28 March, 1597 - A Woman Hard to Please

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

Henslowe writes: Easter mvnday | 28 | tt at a womon hard to pleasse ... | 01 | 11 

In  modern English: Easter Monday, 28^th [March, 1597] ... total at A Woman Hard to Please ... £1 and 11 shillings [i.e. 31 shillings]

Today is Easter Monday, the beginning of Easter Week! This is a time of festivity, feasting and sport - and, of course, plays! From now on, the Admiral's Men will cease the infrequent performance schedule that they had adopted during the season of Lent, and will return to playing full time.  

A woman looks deeply unimpressed by her
rescuer in Paolo Uccello's St George and
the Dragon (c.1470)

On this festive day, the company has revived their enigmatic lost play, A Woman Hard to Please. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 January.

Today's performance is rather disappointing, though, as the festive crowds have not shown up in great numbers and the Rose is only half full.   

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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