1 May, 1596 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: maye daye 1596 ... R at wonder of a womon ... xxij^s 

In modern English: May Day, 1596 ... Received at Wonder of a Woman ... 22 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today was May Day, a public holiday! The Admiral's Men have chosen to celebrate with The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October.

This is a big disappointment for the company. The May Day holiday usually brings floods of theatregoers into the Rose, but today only a paltry crowd has shown up for The Wonder of a Woman. Whether this is due to bad weather or the unpopularity of the play, Henslowe must be frustrated.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 2nd May was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 3rd May for a week that will include a new(ish) play. 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!

31 January, 1596 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 30 of Jenewary 1595 ... m^r pd ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xj^s 

In modern English: [31^st] January, [1596] ... Master paid ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 11 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men have chosen to perform The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October.

The Wonder of a Woman had been doing better for a while, but returned to the stage after two weeks, its box office is now heading back toward dismal levels.

Today's entry includes a note that Henslowe paid the license for the Rose to the Master of the Revels; you can read more about this in the entry for 8 November.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 1st February was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 2nd for a week that will include a new play. 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!

15 January, 1596 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 15 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xxvij^s 

In modern English: 15^th January, [1596] ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 27 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men have chosen to perform The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October.

After its sell-out performance on Boxing Day, The Wonder of a Woman is doing better than it had been before, with an almost half-full theatre.

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!

26 December, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 25 of desembȝ 1595 ^{S steuens day} ... R at the wonder of a womon ... iij^ll ij^s 

In modern English: [26^th] December, 1595, St Stephen's Day ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... £3 and 2 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Merry Christmas! In Elizabethan England, today was St Stephen's Day, or the second day of Christmas (the equivalent of our Boxing Day). It was a time for feasting and the giving of presents, but it was also a time for theatre, as the Rose has opened its doors to Londoners on this festive day.

The Admiral's Men have chosen to perform The Wonder of a Woman, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 16 October. This play has been doing very poorly at the box office of late, but not today: on this festive occasion, the theatre is packed, regardless of the quality of the production.

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!

4 December, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 4 of desembȝ 1595 ... R at wonder of a womon ... xiiij^s 

In modern English: 4^th December, 1595 ... Received at Wonder of a Woman ... 14 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Wonder of a Woman. You can read more about this lost play in the entry for 16 October.

The players have waited two weeks to revive The Wonder of a Woman, but its box office is now already in the doldrums.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because, for unknown reasons, no performance is recorded at the Rose on 5th December. We're entering a stretch of the Diary in which numerous days do not have performances recorded, a situation that will continue throughout December. We do not know whether the Rose was literally empty that day, or whether Henslowe's records are in error.

 Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 6th; 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!

20 November, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 20 of novmbȝ 1595 ... R at wonder of a womon ... xx^s 

In modern English: 20^th November, 1595 ... Received at Wonder of a Woman ... 20 shillings

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Wonder of a Woman. You can read more about this lost play in the entry for 16 October.

Not long after its premiere, the box office for The Wonder of a Woman is continuing to sink further; it seems to have been a misfire.

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!

5 November, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 4 of novmbȝ 1595 ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xxvij^s 

In modern English: [5^th] November, 1595 ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 27 shillings.

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Wonder of a Woman. You can read more about this lost play in the entry for 16 October.

This is the third performance of The Wonder of a Woman, and although its box office is a little better than last week, it still shows a lack of enthusiasm for this new play.

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 October, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 23 of octobȝ 1595 ... R at the wonder of a womon ... xxiij^s 

In modern English: [24^th ] October, 1595 ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 23 shillings.

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Wonder of a Woman, which they had premiered last week. You can read more about this lost play in the entry for 16 October.

For its second outing, The Wonder of a Woman has received extremely poor box office, suggesting that word of mouth was terrible. The company must be very disappointed.

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!

16 October, 1595 - The Wonder of a Woman

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 15 of octobȝ 1595 ... ne ... R at the wonder of a womon ... liij^s 

In modern English: [16^th ] October, 1595 ... New ... Received at The Wonder of a Woman ... 53 shillings.

Artemesia Gentileschi, Allegory of
Fame (early 1630s)

Today, the Admiral's Men premiered a new play! Sadly, The Wonder of a Woman is yet another lost play whose content is unknown.

The Wonder of a Woman presumably featured a female character who was impressive in some way, but little more can be said about it. Was she a transgressive figure taking on traditionally male roles, such as Pope Joan, Zenobia or Long Meg of Westminster? Or was she paragon of conventional female virtue like Esther? Your guess is as good as mine.

Whatever the reasons for the heroine's wondrousness, The Wonder of a Woman achieved a large crowd, though not as large as the most successful premieres.

FURTHER READING

Wonder of a Woman information

• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1013.

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!