28 October, 1594 - Palamon and Arcite

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 27 of octobȝ 1594 ... R at pallaman & harset ... xxxxvij^s 

In modern English: [28^th] October, 1594 ... Received at Palamon and Arcite ... 47 shillings

Emily watched by the prisoners from their cell
window; from a 15th-century manuscript of
Boccaccio's Teseida

Today, the company revived Palamon and Arcite, an adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer's "Knight's Tale", in which two noble kinsmen become rivals for the hand of a fair maiden. You can read more about this play in the entry for 18th September.

What?! Palamon and Arcite is weird. A disappointing premiere was followed by a month-long absence and a lacklustre second performance. Now, ten days later, its third performance has attracted a large crowd to the Rose.  I don't pretend to understand what's going on.

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)

 

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