27 August, 1594 - The Venetian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 25 of aguste 1594 ... ne ... R at the venesyon comodey ... l^s vj^d

In modern English: [27^th] August, 1594 ... New ... Received at The Venetian Comedy ... 50 shillings and sixpence

Today, the company performed a new play! Unfortunately, it is now lost, and it possessed a title so utterly generic that it's impossible to piece together anything about it.

The Quack Doctor by Pietro Longhi (late
18th century)

Comedies set in Venice are plentiful in English Renaissance drama, and indeed the city, with its labyrinthine geography and the tendency of its citizens to wear masks at any opportunity, is almost designed to produce farcical comedy.

But the Venetian setting doesn't help us to pin down the plot of this play. Back in 1592, you might recall, we saw a Venetian comedy entitled Bindo and Ricciardo which had a plot so bizarre that even the wildest scholar could never have imagined it. We will just have to shrug and accept that some things can never be known.

Whatever its plot, The Venetian Comedy has begun its career poorly. 50 shillings is a very disappointing result for a brand new play. Perhaps the generic title failed to drum up sufficient excitement?

FURTHER READING

Venetian Comedy information

• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 964.

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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