Where are they now?

Edward Alleyn (portrait
of unknown date)

Henslowe's list of performances at the Rose may be over, but that does not mean that his story is done. He will continue to make Diary entries of different kinds, and he will support theatre for many more years.

So too will his son-in-law, the actor Edward Alleyn, who had played the lead roles in many performances recorded in the Diary. Alleyn seems to have retired from acting at around the same time Henslowe ceased to record the names of the plays performed at the Rose; it is almost as if Henslowe no longer cared once his son-in-law was no longer in them. The two men will continue their business partnership for the rest of their lives.

In 1599, a new rival will appear close to the Rose in their Bankside vicinity: the Globe theatre, built by the Chamberlain's Men, Shakespeare's company. But by that time, Henslowe and Alleyn will already have decided to move to a new theatre north of the river: the Fortune playhouse in the suburb of Clerkenwell, completed in 1600. The Admiral's Men will perform there, albeit under different names, until 1631; they will sometimes revive old plays that we have seen in the Diary, such as Doctor Faustus. 

As for the Rose, it will cease to be used in the early 1600s and will ultimately be torn down. Its foundations, however, will survive to be rediscovered in the 1980s, and can now be visited thanks to the Rose Theatre Trust. 

Christ's Chapel of God's Gift, one of the original
buildings of Dulwich College

Henslowe will die in 1616 at the age of about 60, having apparently suffered from a stroke. Alleyn will live longer. Immensely rich, he will become concerned about his legacy. Having bought a manorial estate in the village of Dulwich, he will use his wealth to endow a charitable establishment there for 'poor scholars'; he will name it the College of God's Gift, but it will ultimately become known as Dulwich College, and will survive to the present day as a school, an almshouse, a chapel and a picture gallery.

Alleyn will bequeath many things to the College, including a chest containing old documents. Among those documents will be Henslowe's Diary, which will sit there quietly until scholars begin to investigate it in the late 18th century, and will remain there to this day. You can now study this amazing document from the comfort of your own home, thanks to the Henslowe-Alleyn Digitization Project. 

Stay tuned for some further reflections on the end of the Diary!

FURTHER READING

• R.A. Foakes (ed.), Henslowe's Diary, 2nd ed. (Cambridge University Press,. 2002), xv-xvi.
• S.P. Cerasano, "Henslowe, Philip (c. 1555–1616), theatre financier." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004), accessed November 2021.
• Cerasano, S. P. "Alleyn, Edward (1566–1626), actor, theatre entrepreneur, and founder of Dulwich College." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (2004), accessed November 2021.
• "The Henslowe-Alleyn Papers, Past, Present and Future", The Henslowe-Alleyn Digitization Project (2021), accessed November 2021. 

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