28 February, 1596 - Longshanks and a Lenten closure

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 27 of febreary 1595 ... R at longshancke ... xxx^s  ... the master of the Revelles payd vntell this time al w^ch J owe hime

In modern English: [28^th] February, [1596] ... Received at Longshanks ... 30 shillings ... the Master of the Revels paid until this time all which I owe him

Portrait of Edward I in
Westminster Abbey

Today, the Rose playhouse closed for the period of Lent. For their final play of the season, the Admiral's Men returned to Longshanks, their lost play about King Edward I of England; you can read more about it in the entry for 29 August, 1595.

Today's entry also includes a note that Henslowe paid the license for the Rose to the Master of the Revels; you can read more about this in the entry for 8 November, 1596.

The company has not performed Longshanks for three weeks, and its box office has been declining for a long time, but today's audience is relatively large, suggesting that people wanted to visit the playhouse one last time before the fasting period.

With the Rose now closed, this blog will be on hiatus until April 12, which was Easter Monday in 1596. 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?

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