13 February, 1596 - Dr Faustus

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 13 of febreary 1595 ... R at fosstes ... xxv

In modern English: 13^th February, [1596] ... Received at Faustus ... 25 shillings

Faustus summoning Mephistopheles: from the
1616 text of the play 

It's back! After nearly a five month absence from the stage, Dr Faustus has today returned to the Rose. Christopher Marlowe's famous tragedy tells the tale of a scholar who summons a demon and sells his soul to the devil. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 October.

The company has rested the legendary necromancer for a long time after his box office dwindled to almost nothing, but they have now decided it is worth trying again. Today's box office is not very impressive, though - much better than September, but still below the average for the Rose.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow, because for some reason Henslowe records no performance. Neither will there be one the day after, because 15 February was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 16th. See you then!  

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?

Did I make a mistake? Do you have a question? Have you anything to add? Please post a comment below!