9 January, 1596 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 9 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at the Jew of malta ... lvj^s  

In modern English: 9^th January, [1596] ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 56 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Well, here's a surprise! The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy is back. You can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

It has been more than a year since the players last performed The Jew of Malta, a play that had once been the most popular at the Rose but which attracted only a handful of playgoers on its last outing.

But The Jew of Malta cannot be kept down, and Edward Alleyn is once again striding onto the stage as the deliciously evil anti-hero. And absence seems to have warmed the hearts for London's theatregoers, for they have swarmed to the Rose today see Barabas's return, almost filling it. Hooray!

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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