13 June, 1595 - The Second Part of Hercules

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 13 of June 1595 ... R at 2 pt of herculos ... iij^ll ij^s

In modern English: 13^th June, 1595 ... Received at Second Part of Hercules ... £3 and 2 shillings.

The Embarkation of the Argonauts by Lorenzo
Costa (16th century). Hercules is on the prow
of the Argo.

The Hercules plays are doing splendidly! After a very popular revival of Part One yesterday, the company now follows it with the almost new Part Two, continuing the story of the Greek mythological strongman. This part may have included Hercules' contribution to the quest for the Golden Fleece. You can read more about it in the entry for 23rd May.

Once again the Rose is full, so Henslowe must be happy. But you may remember from yesterday that there's an ugly atmosphere in London this week. Today, another riot has broken out, this time in Southwark Market, not far from the Rose, where a recent hike in the price of butter inspired a crowd of apprentices to descend on the market and cause uproar.  Eventually, this will turn out to have an effect on the playhouses; hold that thought.

FURTHER READING

On the apprentice riots

• Carol Chillington Rutter, Documents of the Rose Playhouse (Manchester University Press, 1984), 92.
• M.J. Power, "London and the Control of the 'Crisis' of the 1590s", History 70 (1985), 379.
• "Rebellion by London apprentices in 1595", British Library - Discovering Literature: Shakespeare & Renaissance

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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