29 December, 1596 - Vortigern

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 309 of desembȝ 1596 ... R at valteger ... xxvj^s 

In modern English: [29^th] December, 1596 ... Received at Vortigern ... 26 shillings

Vortigern in his burning
castle. From a 14th-century
manuscript of Peter of
Langtoft's Chronicle of
England.  

Today, the Admiral's Men performed Vortigern, their play about the legendary British king whose actions brought about the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain. you can read more about this play in the entry for 4th December. 

After two performances that attracted huge Christmastide crowds, the Admiral's Men have been brought back to earth, with a much smaller audience for Vortigern. The same thing happened on this day last year, when the Christmas crowds began to ebb on the same date. Luckily, there are still seven days of Christmas left, with opportunities for things to pick up again.

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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