5 July, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes:  5 |  tt at what wilbe shalbe ... | 00 | 10

In modern English: 5^th [July, 1597]  ... total at What Will Be Shall Be ... 10 shillings 

Today, for the last time on record, the Admiral's Men staged That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

The company is continuing with its routine of performing That Will Be Shall Be only about once a month, but this is its last appearance in the Diary. It has received 12 performances in total since its premier at the end of December, but has rarely achieved impressive box office, so this may be goodbye forever.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

6 June, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes:  6 |  tt at what wilbe shalbe ... | 00 | 10

In modern English: 6^th [June, 1597]  ... total at What Will Be Shall Be ... 10 shillings 

Today, the Admiral's Men staged That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

The company is continuing with its routine of performing That Will Be Shall Be only about once a month. The box office has declined further. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

30 April, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes:  30 |  tt at what wilbe shalbe ... | 00 | 14

In modern English: 30^th [April, 1597]  ... total at What Will Be Shall Be ... 14 shillings 

Today, the Admiral's Men staged That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

The company seems to have decided to perform That Will Be Shall Be only about once a month, apparently regarding it as one of their less important plays. Today's box office is better than last time but still unimpressive.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 1 May was a Sunday in 1597 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 2nd - 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!

6 April, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes:  6 |  tt at what wilbe & shalbe ... | 00 | 07

In modern English: 6^th [April, 1597]  ... total at What Will Be and Shall Be ... 7 shillings 

Today, the Admiral's Men staged That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

This play has not been seen at the Rose since its re-opening a month ago. The box office continues to be dreadful; perhaps this one will be for the chop soon.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

3 March, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be and a rival playhouse

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

Henslowe writes:  begynyng in leant marche 1597 | 3 |  tt at what wilbe shalbe ... | 00 | 09 

In modern English: Beginning in Lent ... 3^rd March, 1597  ... total at What Will Be Shall Be ... 9 shillings 

Welcome back! Today, after being silent for just over a fortnight, the Rose has re-opened. But the circumstances are rather mysterious. One might have assumed that the recent closure was due to the ongoing season of Lent, a time of religious austerity. Yet today, the company is back to work with three weeks of Lent still remaining. 

The Swan playhouse on a 1627 map
(at the bottom, labelled 'olde Playe house')

The closure may in fact have had more to do with some bad news: a new playhouse has opened, less than ten minute's walk from the Rose! Named the Swan, it was built by an entrepreneur and landowner, Francis Langley, and is now occupied by Pembroke's Men who are performing plays there.  

Henslowe has been aware of the looming problem of the Swan for some time. The playhouse seems to be have been constructed gradually during 1594 and 1595, but it may have been standing empty until now (for a summary of the Swan's history, see its entry in the Map of Early Modern London project). 

As for Pembroke's Men, we briefly heard tell of them back in September, 1593, when they were struggling terribly during the plague, and they also appeared at the Rose for a few days in June, 1594. Since then, they have been touring the country, lacking a London home. Finally, they have found one, just down the road from the Admiral's Men.

This is bad news for Henslowe. To make matters worse, two of the Admiral's Men's players, Thomas Downton and Richard Jones, have defected from the Rose to join Pembroke's at the Swan. Perhaps the recent break was less about piety and more about trying to find replacement actors. 

Henslowe and the Admiral's Men have regrouped and have reopened the Rose despite Lent. However, as we will see, they will often perform only on alternate days, perhaps as a gesture to the season. 

For their reopening, the Admiral's Men have chosen That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596. But if the company were expecting a throng of grateful Londoners who had missed them, they are sorely mistaken. Today's box office is tiny, indicating a mostly empty theatre. Perhaps the Swan is offering something more enticing?

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

What's next?

As mentioned above, the Admiral's Men are often performing only on alternate days for the season of Lent. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 5 March. See you then!

FURTHER READING

The Swan and the Rose in 1597

• Carol Chillington Rutter, Documents of the Rose Playhouse  (Manchester University Press, 1985), 110.
• "The Swan", Map of Early Modern London (2020), accessed March 2021.

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!

2 February, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: Candlemaseday | 2 |  tt at what wilbe shalbe ... | 01 | 18 

In modern English: Candlemas Day ... 2^nd [February, 1597]  ... total at What Will Be Shall Be ... £1 and 18 shillings [i.e. 38 shillings]

Today was Candlemas, a feast day and a public holiday celebrating the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. On this day, churches would be filled with candles. The Admiral's Men have revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596. For some reason, Henslowe will from now on call it What Will Be... instead of That Will Be.

This year's Candlemas is bit disappointing for the players. Last year, the holiday resulted in a very big crowd at the Rose to see The Jew of Malta. But today, although things are certainly better than the average day, the theatre is only just over half full.  Could this be due to bad weather? Or are the company's new plays just not cutting it?

