the play of Hercules: it has been able to fill a theatre day after day, but now suddenly it falls to earth with the Rose only half full. Londoners appear to have randomly decided on mass that they've seen this play enough.

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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