8 June, 1594 - Cutlack

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 6 of June 1594 ... R at cvtlacke ... xj^s

In modern English: 8^th June, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 11 shillings

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

Today, the players revived Cutlack, their play about a bombastic Danish king and his clashes with the warring brothers Bellinus and Brennius in ancient Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

The Admiral's Men had last performed Cutlack during their brief three-day stint at the Rose in May, when it had at attracted a larger-than-average crowd. We cannot know, however, how many people journeyed to the playhouse at Newington to see Edward Alleyn play the arrogant Dane.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 9 June was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog will thus return on the 10th for a week that will include two very famous plays...

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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