11 October, 1597 - Hieronimo and a new beginning

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

Henslowe writes: In the name of god amen the xj of octobe begane my lord admerals & my lord of penbrockes men to playe at my howse 1597

11 |  tt at Joroneymo | 02 | 00

In modern English: In the name of god, Amen; 11 October began my Lord Admiral's and my Lord of Pembroke's Men to play at my house, 1597 

11^th [October, 1597] ... total at Hieronimo ... £2

Welcome back! Today, the Rose playhouse has re-opened its doors after London's theatres were closed back in July. If you recall, the authorities had demanded that the playhouse cease performances until "Allhallowtide next", which would indicate the end of October, but the players have returned early, for reasons unknown.

As you can see from Henslowe's note at the top of today's entry, there are some changes at the Rose. The Admiral's Men, who have been performing here for many years, are now apparently joined by the Earl of Pembroke's Men. This is the company that had previously been performing at the Swan playhouse down the road, and whose production of the scandalous Isle of Dogs play may have been the cause of the shutdown of the theatres. Pembroke's Men were apparently no longer able to perform at the Swan, and it is not clear whether some of the members have merged with the Admiral's, or whether the two companies are remaining separate, perhaps taking turns at the Rose. 

Woodcut from the 1615 edition of The Spanish Tragedy.

To mark their return to the Rose, the players have revived Hieronimo, which is almost certainly an alternate title for Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, a famous and much-loved old play about the revenge of a grieving father for his son's death. You can read more about it in the entry for 14th March, 1592. London's theatregoers seem surprisingly unexcited by the return of playing to the Bankside, however, with the theatre only about half full. 

This is the last performance of The Spanish Tragedy recorded in Henslowe's diary. The old classic is one of the most frequently-performed plays in the Diary, and has been seen 29 times since its first appearance five years ago (when it was already no spring chicken).  But a last entry in the Diary doesn't mean its stage life is over. We are now in the final batch of Henslowe's records of performances, and the end of this blog is thus nigh! I should warn you that the last entries are not a spectacular climax; they are puzzling and intermittent, with several hiatuses, and ultimately, they will fizzle out unceremoniously in mid-November. Don't say I didn't warn you.

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!