19 May, 1597 - A Humorous Day's Mirth

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

Henslowe writes: 19 | tt at the comody of vmers... 02 | 15

In modern English: 19^th [May, 1597] ... total at The Comedy of Humours ... £2 and 15 shillings [i.e. 55 shillings]

Today, the Admiral's Men revived their 

A classic image of a
melancholic, from
Robert Burton's Anatomy
of Melancholy (1622)

Comedy of Humours, which is almost certainly another name for George Chapman's A Humorous Day's Mirth. You can read more about this eccentric comedy in the entry for 11 May. 

Today's box office is a happy surprise! The second performance of the company's new comedy is a great success, attracting an even bigger crowd than the premiere. This is a very rare occurrence and the company may be wondering whether they have a new hit on their hands. However, the festival of Whitsuntide may still be having an effect on audience size, so the players should try not to get too excited. 

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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