5 September, 1595 - Crack Me This Nut

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 5 of septmbȝ 1595 ... ne ... R at cracke me this nvtte ... iij^ll j^s 

In modern English: 5^th September, 1595 ... New ... Received at Crack Me This Nut ... £3 and 1 shilling.

Dessert Still Life by Georg Flegel (1566-1638)

Today, the Admiral's Men unveiled another new play! Unfortunately, Crack Me This Nut is lost and its title offers few clues to its content.

The title was proverbial, being related to the phrase "a tough nut to crack" and might suggest that the play was about a difficult problem or task that a character was trying to solve or accomplish.

Whatever its subject matter was, Crack Me This Nut had an excellent premiere that filled the theatre.

FURTHER READING

Crack Me This Nut information

• David McInnis, "Crack Me This Nut", Lost Plays Database (2011). 
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 1008.

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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