3 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of Jenewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xxxxij^s 

In modern English: 3^rd January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 42 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

London's theatregoers seem to have responded favourably to That Will Be Shall Be, which premiered a few days ago to a large audience, and has received a similarly sized audience today. This is an encouraging sign, although it may be due to the ongoing Christmas festivities, rather than to the quality of the play itself.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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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