19 November, 1595 - Barnardo and Philametta

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 19 of novmbȝ  1595 ... R at barnardo ... vj^s 

In modern English: 19^th November, 1595  ... Received at Barnardo ... 6 shillings

Portrait of a couple by an unknown French artist, c.1610

Today, the Admiral's Men revived Barnardo and Philametta, a lost play on an unknown subject; you can read more about it in the entry for 30 October.

Oh dear me. On its third performance, Barnardo and Philametta has received a ridiculously small audience, the likes of which most plays never sink to.

The only conclusion we can draw is that Barnardo and Philametta must have been either (a) a load of absolute rubbish or (b) a work of experimental genius that the philistines of London didn't understand.

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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