Henslowe writes: ye 14 of July 1596 ... R at pethagores ... xxijs
In modern English: [20th] July, 1596 ... Received at Pythagoras ... 22 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, for the last time, the Admiral's Men staged Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
The company has waited over a month to return Pythagoras to the stage. The box office is holding steady, but this is the play's final record in Henslowe's Diary; it would seem that they have decided to call it a day.
Pythagoras was introduced back in January and has received twelve performances since then. It has been one of the more solid performers at the Rose, never receiving spectacular box office but never doing very poorly either; it is thus surprising to see it go.
Henslowe writes: ye 15 of June 1596 ... R at pethagores ... xxiijs
In modern English: 15th June, 1596 ... Received at Pythagoras ... 23 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men returned to Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
After its great success during the Whitsuntide holiday a fortnight ago, the box office for Pythagoras has returned to normal, being just under the average for the Rose.
Henslowe writes: ye 31 of maye whittsen mvnday ... R at pethageres ... iijll
In modern English: 31st May, Whitsun Monday ... Received at Pythagoras ... £3
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
It's a holiday! In 1596, May 31 is Whit Monday, the first day of Whitsuntide: a multi-day holiday celebrating the beginning of summer. Many Londoners would have had free time and would have been in a festive mood. On this special day, the Admiral's Men have revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
Sure enough, today's performance received splendid box office. Pythagoras has been getting mixed box office in its last few outings, but today a huge crowd has arrived to see the adventures of the Greek philospher. This is the first genuine full house since the Rose re-opened in April, and the players must be thrilled.
Henslowe writes: ye 22 of maye 1596 ... mr pd ... R at pethageros ... xxvijs
In modern English: [24th] May, 1596 ... Master paid ... Received at Pythagoras ... 27 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
The players have waited three weeks to revive Pythagoras. Interestingly, over the last few performances the box office for this play has been rising slightly, rather than falling, an unusual thing to see in the Diary.
Today's entry also includes a note that Henslowe paid the license for the Rose to the Master of the Revels; you can read more about this in the entry for 8 November, 1595.
Henslowe writes: ye 4 of maye 1596 ... R at pethagorus ... xxs
In modern English: [5th] May, 1596 ... Received at Pythagoras ... 20 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
The players have waited two weeks to revive Pythagoras. Box office is slightly better but still mediocre.
Henslowe writes: ye 22 of aprell 1596 ... R at pethagorus ... xviijs
In modern English: 22nd April, 1596 ... Received at Pythagoras ... 18 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
Pythagoras is still a relatively new play and had been doing very well before the break for Lent. Sadly, on its return for the new season, it has not continued this run of success, and its box office is as mediocre as every other performance this week.
Henslowe writes: ye 23 of febreary 1595 ... shrof twesday ... R at pethagores ... xxxiiijs
In modern English: [23rd] February, [1596] ... Shrove Tuesday ... Received at Pythagoras ... 34 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today is Shrove Tuesday, a holiday and a time for gluttony and merry-making before Lent! On this special day, the Admiral's Men have revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
The festive occasion has not had any obvious effect on the box office for Pythagoras, which remains almost identical to last week's.
Henslowe writes: ye 15 of febreary 1595 ... R at pethagores ... xxxvs
In modern English: 16th February, [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 35 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
Pythagoras has received an upsurge of interest today, with an audience nearly twice as big as last week's.
Henslowe writes: ye 9 of febreary 1595 ... R at pethagores ... xxs
In modern English: 9th February, [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 19 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
On its fourth performance, Pythagoras has finally slipped below the average box office for the Rose.
Henslowe writes: ye 28 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at pethagoros ... xxxs
In modern English: [24th] January [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 30 shilling
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
For its third performance, the Admiral's Men have rushed back Pythagoras after only a few days. Its box office remains solid, representing the average for the Rose.
Henslowe writes: ye 23 of Jenewary 1595 ... R at pethagorus ... xxxvjs
In modern English: [24th] January [1596] ... Received at Pythagoras ... 36 shillings
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
Today, the Admiral's Men revived Pythagoras, their lost play about the Greek philosopher. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 January
This is the second performance of Pythagoras, after its debut last week. Attendance has dropped sharply after the excellent premiere, but the Rose is still half-full suggesting that a decent level of interest remains.
What's next?
There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 25th January was a Sunday in 1596 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 26th - see you then!
Henslowe writes: ye 16 of Jenewary 1595 ... ne ... R at pethageros ... iijll js
In modern English: 16th January [1596] ... New ... Received at Pythagoras ... £3 and 1 shilling
Today, the Admiral's Men debuted a new play! But the subject matter of this lost play is puzzling. What could possibly be dramatic about the life of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who is today most famous for the square on the hypotenuse being equal to the sum of the other two squares?
Pythagoras as portrayed in Raphael's The School of Athens (1509-11)
In his article for the Lost Plays Database,Todd A. Borlik notes that in Elizabethan England, Pythagoras was known for many other things besides geometry and was quite frequently mentioned in the drama of the time. He was sometimes imagined as a magician, and he was particularly famed for the concept of metempsychosis or the transmigration of souls: that is, the notion that upon death, the souls of humans and animals pass into the bodies of other species to live new lives.
Indeed, Pythagoras is mentioned in some of the plays already performed at the Rose. In Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay he is referred to as one of the cabalists "that write of magic spells" (scene 9). And in Dr Faustus, the protagonist, faced with his impending doom, cries "Ah, Pythagoras' metempsychosis! Were that true, / This soul should fly from me, and I be changed / Unto some brutish beast!" (Act 5). Meanwhile, across the city, in the same year as Pythagoras (approximately), Shakespeare included in his Merchant of Venice the line "Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, / To hold opinion with Pythagoras, / That souls of animals infuse themselves / Into the trunks of men."
Borlik thus wonders whether the play may have portrayed Pythagoras as a wizard or a necromancer, rather like the ones in Friar Bacon, Faustus and The Wise Man of West Chester, and might perhaps have created some drama out of the transmigration of souls.
It's not easy to see how one could make a play about metempsychosis, but it has made for amazing cinema: Michelangelo Frammartino's Le Quattro Volte is that very rare thing, a Pythagorean movie.
Whatever happened in the enigmatic play of Pythagoras, its premiere was a great success, with a packed audience arriving to see what the ancient philosopher would do.
