27 December, 1596 - Nebuchadnezzar

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 287 of desembȝ 1596 ^{crismas day} ... R at nabucadonizer ... iij^ll viij^s 

In modern English: 27^th December, 1596 ... Received at Nebuchadnezzar ... £3 and 8 shillings

Nebuchadnezzar's dream
of the tree, from
Speculum Humanae
Salvationis, a 15th-
century French manuscript

Welcome back! Today, the Rose re-opened after a short Christmas break. Or at least, that's one way of interpreting Henslowe's records. There is some confusion, though: while the date of today's performance is given as the 27th (corrected by Henslowe from 28th), the words 'Christmas Day' are scribbled in tiny letters next to it. I have no explanation for this inconsistency, but given that '27th' is a correction, it makes sense to assume that it is the right date.  

Anyway, today, the Admiral's Men performed Nebuchadnezzar, their Biblical drama about the Babylonian king whose dreams were interpreted by the prophet Daniel. You can read more about this play in the entry for 18 December. 

After two disappointing performances of Nebuchadnezzar, the Admiral's Men must be delighted with the huge crowd that has filled the theatre today. Today is the third day of Christmas, and Londoners are clearly in a festive mood, happy to throng to the Rose no matter what is playing.

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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