8 August, 1594 - The Massacre at Paris

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 8 of auguste 1594 ... R at the masacare... xxiij^s vj^d

In modern English: 8^th August, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 23 shillings and sixpence

Henri, Duke of Guise, the villain of the play. 

Today, the Admiral's Men revived again Christopher Marlowe's tragedy about the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre in 16th-century Paris; you can read more about this play in the entry for 26 January, 1593.

The box office for The Massacre at Paris has been gradually slipping over the weeks. The players have again waited more than a week before reviving it, but interest is not picking up. Clearly, even mass death and evil Machiavels lose their appeal after a while.

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!

7 August, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 7 of aguste 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolito ... xxix^s

In modern English: 7^th August, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 29 shillings

wo Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590

Today, the company returned to Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

Surprisingly enough, the Admiral's Men have revived Philippo and Hippolito a mere five days after its previous performance. This is one of the few plays that they are performing with exceptional frequency.  As with Belin Dun, the other major play of this kind, it's hard to be sure why they are doing this, as the resulting box office is not notably better than that of other plays.

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!

6 August, 1594 - Godfrey of Bouillon

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 6 of aguste 1594 ... R at the seconde p of godfrey ... xxxvij^s

In modern English: 6^th August, 1594 ... Received at The Second Part of Godfrey ... 37 shillings

The death of Godfrey of Bouillon.
From a thirteenth century
manuscript of William of 
Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer

Today, the company revived The Second Part of Godfrey of Bouillon, a lost play that probably told of the aftermath of Godfrey's capture of Jerusalem from the Turks in the eleventh century.

The Admiral's Men premiered this play back on 19th July, and may have performed it again a week and a half ago (although it is possible that that performance was of the first part). Either way, today's show received healthy, if not much more than average, box office. It suggests a play following the normal process of a gradual decline in interest after its debut.

FURTHER READING

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!

5 August, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 5 of aguste 1594 ... R at the Jewe of malta ... xxvij^s

In modern English: 5^th July, 1594 ... Received at The Jew of Malta ... 27 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Today, the players once again performed The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

As with its previous outing, this is the first performance of The Jew of Malta for a fortnight. And, as before, this decreased frequency of performance is not having the 'absence makes the heart grow fonder' effect on Marlowe's play; rather, there has been a small dip in profits instead. Has this once-infallible show finally started to become passé? 

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!

3 August, 1594 - Galiaso

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 5 of aguste 1594 ... R at galiaso ... xxiij^s vj^d

In modern English: 3^rd August, 1594 ... Received at Galiaso ... 23 shillings and sixpence

A Spanish galleass, one possible subject of this
play. From Ships Through the Ages by Frederick
Leonard King (1934)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost play Galiaso. We do not know what this play was about, as its title could refer to many historical and fictional figures, or even to a kind of ship. You can read more about it in the entry for 28 June.

The players seem to be settling into a groove of performing the still fairly new Galiaso once every week and a half. They seem less enthusiastic about performing it than they are about Philippo and Hippolito, which had premièred at around the same time. And its box office today is unimpressive, suggesting that neither company or audience care much for it.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 4th August was a Sunday in 1594, and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on the 5th, for a week that will focus on the old favourites.

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!

2 August, 1594 - Philippo and Hippolito

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 3 of aguste 1594 ... R at phillipo & hewpolito ... xxx^s

In modern English: 2^nd August, 1594 ... Received at Philippo and Hippolito ... 30 shillings

wo Young Men by Crispin van den Broeck, c.1590

Henslowe's dates have gotten out of sequence again, but it'll only last a couple of days this time.

Anyway, today the Admiral's Men once again returned to Philippo and Hippolito, their enigmatic lost play about two men of that name. You can read more about this play in the entry for 9 July.

Despite their shift to performing the still newish Philippo and Hippolito only once a week, the players continue to receive a solidly average audience for it. They probably think of it as one of their success stories.

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!

1 August, 1594 - The Ranger's Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 1 of aguste 1594 ... R at the Rangers comodey ... xiij^s vj^d
In modern English: 1^st August, 1594 ... Received at The Ranger's Comedy ... 13 shillings and sixpence

An Elizabethan hunting scene; one
of the possible subjects of this play

Today, the Admiral's Men revived their lost Ranger's Comedy. We do not know what this play was about, as the word could refer to a gamekeeper, a rake, a wanderer, or an organizer of troops. You can read more about it in the entry for 2 April.

The Ranger's Comedy has been receiving poor box office of late, and the company has left it unperformed for nearly a fortnight. This neglect has had no impact at all on its popularity: today's performance has resulted in the play's worst box office so far.

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!