Friday 31 January 2020

31 January, 1596 - The Wonder of a Woman

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago..
Henslowe writes: ye 30 of Jenewary 1595 ... mr pd ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xjs 

In modern English: [31st] January, [1596] ... Master paid ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 11 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)
Today, the Admiral's Men have chosen to perform The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October.

The Wonder of a Woman had been doing better for a while, but returned to the stage after two weeks, its box office is now heading back toward dismal levels.

Today's entry includes a note that Henslowe paid the license for the Rose to the Master of the Revels; you can read more about this in the entry for 8 November.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 1st February was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 2nd for a week that will include a new play. See you then!

Henslowe links



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Thursday 30 January 2020

30 January, 1596 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 29 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... xxv 

In modern English: [30th] January, [1596] ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 25 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Today, the players revived 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 Admiral's Men seem to be settling into a routine of performing The Jew of Malta once every week and a half. But the impressive audiences drawn over its last few performances are now beginning to dwindle.

Henslowe links



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Wednesday 29 January 2020

29 January, 1596 - Pythagoras

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

Henslowe writes: ye 28 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at pethagoros ... xxxs 

In modern English: [24th] January [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 30 shilling
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's
The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January

For its third performance, the Admiral's Men have rushed back Pythagoras after only a few days. Its box office remains solid, representing the average for the Rose.



Henslowe links



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Tuesday 28 January 2020

28 January, 1596 - Chinon of England

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

Henslowe writes: ye 27 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at chinon ... xxjs

In modern English: [28th] January, [1596] ... Received at Chinon ... 21 shillings

The Knights of the Round
Table, from the Compilation
arthurienne de Micheau
Gonnot (1470)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Chinon of England, their lost Arthurian drama about a fool who becomes a knight. You can read more about this play in the entry for 3 January.

After four performances, Chinon has now slipped below the average box office for the Rose. It seems that it will not be a blockbuster.

Henslowe links



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Monday 27 January 2020

27 January, 1596 - The Second Week

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

Henslowe writes: ye 26 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the 2 weake ... xxiiijs 

In modern English: [27th] January, [1596] ... Received at The Second Week ... 24 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Second Week, which appears to be a sequel to the popular Seven Days of the Week. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23 January.

19th-century Italian bracelet illustrating each of the seven days of
the week with a portrait of the deity associated with it.
From the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
The company has rushed their sequel back onto the stage after only a few days, but the box office is disappointing, being below the average for the Rose. It seems the sequel will not be as popular as the original.




Henslowe links



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Sunday 26 January 2020

26 January, 1596 - The New World's Tragedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 25 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the new worldes tragedy ... xiiijs 

In modern English: [26th] January, [1596] ... Received at The New World's Tragedy ... 14 shillings

Walter Raleigh attacking Trinidad, by
Theodore de Bry (1595)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost play The New World's Tragedy, which may have been about a calamitous event in the Americas. You can read more about this play in the entry for 17 September.

The company has waited two and a half weeks to revive The New World's Tragedy, and its very poor box office continues to slide.


Henslowe links



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Friday 24 January 2020

24 January, 1596 - Pythagoras

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

Henslowe writes: ye 23 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at pethagorus ... xxxvjs 

In modern English: [24th] January [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 36 shillings

Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's
The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January

This is the second performance of Pythagoras, after its debut last week. Attendance has dropped sharply after the excellent premiere, but the Rose is still half-full suggesting that a decent level of interest remains.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 25th January was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 26th - see you then!

Henslowe links



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Thursday 23 January 2020

23 January, 1596 - The Second Week

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

Henslowe writes: ye 22 of Jenewary 1595 ... ne ... R at the 2 wecke ... iijll 

In modern English: [23rd] January, [1596] ... New ... Received at The Second Week ... £3

Today, the Admiral's Men performed a new play! Although it is lost, this play appears to be a sequel to The Seven Days of the Week, a play that had been extremely successful following its debut in June 1595 and which continues to be a part of the company's repertory.

19th-century Italian bracelet illustrating each of the seven days of
the week with a portrait of the deity associated with it.
From the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Unfortunately, since the original play is also lost, it is hard to know what the sequel was about. One theory is that the first play was series of seven short playlets, so The Second Week may have been more of the same. Alternatively, the first play might have been about the creation of the world, in which case this one could have been a later story from Genesis.

The subject matter may be a mystery, but the sequel has attracted a large crowd, almost filling the Rose.



FURTHER READING


The Second Week information

  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1029.



