16 July, 1596 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 11 of July 1596 ... R at bellendon ...  xxxv^s

In modern English: [16^th] July, 1596 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 35 shillings

A highwayman portrayed in Richard

Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Here's a surprise! Today, for the first time in a year and a half, the Admiral's Men performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

It had looked as though the company had abandoned Belin Dun. For a long time it had been reliably popular, but then had gradually declined until the company ceased performed it back in November, 1594. Now, they seem to have decided to experiment with bringing it back. 

The experiment has paid off, as the long wait seems to have returned London's enthusiasm for the play; it has drawn an audience that half-filled the Rose, a good result in this rather bleak fortnight. 

What's next?

For some reason, Henslowe records no performance tomorrow, and 18 July was a Sunday. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 19th for a week that will end in catastrophe.

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)

Comments?

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