25 May, 1596 - Phocas

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 23 of maye 1596 ... R at tragedie of ffocasse ... xxxix^s

In modern English: [25^th] May, 1596 ... Received at Tragedy of Phocas ... 39 shillings

Phocas depicted in Richard
Rainoldes' Chronicle of all the
Noble Emperors of the Romans (1571)

Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Phocas, their tragedy about an army officer who became Byzantine emperor and ruled as a tyrant. You can read more about this play in the entry for 20 May.

This is the second performance of Phocas, and the company will be cautiously pleased with its box office, which is above the average for the Rose.

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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