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

24 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be and a new accounting system

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

Henslowe writes: Janewary 1597 | 24 |  R at that wilbe shalbe ... | 0 | 17 | 00 19-07 

In modern English: 24^th January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 17 shillings

Something strange has just happened. As you can see from the entry above, Henslowe has suddenly changed his accounting system! The format that we have become used to over the years has been replaced by an entirely new one, in which five numbers follow the play title. In addition, two days, from now, Henslowe will cease to begin each entry with "R" for "received", and will instead begin them with "tt", which is short for "totalis" (Latin for "total"). The reasons for some of these changes are unknown.

The scholarly consensus is that the two numbers following the play title are the box office takings in pounds and shillings (for the uninitiated, there are twenty shillings to the pound). Previously, Henslowe had recorded his box office takings only in shillings, not bothering to mention pounds unless the amount rose as high as £3, which it did only on exceptional occasions. Now, he always counts the pounds. In order to keep continuity with the previous entries in this blog and thus make comparisons easier, I will specify in the 'modern spelling' version of the entry both the figures given by Henslowe and their equivalent in shillings only (this is not necessary for today's entry, since the takings were less than £1).

But there is a mystery about Henslowe's new system. The box office takings are always followed by  three more numbers (today, "00 19-07"). Unfortunately, nobody knows their meaning; some scholars suspect that they represent the receipts taken at the door to the theatre (recall that Henslowe's box office takings are only for entry into the gallery or seating area), but this is not certain and they might represent some other entirely different receipts or expenditures. Since the meaning is unclear, I have decided to leave these figures out of subsequent blog entries, to avoid confusion.  

Apart from that, today was an ordinary day at the Rose. The Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play about which you can read more in the entry for 30 December, 1596. The company continues to perform That Will Be Shall Be more than once a week, and its box office continues to be unspectacular. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

FURTHER READING

Information on the new accounting system

• Neil Carson, A Companion to Henslowe's Diary (Cambridge University Press, 1988), 18-19
• R.A. Foakes, ed. Henslowe's Diary, 2nd ed.(Cambridge University Press, 2002), xxxvii-xl

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!

18 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 18 of Janewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xv^s 

In modern English: 18^th January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 15 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

The company is continuing to perform That Will Be Shall Be more than once a week, but its box office has now collapsed. Perhaps it has already become over-familiar. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

13 January, 1597 That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 13 of Janewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xxij^s 

In modern English: 13^th January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 22 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

On its fourth performance in only two weeks, That Will Be Shall Be has received a fairly small audience. It had achieved some success during the Christmas season, but it seems likely that outside of the festive season it is not viewed as anything special. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

6 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 of Jenewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xxxxij^s 

In modern English: 6^th January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 42 shillings

Today is Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas season, and a day of festivity. On this day, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

This is another good result for That Will Be Shall Be, which has attracted a larger than average crowd to the Rose on its third performance, despite being performed three times in just one week. However, these big audiences may be due to the Christmas festivities, so we will see if the play continues to be popular next week. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

3 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of Jenewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xxxxij^s 

In modern English: 3^rd January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 42 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

London's theatregoers seem to have responded favourably to That Will Be Shall Be, which premiered a few days ago to a large audience, and has received a similarly sized audience today. This is an encouraging sign, although it may be due to the ongoing Christmas festivities, rather than to the quality of the play itself.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!

30 December, 1596 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 310 of desembȝ 1596 ... ne ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... l^s 

In modern English: 30^th December, 1596 ... New ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 50 shillings

Today, the Admiral's Men premiered another new play, their fourth in as many weeks. Unfortunately, That Will Be Shall Be is lost and nothing is known about its content.

The title appears to refer to the unpredictability and inescapability of the future; the modern equivalent would be the song lyrics, "Que sera, sera, / Whatever will be will be", which is a good excuse for a bit of Doris Day:

But the saying goes back much further. Indeed, the Rose audience will have heard something very similar in the play of Doctor Faustus, last performed less than a fortnight ago; in the first scene, the protagonist sums up the doctrines of theology as, "Che serà, serà, / What will be, shall be".

Perhaps That Will Be Shall Be was a tragedy about a character doomed to an inescapable fate. But the tone of the title would seem better to suggest a comedy, and may be reminiscent of such Shakespearean titles as What You Will, As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing. 

Whatever its content, That Will Be Shall Be has had a moderately successful premiere: the theatre is not full, but it is comfortably crowded.

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

FURTHER READING

That Will Be Shall Be information

• Andrew Gurr, Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company, 1594-1625 (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 94, 224-5
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1051
• Roslyn L. Knutson, "That Will Be Shall Be", Lost Plays Database (2020), accessed December 2020. 

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!