1 November, 1595 - The Disguises

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 30 of octobȝ 1595 ... R at the desgysses ... xxix^s 

In modern English: [1^st November], 1595 ... Received at The Disguises ... 29 shillings

Lorenzo Lippi, Woman with a Mask
(The Allegory of Deception), 1650

Today, the company revived The Disguises, a lost play about... disguises. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 October.

Today was All Saints Day, a public holiday, and that might explain the somewhat larger than expected audience at The Disguises, which has managed to half-fill the Rose against all expectations.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 2 November was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 3rd - see you then!

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!

1 November, 1594 - A Knack to Know an Honest Man

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 1 of novembȝ 1594 ... R at the knacke to know & onest man  ... iij^ll iij^s

In modern English: 1^st November, 1594 ... Received at The Knack to Know an Honest Man ... £3 and 3 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived A Knack to Know an Honest Man, their comical moral romance set in Venice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23rd October.

What a surprise! We suddenly have an unexpected hit on our hands! A Knack to Know an Honest Man received a very disappointing premiere a week and a half ago, but its second performance was unexpectedly better. And today's performance has resulted in a full house!

The likely reason is that today was All Saints' Day, a public holiday that would have enabled more Londoners than usual to attend the theatre. Even so, this is an impressive turnaround for the Knack.

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!