14 April, 1596 - Fortunatus

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 14 of ap^rell 1596 ... R at fortunatus ... xviij^s 

In modern English: 14^th April, 1596 ... Received at Fortunatus ... 18 shillings

Fortunatus receives the magic purse from
Lady Fortune (from the 1509 novel)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived Fortunatus, which was probably the first of a two-part play, and was the precursor of Thomas Dekker's Old Fortunatus; it told the story of a man who miraculously acquires infinite wealth. You can read more about it in the entry for 3rd February.

We are still in the holiday season of Easter Week, but London's theatregoers show little interest in Fortunatus, resulting in a very disappointing box office.

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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