Henslowe links



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Wednesday 22 January 2020

22 January, 1596 - Chinon of England

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

Henslowe writes: ye 21 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at chynon of Jngland ... xxxiijs

In modern English: [22nd] January, [1596] ... Received at Chinon of England ... 32 shillings

The Knights of the Round
Table, from the Compilation
arthurienne de Micheau
Gonnot (1470)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Chinon of England, their lost Arthurian drama about a fool who becomes a knight. You can read more about this play in the entry for 3 January.

For its third performance, the box office for Chinon is now at the average for the Rose, suggesting that it's unlikely to become a blockbuster.

Henslowe links



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Tuesday 21 January 2020

21 January, 1596 - Barnardo and Philametta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 20 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at barnardo and phiameta ... xjs 

In modern English: [21st] January, 1596 ... Received at Barnardo and Phiametta ... 11 shillings

Click!
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.

Barnardo and Philametta was last seen drawing a huge crowd on Boxing Day, but on this ordinary winter day it has returned to its usual level of success by attracting almost no-one to the Rose.


Henslowe links



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Monday 20 January 2020

20 January, 1596 - Harry V

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

Henslowe writes: ye 19 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at harye the v ... xxs 

In modern English: [20th] January, [1596] ... Received at Harry V ... 20 shillings

King Henry V, posthumous portrait
(late 16th or early 17th century)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Harry V, their play about King Henry V of England, who, according to legend, gave up a dissolute lifestyle and led his country to victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt before his untimely death. You can read more about this play in the entry for 28 November.


The box office for this play continues to decline as it gets further and further away from its November premiere.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 19 January 2020

19 January, 1596 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 18 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... xxxviij 

In modern English: [19th] January, [1596] ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 38 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Today, the players revived 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 Jew of Malta is now back in the company's regular repertory, having returned a week and a half ago after a year-long absence. After the rapturous reception to its return, the audience today is smaller, but still bigger than the Rose's average, suggesting continued enthusiasm for this classic play.

Henslowe links



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Friday 17 January 2020

17 January, 1596 - 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: R at wissman of weschester ... xviijs 
In modern English: Received at Wise Man of West  Chester ... 18 shillings

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral
The date is missing from today's entry, but a process of deduction tells us that 17th January must be correct. On this day, the Admiral's Men staged The Wise Man of West Chester, a lost play that 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, 1594.

The company has waited two and a half weeks to revive the once-popular Wise Man of West Chester, and it continues to receive unimpressive audiences today.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 18th January was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 19th for a week that will include a new play. See you then!


Henslowe links



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Thursday 16 January 2020

16 January, 1596 - Pythagoras

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

Henslowe writes: ye 16 of Jenewary 1595 ... ne ... R at pethageros ... iijll js 

In modern English: 16th January [1596] ... New ... Received at Pythagoras ... £3 and 1 shilling

Today, the Admiral's Men debuted a new play! But the subject matter of this lost play is puzzling. What could possibly be dramatic about the life of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who is today most famous for the square on the hypotenuse being equal to the sum of the other two squares?

Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's
The School of Athens (1509-11)
In his article for the Lost Plays Database, Todd A. Borlik notes that in Elizabethan England, Pythagoras was known for many other things besides geometry and was quite frequently mentioned in the drama of the time. He was sometimes imagined as a magician, and he was particularly famed for the concept of metempsychosis or the transmigration of souls: that is, the notion that upon death, the souls of humans and animals pass into the bodies of other species to live new lives.

Indeed, Pythagoras is mentioned in some of the plays already performed at the Rose. In Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay he is referred to as one of the cabalists "that write of magic spells" (scene 9). And in Dr Faustus, the protagonist, faced with his impending doom, cries "Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis! Were that true, / This soul should fly from me, and I be changed / Unto some brutish beast!" (Act 5). Meanwhile, across the city, in the same year as Pythagoras (approximately), Shakespeare included in his Merchant of Venice the line "Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, / To hold opinion with Pythagoras, / That souls of animals infuse themselves / Into the trunks of men."

Borlik thus wonders whether the play may have portrayed Pythagoras as a wizard or a necromancer, rather like the ones in Friar Bacon, Faustus and The Wise Man of West Chester, and might perhaps have created some drama out of the transmigration of souls.

It's not easy to see how one could make a play about metempsychosis, but it has made for amazing cinema: Michelangelo Frammartino's Le Quattro Volte is that very rare thing, a Pythagorean movie.



Whatever happened in the enigmatic play of Pythagoras, its premiere was a great success, with a packed audience arriving to see what the ancient philosopher would do.


