24 June, 1595 - The French Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 24 of June mydsomerdaye ...  R at the frenshecomodeye ... xxx^s 

In modern English: 24^th June, Midsummer's Day ... Received at The French Comedy ... 30 shillings.

French commedia dell'arte performers,
from a 17th-century engraving by Jacques Callot

Today was Midsummer's Day, a public holiday and a time of late-night bonfires and celebration! On this day, the Admiral's Men chose to perform, for the last time, The French Comedy, a lost play about which we know almost nothing. You can read more about it in the entry for February 11.  

The French Comedy is one of those plays that the company has never performed at frequent intervals, and has never done particularly well. Today, on a public holiday, it has filled only half the theatre, which is not impressive at all. Perhaps this was the final nail in its coffin, as this is its last recorded performance in Henslowe's Diary.

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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