8 April, 1597 - A Woman Hard to Please

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

Henslowe writes: 8 | tt at womon hard to pleasse | 00 | 05 

In  modern English: 8^th [April, 1597] ... total at Woman Hard to Please ... 5 shillings

A woman looks deeply unimpressed by her
rescuer in Paolo Uccello's St George and
the Dragon (c.1470)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived their enigmatic lost play, A Woman Hard to Please. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 January.

Today's performance attracted only a tiny audience and is one of several such disasters this week. Perhaps people are staying away having visiting the theatres a lot during Easter Week.

What's next?

For unknown reasons, Henslowe records no performances for the next few days. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 11th. 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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7 April, 1597 - Five Plays in One

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

Henslowe writes: 7 | ne | tt at v playes in one | 02 | 01

In modern English: 7^th [April, 1597] ... total at Five Plays in One ... £2 and 1 shilling [i.e. 41 shillings].

The number 5 in a
column of figures
in Henslowe's Diary

Today, the Admiral's Men performed a new play! Unfortunately, it is yet another lost play, and its title tells us very little indeed, except that it was probably a collection of one-act plays, perhaps linked by some kind of narrative device. 

We have already encountered a lost play of this kind at the Rose, back in 1592, entitled Four Plays in One. And one theory about the lost Seven Days of the Week, is that it too was an anthology show.  We know of other lost plays of this kind, too. Thomas Middleton's one-act Yorkshire Tragedy (1607) was once part of an otherwise lost Four Plays in One. The only text of this form to survive in full is Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One, written around 1614 by John Fletcher and his collaborators. 

Rosyln L. Knutson's entry on Five Plays in One for the Lost Plays Database describes how early theatre historians were over-imaginative in assuming that the playlets were on Classical subjects. In truth, we know nothing at all about their subject matter. All we know is their number. 

In terms of box office, Five Plays in One has not had an auspicious debut: the audience is small for a premiere, and it will need good word of mouth to be a success. 

FURTHER READING

Five Plays in One information

• Rosyln L. Knutson, "Five Plays in One (Admiral's Men)", Lost Plays Database (2019), accessed April 2021. 
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2021), entry 1063.

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?

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5 April, 1597 - Alexander and Lodowick

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

Henslowe writes: 5 | tt at elexsander & lodwicke ... | 01 | 02

In modern English: 5^th [April, 1597] ... total at Alexander and Lodowick ... £1 and 2 shillings [i.e. 22 shillings]

A very generic illustration accompanying the
printed text of the ballad of The Two Faithful
Friends: The Pleasant History of Alexander
and Lodowick

Today, the Admiral's Men revived Alexander and Lodowick, a lost play about two friends who swap places. You can read more about this play in the entry for 14 January. 

The company has returned the two friends to the stage a week after their popular Easter Week performance. Today's performance is less successful, but solid.

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 April, 1597 - Guido

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

Henslowe writes: 4 | tt at gvido | 01 | 08

In modern English: 4^th [April, 1597] ... total at Guido ... £1 and 8 shillings [i.e. 28 shilings]

Guido Cavalcanti, one
of the possible subjects
of this play, in a painting
by Cristofano dell'Altissimo 

Today, the Admiral's Men performed Guido, an enigmatic lost play that might have been about the poet Guido Cavalcanti. You can read more about this play in the entry for 19 March.

The company has returned Guido to the stage five days after its triumphant success during Easter Week. It is still doing very well, with a the theatre nearly half full. The play may be shaping up to be a solid success.

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 April, 1597 - Vortigern

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

Henslowe writes: 2 | tt at valteger ... | 00 | 04 

In modern English: 2 [April, 1597] ... Received at Vortigern ... 4 shillings

Vortigern in his burning
castle. From a 14th-century
manuscript of Peter of
Langtoft's Chronicle of
England.  

Today, the Admiral's Men chose to perform Vortigern, their play about the legendary British king whose actions brought about the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 4th December, 1596. 

After yesterday's sparsely attended performance of The Blind Beggar, even fewer people have shown up to Vortigern. The Rose seems to be in a slump following the highs of Easter Week. 

It's possible that this is the last performance of Vortigern to be recorded in Henslowe's Diary, although it may reappear in the summer under a different title; watch this space...

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 3 April was a Sunday in 1597 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 4th for a week that will include a 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!

1 April, 1597 - The Blind Beggar of Alexandria

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

Henslowe writes: Aprelle 1597| 1 | tt at blinde beger ... | 00 | 05

In modern English: 1^st April, 1597 ... Received at Blind Beggar ... 5 shillings

Beggars in Alexandria; an undated photograph
from Brooklyn Museum's Lantern Slide Collection

Today, for the last time on record, the Admiral's Men revived The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, George Chapman's comedy about a master of disguise. You can read more about this play in the entry for 12 February, 1596.

The Blind Beggar of Alexandria was once immensely popular, but today's takings are dismal, representing an almost empty theatre. The Admiral's Men seem to have decided that this play has run its course, because this is its last appearance in Henslowe's list of performances. 

That doesn't mean that all is over for the blind beggar, however. Next year, in 1598, the playtext will be published for readers to enjoy. And in 1601, the Admiral's Men will restage it in their new playhouse, the Fortune; Henslowe will record the purchasing of new costumes for it, made by "Radford, the little tailor". 

For now, though, we must say farewell to this manic comedy and wait to see what will replace it...

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!