9 June, 1595 - A Knack to Know an Honest Man

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 9 of June 1595 ... ^{whitsun daie ll} ... R at the knacke ... lv^s

In modern English: 9^th June, 1595 ... Whitsunday ...Received at The Knack ... 55 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)

Today was the first day of Whitsuntide, the annual multi-day holiday celebrating the beginning of summer! Londoners had time off and were in a festive mood, so for the Admiral's Men there is the chance of bigger and livelier audiences.

The actors chose today to revive A Knack to Know an Honest Man, their comical moral romance set in Venice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23rd October, 1594.

The company has not performed this play for over a month, but the holiday has brought a large crowd to the Rose, giving a much-needed burst of energy to this aging comedy.
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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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