22 July, 1596 - Troy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 16 of July 1596 ... R at troye ... xxi^s 

In modern English: [22^nd] July, 1596 ... Received at Troy ... 21 shillings

The sacking of Troy, from the title page of Thomas
Heywood's The Second Part of the Iron Age (c.1613)

Today, for the last time, the Admiral's Men performed Troy, their play about the Trojan War. You can read more about this play in the entry for 25 June.

Surprisingly enough, this is the last recorded performance of Troy in Henslowe's Diary. The play premiered only a month ago, and has received only four performances, but despite adequate box office the company seems to have decided to let it go.

You may have noticed an apparent purge of plays in recent days, with Longshanks and Harry V also biting the dust, as if the company has decided to jettison some dead weight. This is a little misleading. What's actually happening is that in a few days time, the Rose will close for a long time. So, the players aren't deciding right now that they will never perform these plays again. Rather, once they return after their long break, they will opt not to revive them. Expect some more farewells very soon!

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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