17 June, 1596 - Harry V

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 17 of June 1596 ... R at hary the v ... xxvij^s 

In modern English: 17^th June, 1596 ... Received at Harry V ... 27 shillings

King Henry V, posthumous portrait
(late 16th or early 17th century)

Today, the Admiral's Men performed Harry V, their play about King Henry V of England, who, according to legend, gave up a dissolute lifestyle and led his country to victory against the French at the Battle of Agincourt before his untimely death. You can read more about this play in the entry for 28 November.

The company has revived Harry V after two and a half weeks, and its box office continues to rise, rather than fall, which is an unusual thing to see in Henslowe's Diary.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry for the next few days. Henslowe's Diary becomes muddled at this point, but the simplest explanation is that the players did not perform on Friday or Saturday this week, for unknown reasons. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 21st - 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!

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