FURTHER READING


Pythagoras information

  • Todd A. Borlik, "Pythagoras", Lost Plays Database (2013). 
  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1028.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 15 January 2020

15 January, 1596 - The Wonder of a Woman

Here's what the Admiral's Men performed at the Rose playhouse on this day, 424 years ago..
Henslowe writes: ye 15 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xxvijs 

In modern English: 15th January, [1596] ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 27 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)
Today, the Admiral's Men have chosen to perform The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October.

After its sell-out performance on Boxing Day, The Wonder of a Woman is doing better than it had been before, with an almost half-full theatre.

Henslowe links



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Tuesday 14 January 2020

14 January, 1596 - Crack Me This Nut

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

Henslowe writes: ye 14 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at cracke me this nvtte ... xxiijs


In modern English: 14th January, [1596] ... Received at Crack Me This Nut ... 23 shillings

Dessert Still Life by Georg Flegel (1566-1638)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Crack Me This Nut. We know nothing about the content of this lost play, but you can read more about it in the entry for 5th September.

The company has waited a fortnight to revive Crack Me This Nut. Today's box office is not particularly impressive, but much better than the tiny one it received last time.


Henslowe links



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Monday 13 January 2020

13 January, 1596 - 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 Jenewary 1595 ... R at the sege of london ... xvs 

In modern English: 13th January, [1596] ... Received at The Siege of London ... 15 shillings

Thomas Neville's siege of London, from a
1391 French manuscript
Today the Admiral's Men staged 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.

This is strange. The players have finally revived The Siege of London after a long hiatus since September. It has not attracted a large audience, and it will not be seen at the Rose again until June. It seems that the players are experimenting with returning it to the regular repertory today, but will decide that it's not worth the effort.


Henslowe links



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Sunday 12 January 2020

12 January, 1596 - Chinon of England

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

Henslowe writes: ye 12 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at chynon of Jngland ... ls

In modern English: 12th January, [1596] ... Received at Chinon of England ... 50 shillings

The Knights of the Round
Table, from the Compilation
arthurienne de Micheau
Gonnot (1470)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Chinon of England, their lost Arthurian drama about a fool who becomes a knight. You can read more about this play in the entry for 3 January.

The company has wasted little time in returning Chinon to the stage, and word of mouth has clearly been good, because the audience size is just as big as it was at the premiere.


Henslowe links



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Friday 10 January 2020

10 January, 1596 - A Toy to Please Chaste Ladies

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

Henslowe writes: ye 10 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at a toye to please chaste ladeys ... xviijs 

In modern English: 10th January, [1596] ... Received at A Toy to Please Chaste Ladies ... 18 shillings

Two Women at a Window by Murillo (1655-60)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to A Toy to Please Chaste Ladies, an enigmatic lost play; you can read more about it in the entry for 14 November.

It has been more than a month since the players have staged this play, which has always been unpopular, and remains so today.


What's next?


There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 11th January was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 12th for a week that will include a new play. See you then!


Henslowe links



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Thursday 9 January 2020

9 January, 1596 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: ye 9 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the Jew of malta ... lvj 

In modern English: 9th January, [1596] ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 56 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand
Master of the Knights of Malta,
1607-8.
Well, here's a surprise! The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy is back. You can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

It has been more than a year since the players last performed The Jew of Malta, a play that had once been the most popular at the Rose but which attracted only a handful of playgoers on its last outing.

But The Jew of Malta cannot be kept down, and Edward Alleyn is once again striding onto the stage as the deliciously evil anti-hero. And absence seems to have warmed the hearts for London's theatregoers, for they have swarmed to the Rose today see Barabas's return, almost filling it. Hooray!


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 8 January 2020

8 January, 1596 - The New World's Tragedy

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

Henslowe writes: ye 8 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the new worldes tragedie ... xviijs 

In modern English: 8th January, [1596] ... Received at The New World's Tragedy ... 18 shillings

Walter Raleigh attacking Trinidad, by
Theodore de Bry (1595)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost play The New World's Tragedy, which may have been about a calamitous event in the Americas. You can read more about this play in the entry for 17 September.

The box office for this play has rarely been stellar, and today it continues to underperform.


Henslowe links



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Tuesday 7 January 2020

7 January, 1596 - 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 7 of Jenewary ... R at a knack to know & onest man ... xxs
In modern English: 7th January, [1596] ... Received at A Knack to Know an Honest Man ... 20 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)
Today, the Admiral's Men chose to revive 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, 1594.

Here is a blast from the past! The players have been ignoring this once-popular comedy since September, but they are now experimenting with bringing it back. The box office is not very encouraging, however.



