29 October, 1596 - The French Doctor

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 29 of octobȝ 1596 ... R at the frenshe docter ... xv^s 

In modern English: 29^th October, 1596 ... Received at The French Doctor ... 15 shillings

A French Physician
by Matthew Darly, 1771

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The French Doctor, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 19 October, 1594.

This is the first revival of The French Doctor sine the re-opening of the Rose, and as so often, it has returned very mediocre box office. The play is a curiosity, as it continues to be staged infrequently, despite its apparent unpopularity with audiences.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because for some reason Henslowe records no performance. Neither will there be one the following day, because 31 October was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 1 November - see you then!

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?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!

28 October, 1596 - Doctor Faustus

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 28 of octobȝ 1596 ... R at doctore foster ... xxvij^s

In modern English: 28^th October, 1596 ... Received at Doctor Faustus ... 27 shillings

Faustus summoning Mephistopheles: from the
1616 text of the play 

Today, the Admiral's Men revived Dr Faustus, Christopher Marlowe's famous tragedy about a scholar who sells his soul to the devil. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 October.

For their second day back at the Rose, the company has chosen to return to this very familiar classic. Marlowe's play does not always pull the crowds ike it used to, but today the theatre is almost half full, which is nothing to sneeze at.

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?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!

27 October, 1596 - Chinon of England

Welcome back to this ongoing blog in which we are following the records of the performances of the Admiral's Men at the Rose playhouse, as recorded in the diary of Philip Henslowe!

As I write this in 2020, the coronavirus continues to cause lockdowns around the world. Similar things have been happening in London in 1596; back in July, the Rose was forced to close in order to prevent the spread of plague and in the intervening months, the Admiral's Men have been touring their plays around England. These appear to have been hard times for the company, as in the month of October, Henslowe records lending lots of money to them.

But now, things are looking up. The restrictions have been lifted and the company is back at their base in  London to entertain the city folk once again. Hurrah!

Here's Henslowe's diary entry for today:

Henslowe writes: y^e 27 of octobȝ 1596 ... R at chynon ... lij^s

In modern English: 27^th October, 1596 ... Received at Chinon ... 52 shillings

 

The Knights of the Round
Table, from the Compilation
arthurienne de Micheau
Gonnot (1470)

The entry tell us that 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 box office today is excellent, but it probably has nothing to do with the specific play, as Chinon's popularity is wildly unpredictable. It likely has a lot more to do with the excitement of London's theatregoers, who have been starved of entertainment over the last few months.

Further reading

• Carol Chillington Rutter, Documents of the Rose Playhouse (Manchester University Press, 1984), 105-8.

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?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!