5 July, 1596 - Phocas

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 5 of July 1596 ... m^r paid ... R at focasse ... xxij^s

In modern English: 5^th July, 1596 ... Master paid ... Received at Phocas ... 22 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.

After receiving a large crowd on Midsummer's Day a couple of weeks ago, it's back to normal for Phocas, with a mediocre showing. 


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, 1595.

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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