Henslowe links



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Monday 6 January 2020

6 January, 1596 - 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: ye 6 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at hurculos the j pte ... iijll 

In modern English: 6th January, [1596] ... Received at Hercules, the First Part ... £3

Hercules fighting the Nemean Lion by
Francisco de Zurbarán (1634)
Today is the Feast of Epiphany, one of the most important festivals in the Elizabethan church year, and the last of the twelve days of Christmas (hence today is also known as Twelfth Night).

At the Rose, the Admiral's Men have 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.

And on this festive occasion, London's theatregoers have flooded to the Rose! The theatre is almost full, and the players must be savoring this last burst of Christmas cheer.

Henslowe links



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Sunday 5 January 2020

5 January, 1596 - Harry V


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

Henslowe writes: ye 5 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at harey the v ... xxvjs 

In modern English: 5th January, [1596] ... Received at Harry V ... 26 shillings

King Henry V, posthumous portrait
(late 16th or early 17th century)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Harry V, their play about King Henry V of England, who, according to legend, gave up a dissolute lifestyle and led his country to victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt before his untimely death. You can read more about this play in the entry for 28 November.

As we near the end of Christmastide, the enthusiasm for theatre has ebbed; Harry V has attracted an unexceptional audience to the Rose.

Henslowe links



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Saturday 4 January 2020

4 January, 1595 - Richmond Palace

Henslowe's Diary makes no mention of it, but court records tell us that on this day, 424 years ago, the Admiral's Men performed a play at Richmond Palace.

Richmond Palace was a spectacular royal residence on the banks of the Thames. Sadly, it no longer exists, but if you take a look at my earlier entry on Hampton Court Palace, you will get a sense of what a performance at Richmond might have been like.

Richmond Palace by Anthony Wyngaerde, mid-16th century

We do not know what play the company performed here, so we will just have to imagine them running their lines as they were rowed down the river toward their meeting with the Queen.

FURTHER READING


  • John Astington, English Court Theatre, 1558-1642 (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 57-63, 234

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Friday 3 January 2020

3 January, 1596 - Chinon of England

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

Henslowe writes: ye 3 of Jenewary 1595 ... ne ... R at chinone of Jngland ... ls

In modern English: 3rd January, [1596] ... New ... Received at Chinon of England ... 50 shillings


Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play! Chinon of England is lost, but its title tells us that it was an Arthurian romance about a fool who becomes a knight.

You will look in vain for Chinon in the pages of the classic Arthurian legends, such as Mallory's Morte d'Arthur; the only source for his story is a romance by an obscure writer named Christopher Middleton, entitled The Famous History of Chinon of England. A few days from now, on 20 January, this book will be registered with the Stationers, and it will ultimately be published in 1597, a year after the play's premiere. Perhaps the author of the play read this text in manuscript before it was published. Or perhaps the romance is a novelization of the play; indeed, perhaps Christopher Middleton was himself the play's author too. Either way, let's take a look at Middleton's tale of Chinon and imagine it performed at the Rose.


The story of Chinon


Chinon of England (1597)
The full title of Christopher Middleton's 1597 romance gives a good impression of its plot: The famous history of  Chinon of England, with his strange adventures for the love of Celestina, daughter to Louis, King of France; with the worthy achievement of Sir Lancelot du Lac and Sir Tristram de Lyones for fair Laura, Daughter to Cador, Earl of Cornwall; being all knights of King Arthur's Round Table.

Chinon begins his story as the son of the Earl of Cornwall. Despite his illustrious heritage, his is a fool; the exact nature of his foolishness is never explained by Middleton, but everyone laments "that so well-fashioned a body should contain so ill-formed a mind".

Sir Lancelot, a Knight of the Round Table, falls for Chinon's beautiful sister, Laura. To win her love, Lancelot goes on chivalric quests in France, and, at a tournament, kills the son of the Sultan of Babylon. But the Sultan is enraged and invades France, capturing Celestina, daughter of King Louis.

Costume design by Inigo Jones
for the character of Oberon
in a 1610 masque
Chinon, meanwhile, arrives in France, "greedy of glory, but unfit to find it". After travelling through a forest, he becomes a hero when he defeats a giant serpent (it is disappointing that Middleton never explains why Chinon suddenly loses his foolishness; the character is simply "by the power of provident heaven raised from that dejection"). Chinon goes on to rescue Sir Lancelot, Sir Tristram, and Sir Triamore from a cave where they have been imprisoned.

