6 May, 1592 - Friar Bacon

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

Henslowe writes: R at fryer bacon the 6 of maye 1592 ... xiiij^s

In modern English: Received at Friar Bacon, 6^th May, 1592 ... 14 shillings

From the title page of a prose tale of Friar Bacon, 1629,
which was re-used for the 1630 edition of the play.

Today, Lord Strange's Men returned to their magical fantasy about the wizard Friar Bacon, which they had last performed just under a fortnight ago. The exact identity of this play is uncertain: it may have been Robert Greene's Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, or it may have been the anonymous John of Bordeaux; you can read more about it in the entry for 19th February.

In a previous entry, I wondered whether the company would be dropping Friar Bacon from their repertory, due to its consistently low box office. Today, it managed to achieve its smallest audience ever. I continue to wonder why they're bothering with this play.

• Saturday, 19th February - 15 shillings
• Saturday, 25th March - 17 shillings
• Wednesday, 26th April - 23 shillings
• Saturday, 6 May - 14 shillings

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 7th May was a Sunday in 1592. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 8th May...

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!