24 May, 1597 - A Humorous Day's Mirth

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

Henslowe writes: 24 | tt at comody of vmers... 02 | 18

In modern English: 24^th [May, 1597] ... total at Comedy of Humours ... £2 and 18 shillings [i.e. 58 shillings]

Today, the Admiral's Men revived their 

A classic image of a
melancholic, from
Robert Burton's Anatomy
of Melancholy (1622)

Comedy of Humours, which is almost certainly another name for George Chapman's A Humorous Day's Mirth. You can read more about this eccentric comedy in the entry for 11 May. 

Wonderful news for the company! The third performance of A Humorous Day's Mirth is a tremendous success, with the box office rising instead of falling, and almost filling the Rose playhouse. This is an utterly different turn of events from what one normally expects, and the actors must be thrilled to have finally scored a hit after so many plays have disappointed. 

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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