At this point, Oberon, King of the Fairies appears (you might remember him from Huon of Bordeaux a couple of years ago, and he may also be appearing in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream on the other side of London at this time). Oberon shows the knights a sword in a stone. The other three knights fail to pull it out, but Chinon succeeds. Oberon rewards him with armour and "a little ill-favored elvish dwarf" to be his squire.

Celestina must now be rescued from the Sultan, so Chinon and Triamore travel to Babylon. The Sultan is in love with Celestina, but she is resisting him. Triamore disguises as an enchantress who can cast love spells, and while the Sultan is distracted, Chinon captures him, enabling Celestina to be rescued.

The Knights of the Round
Table, from the Compilation
arthurienne de Micheau
Gonnot (1470)
The heroes bring the Sultan to England as a prisoner, and Chinon becomes a knight of the Round Table, giving his father much delight: "discoursing to his old father the story of their travails", his "very words breeds new life in the dried sinews of his old limbs".

Middleton then goes on to tell another tale, this time about Chinon rescuing a maiden named Cassiopeia from a witch who has turned her father into a bear. It's a complicated story in which Chinon appears only infrequently; Martin Wiggins thus proposes in his Catalogue of British Drama that it may not have appeared in the play.

Reputation


We don't know much more about Chinon of England than what we can read in Middleton's romance. However, an interesting nugget appears in a 1654 book by Edmund Gayton, Pleasant Notes Upon Don Quixote. In it, Gayton makes some observations on the weaknesses of English theatre, one of which is its tendency to portray events that are impossible to stage and can only be rendered by bringing on a Chorus figure to describe them, "or [by] the descending of some god, or a magician". He singles out Chinon as an example, along with some other plays from the Rose: "as in the plays of Bungay, Bacon, and Vandarmast, the three great necromancers, Dr Faustus, Chinon of England, and the like". It's not known which part of the story of Chinon was unstageable, but Martin Wiggins suspects it was the battle with the serpent.

Gayton may sneer, but Chinon of England has attracted a good-sized crowd to the Rose today for its very first performance. Perhaps it will become a new blockbuster for the Admiral's Men?



FURTHER READING


Chinon of England information


  • Christopher Middleton, The Famous History of Chinon of England (1597).
  • Andrew Gurr, Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company, 1594-1625 (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 223.
  • Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1027.
  • Paul Whitfield White, "The Admiral's Lost Arthurian Plays," in Lost Plays in Shakespeare's England, edited by David McInnis and Matthew Steggle (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014), 151.
  • David McInnis, "Chinon of England", Lost Plays Database (2015).

Henslowe links



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Thursday 2 January 2020

2 January, 1596 - Crack Me This Nut

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

Henslowe writes: ye 2 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at cracke me this nvtt ... ixs


In modern English: 2nd January, [1596] ... Received at Crack Me This Nut ... 9 shillings

Dessert Still Life by Georg Flegel (1566-1638)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Crack Me This Nut. We know nothing about the content of this lost play, but you can read more about it in the entry for 5th September.

After yesterday's very successful performance of The Seven Days of the Week on New Year's Day, one might have expected today's performance to be well-attended too; in fact, this is a catastrophically small audience, suggesting that the average Londoner was back at work, with no time for festive theatregoing.


Henslowe links



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Wednesday 1 January 2020

1 January, 1596 - The Seven Days of the Week and Richmond Palace

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

Henslowe writes: ye 1 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the wecke ... xxxxij  
In modern English: 1st January, [1596] ... Received at The Week ... 42 shillings
Welcome to the first day of another year at the Rose! You may have noticed that Henslowe is still calling it 1595; that's because he's using the old style of dating in which the year begins on 25th March. But the Elizabethans still thought of today as New Year's Day and for them there are still six more days of the Christmas holidays left.

For their first play of 1596, the Admiral's Men have revived their enigmatic lost play The Seven Days of the Week, about which we know nothing beyond its title. Perhaps it was an anthology of seven short plays, or perhaps it was about the creation of the world. You can read more about it in the entry for 3rd JuneThe Seven Days of the Week was once a very popular play but has declined of late. Today, however, on a festive holiday, it has received a large crowd again, recapturing its former glory.

Beyond Henslowe's Diary, there is also a record of the Admiral's Men performing a play to the Queen at Richmond Palace, a long way down the Thames. If the dates are accurate, this was a busy day for the players!

Richmond Palace by Anthony Wyngaerde, mid-16th century


FURTHER READING


On the Richmond Palace performance

  • John Astington, English Court Theatre, 1558-1642 (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 234


Henslowe links



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