3 November, 1596 - A Knack to Know an Honest Man

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of novmbȝ 1596 ... R at the cnacke to knowe ... xv^s

In modern English: 3^rd November, 1596 ... Received at The Knack to Know ... 15 shillings

Two  Young Venetian Men (anon., 1515)

Today, for the last time that we know of, the Admiral's Men performed A Knack to Know an Honest Man, their comical moral romance set in Venice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 23rd October, 1594.

This performance of A Knack to Know an Honest Man marks its first appearance since April. But it's also its last recorded performance. The play premiered two years ago, in October 1594, and for a time it was unusually popular until, like all plays at the Rose, its box office eventually dwindled. 

The company has had a strange relationship with The Knack of late, often ignoring it for months before returning to it for isolated one-off performances (in a similar manner to The French Doctor, which we noted a few days ago). As with most of these performances, the unimpressive box office shows no particular excitement from the audience, and it seems that after today, the company will finally abandon this venerable comedy. Farewell!

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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