6 January, 1597 - That Will Be Shall Be

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 of Jenewary 1597 ... R at that wilbe shalbe ... xxxxij^s 

In modern English: 6^th January, 1597 ... Received at That Will Be Shall Be ... 42 shillings

Today is Twelfth Night, the end of the Christmas season, and a day of festivity. On this day, the Admiral's Men revived That Will Be Shall Be, an enigmatic lost play. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30 December, 1596.

This is another good result for That Will Be Shall Be, which has attracted a larger than average crowd to the Rose on its third performance, despite being performed three times in just one week. However, these big audiences may be due to the Christmas festivities, so we will see if the play continues to be popular next week. 

A female archer tries to take down a war elephant. The man on the
right appears to share the sentiments of this play's title.
From the Smithfield Decretals (c.1340)

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!