6 February, 1594 - Titus Andronicus

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

Henslowe writes: R at titus & ondronicus the 6 of febery 1593 ... xxxx^s 

In modern English: Received at Titus Andronicus, 6^th February, 1594 ... 40 shillings

Titus and Lavinia kill Tamora's sons: illustration
from the Pepys Collection's copy of a ballad
of Titus Andronicus (1680s)

Today, Sussex's Men once again revived Titus Andronicus, Shakespeare's violent revenge tragedy about a cycle of vengeance in ancient Rome. You can read more about this play in the entry for 24 January.

Sussex's Men seem to have assumed that Titus will be a popular play, as they are now performing it weekly. The play received the same box office as its previous outing, which is above average for the Rose, and shows that it has some staying power.

What's next?

The question of whether Titus Andronicus has will be a long-running hit for Sussex's Men will ultimately prove irrelevant, as today's performance will be the last at the Rose for several weeks. In the next blog entry, I'll explain what happened, and what you can expect to see later in the spring.

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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