8 July, 1597 - The Wise Man of West Chester

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

Henslowe writes: 8 | tt at wismane of weschester | 01 | 00 

In modern English: 8^th [July, 1597] ... total at Wise Man of West Chester ... £1 [i.e. 20 shillings]

A man, who might possibly be
wise, carved on the choir
stalls of Chester Cathedral

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Wise Man of West Chester, a lost play that appears to have been about a wizard in the English city of Chester; you can read more about it in the entry for 3 December, 1594.

This is a surprise! We have not seen The Wise Man of West Chester for a year. Once upon a time, it was one of the most popular plays ever staged at the Rose, and the company seems to be trying to bring the magic back. But today it has attracted only a small audience; despite the rest, it seems to have lost is mojo.

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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