Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog!

Wednesday, 8 June 2016

8th June, 1592 - Tamar Cam

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

Henslowe writes: R at ~~the~~ tambercame the 8 of June 1592 ... xxxx^s

In modern English: Received at Tamar Cam, 8^th June, 1592 ... 40 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed one of their plays about Tamar Cam, a lost pair of plays about the Mongol conqueror Hulagu Khan; you can read more about them in the entry for 28th April. As with the performance on 30th May, we do not know whether this was the first or second part of Tamar Cam.

Whichever of the two it was, the play did fairly well at the box office today, achieving takings that were slightly higher than the average Rose production.

Persian illustration of Hulagu Khan (the likely inspiration for Tamar Cam) and his Christian wife

Henslowe links

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Tuesday, 7 June 2016

7th June, 1592 - A Looking-Glass for London and England

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

Henslowe writes: R at the lockinglasse the 7 of June 1592 ... xxix^s

In modern English: Received at The Looking-Glass, 7^th June, 1592 ... 29 shillings

Jonah and the Whale by Pieter Lastman (1621)

Today, Lord Strange's Men returned to A Looking-Glass for London and England, which they had last performed seven weeks ago. This moralistic adaptation of the Book of Jonah features a vivid evocation of the sinful city of Nineveh and draws overt parallels with contemporary London; you can read more about it in the entry for 8th March.

In its last two stagings, Looking-Glass has received box office that was only slightly below the average for the Rose. Nevertheless, this is the play's final appearance in Henslowe's Diary; the players seem to have decided that it was time to cease performing it.

Henslowe links

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Monday, 6 June 2016

6 June, 1592 - Titus and Vespasian

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

Henslowe writes: R at tittus & vespacia the 6 of June 1592 ... xxxxij^s

In modern English: Received at Titus and Vespasian, 6^th June, 1592 ... 42 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men revived Titus and Vespasian. This lost play was probably a gruesome tale about the Roman siege of Jerusalem in the 1st century; you can read more about it in the entry for 11th April. The company had last performed this play a week and a half ago.

The company seems to be settling into a routine of performing Titus and Vespasian approximately every ten days. Today's performance received somewhat above average box office for a Rose play; this is consistent with Titus and Vespasian's slump from blockbuster status over the last few performances.

Nicholas Poussin, The Destruction and Sack of the Temple at Jerusalem (1637)

Henslowe links

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Sunday, 5 June 2016

5 June, 1592 - Bindo and Ricciardo

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

Henslowe writes: R at Bendo & Richardo the 2 5 4 of ~~maye~~ June ... xxxij^s

In modern English: Received at Bindo and Ricciardo, 5^th June ... 32 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men returned to their risque Italian comedy Bindo and Ricciardo. Although this play is lost, the story on which it is based survives, revealing it to be a bizarre comedy about the cunning thief Ricciardo's escape from justice. You can read more about this play in the entry for 4th March.

The company has been performing this play only rarely, and last staged it more than a month and a half ago. Today's box office was rather better than the play had previously achieved, although it remained merely average for the Rose repertory as a whole.

In more exciting news, Henslowe began a new page of his diary today and finally managed to write the date correctly, so he's back in sync with reality again. That's a relief.

Henslowe links

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Friday, 3 June 2016

3 June, 1592 - Muly Molocco

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

Henslowe writes: R at mvlemvloco the 22 31 of maye 1592 ... xxiiij^s

In modern English: Received at Muly Molocco, 3^rdJune, 1592 ... 24 shillings

1629 Portuguese illustration of the Battle of Alcazar

Today, Lord Strange's Men returned again to Muly Molocco, after two weeks. This play was about Abd el-Malik's struggle for the throne of Morocco; you can read more about it in the blog entry for 21st February.

Muly Molocco continues to make reliably average box office, although today's performance was on the lower end of its spectrum. Thus ends a rather flat week for Henslowe. He needs a blockbuster next week. Will he get one...?

Monday, 21st February - 29 shillings
Tuesday, 29th February - 34 shillings
Friday, 17th March - 29 shillings
Wednesday, 29th March - 62 shillings
Saturday, 8th April - 23 shillings
Monday, 17th April - 30 shillings
Thursday, 27th April - 26 shillings
Monday, 1st May - 58 shillings
Friday, 19th May - 36 shillings
Saturday, 3rd June - 24 shillings

What's next?

There will be no blog post tomorrow because 4th June was a Sunday in 1592. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 5th June for a week that will include a new play along with the usual suspects.

Henslowe links

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Thursday, 2 June 2016

2 June, 1592 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: R at the Jewe of malta the 21 30 of maye 1592 ... xxxiij^s

In modern English: Received at The Jew of Malta, 2^nd June, 1592 ... 33 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed their satirical comic tragedy The Jew of Malta again. You can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February.

After the excellent response to the last performance of The Jew of Malta, the company has revived it after only a week and a half. As was the case back on 13th May, an overly-soon revival of this play has once again produced a disappointing box office (this time, the lowest the play has ever received). The Jew of Malta continues to be most popular after it has been left alone for a while.

Saturday, 26th February - 50 shillings
Friday, 10th March - 56 shillings
Saturday, 18th March - 39 shillings
Tuesday, 4th April, 43 shillings
Tuesday, 18th April, 48 shillings and sixpence
Friday, 5th May, 41 shillings
Saturday, 13th May, 34 shillings
Tuesday, 23rd May, 54 shillings
Friday, 2nd June, 33 shillings

Henslowe links

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Wednesday, 1 June 2016

1 June, 1592 - Machiavel

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

Henslowe writes: R at matchevell the 209 of maye 1592 ... xxvj^s

In modern English: Received at Machiavel, 1^st June, 1592 ... 26 shillings

Niccolò Machiavelli, the
original machiavel.

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed their lost play about a machiavel (a devious, manipulative villain). You can read more about this play in the entry for 2nd March.

The company has been staging Machiavel very infrequently, and this is its first revival in two months. Each time they perform it, it makes a little more money, but it remains an unimpressive achiever at the box office.

Thursday, 2nd March - 14 shillings
Monday, 3rd April - 22 shillings
Thursday, 1 June - 26 shillings

Henslowe links

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