3 May, 1595 - The French Doctor

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 maye 1595 ... R at the frenshe docter ... xj^s 

In modern English: 3^rd May, 1595 ... Received at The French Doctor ... 11 shillings

A French Physician, byMatthew Darly, 1771

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The French Doctor, a lost play that you can read more about in the entry for 19 October.

At the beginning of the last week, the company opened their new season with The French Doctor, and the excitement combined with the Easter holidays drew a large crowd. Today's performance is much more typical of this play's fortunes, with only a tiny audience showing up to see whatever medical mirth it contained.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 4th May was a Sunday in 1595 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 5th for a week that will include a new play and a farewell. See you then!

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?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!