9 September, 1594 - Godfrey of Bouillon

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 8 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at godfrey ... xxxx^s 

In modern English: [9]^th September, 1594 ... Received at Godfrey ... 40 shillings

The death of Godfrey of Bouillon.
From a thirteenth century
manuscript of William of 
Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer

Today, the company revived a play that Henslowe calls Godfrey. This was probably The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon, a lost sequel premiered about a month ago; you can read more about it in the entry for 19th July. Alternatively, it might have been the equally lost original play, sometimes identified by scholars with the mysterious Jerusalem, which you can read about in the entry for 22 March, 1592. Either way, today's play would have dramatized some aspect of the eponymous medieval warrior's capture of the city of Jerusalem from the Turks.

Today is quite a surprise - Godfrey of Bouillon has suddenly received a higher-than-average audience. It's hard to say what has caused this sudden burst of enthusiasm, but the players must be thrilled.

FURTHER READING

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?

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7 September, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 7 of septembȝ 1594 ... R at the mesacar... xvij^s vj^d


In modern English: 7 September, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 17 shillings and sixpence 

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 

Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's tragedy about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th-century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The players have waited two weeks before returning The Massacre at Paris to the stage, but like so many once-popular plays, its audiences are collapsing to unsustainable depths. 17 shillings represents only a quarter-full theatre. While Marlowe's older play Tamburlaine is currently roaring back to the stage, this one seems to be approaching the end of its life.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 8th September was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 9th September. 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?

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6 September, 1594 - Cutlack

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at cvtlacke ... xj^s 

In modern English: 6^th September, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 11 shillings

Illustration of Belinus (or Brennius, it's not clear)
from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577)

Today, the the Admiral's Men revived Cutlack, their play about the eponymous Danish king and his violent intervention into a civil war in ancient Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

The response to Cutlack has been varied over the last few weeks, but today's box office is truly awful, the smallest audience we have seen for anything since the Rose re-opened in June. It must surely be time to pension this play off.

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 September, 1594 - The Venetian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 7 5 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at the venesyon comodey ... xxxvj^s vj^d

In modern English: 5^th September, 1594 ... Received at The Venetian Comedy ... 36 shillings and sixpence

The Quack Doctor by Pietro Longhi (late
18th century)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived the play that they had premiered last week, The Venetian Comedy, about which we know nothing beyond its title. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 August.

The Venetian Comedy had attracted a surprisingly small crowd to its debut performance last week, and today's follow-up performance must have been equally disappointing for the players. It received merely an average-sized audience, a very inauspicious sign for its future. It represents a marked contrast with the recently debuted play, Tasso's Melancholy, which has continued to pull large audiences for its second and third performances. The Admiral's Men must have their doubts about this one.

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?

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4 September, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 4 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolito ... xxij^s

In modern English: 4^th September, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 22 shillings

Two Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590

Today, the company returned to Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

The company have waited only a week before reviving Philippo and Hippolito, which is becoming one of the most frequently performed plays at the Rose this year. But like many of its fellows introduced around the same time back in July, attendance is now declining to an uncomfortable degree. Its sell-by date may be approaching.

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?

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3 September, 1594 - Tasso's Melancholy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at Tasso ... xxxxvj^s 

In modern English: 3^rd September, 1594 ... Received at Tasso ... 46 shillings

Tasso in the Madhouse
by Eugene Delacroix (1839)

Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Tasso's Melancholy. This lost play dramatized the lovesick insanity of the Italian poet Torquato Tasso; you can read more about it in the entry for 13th August.

Tasso's Melancholy is proving a great success: it has followed its popular premiere with two well-attended subsequent performances. If this lost play was indeed an attempt at capturing the audience who loved The Spanish Tragedy and the ur-Hamlet, it seems to have worked.

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?

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2 September, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 2 of septmbȝ  1594 ... R at the Jew of malta ... xxiij^s vj^d 

In modern English: 2^nd September, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 23 shillings and sixpence

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Henslowe's Diary is entering one of its brief phases in which the dates are correct, so we can all relax a little!

On the stage, the players once again performed The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

The once-mighty Jew of Malta continues what appears to be its slow fade out.  The players have ignored it for almost a month, and yet today's receipts remain unimpressive. A titan of the stage has become just another 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!