6 June, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

Here's what the Admiral's Men and/or the Chamberlain's Men performed at the Newington Butts playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 4 of June, 1594 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... x^s

In modern English: 6^th June, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 10 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Today, the actors at Newington Butts performed a very familiar play: 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.

Ever since Henslowe's Diary began, The Jew of Malta has been a constant presence, regardless of which company was performing. Today, Edward Alleyn was undoubtedly returning to the the role of Barabas for which he was famed. 

As always with performances at Newington Butts, the box office looks unimpressive, and it is possible that Alleyn was barnstorming to an almost empty theatre, but we cannot be sure.

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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