Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog!

Tuesday, 5 April 2016

5 April, 1592 - Harry VI

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

Henslowe writes: R at harey the vj the 5 of ap^rell 1591 ... xxxxj^s

In modern English: Received at Harry VI, 5^th April, 1592 ... 41 shillings

1540s portrait of King
Henry VI

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed Harry VI again. This play was almost certainly Shakespeare's First Part of Henry VI; you can read more about it in the blog entry for 3rd March.

The company last performed Harry VI just over a week ago; since its premiere in early March, it has been their most frequently-performed play. However, today's production did not repeat its spectacular takings during Easter Week, returning to a merely moderate intake similar to that of The Jew of Malta yesterday. This lower-but-still-not-bad intake is proving to be typical of this week.

Friday, 3rd March - 75 shillings
Tuesday, 7th March - 60 shillings
Saturday, 11th March - 47 shillings
Thursday, 16th March - 31 shillings
Tuesday, 28th March - 68 shillings
Wednesday, 5th April - 41 shillings

Henslowe links

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Monday, 4 April 2016

4 April, 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 4 of ap^rell 1591 ... xxxxiij^s

In modern English: Received at The Jew of Malta, 4^th April, 1592 ... 43 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.

The company had last performed this play two and a half weeks ago, receiving disappointing box office returns. On this outing, the play was a bit more successful, but still not as much as it had been in the past. As with yesterday's performance, we are not seeing the surprise hits that we saw during Easter Week.

Saturday, 26th February - 50 shillings
Friday, 10th March - 56 shillings
Saturday, 18th March - 39 shillings
Tuesday, 4th April, 43 shillings

Henslowe links

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Sunday, 3 April 2016

3 April, 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 3 of ap^rell 1591 ... xxij^s

In modern English: Received at Machiavel, 3^rd April, 1592 ... 22 shillings

Niccolò Machiavelli, the
original machiavel.

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed again 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 had not performed this play for a month. Then, it had made an unimpressive 14 shillings. This time it made a few shillings more, but was still not drawing big crowds. Was this because Easter Week was over and fewer Londoners could spare time for theatre? Or was it simply that Machiavel was not a very good play?

Henslowe links

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Friday, 1 April 2016

1 April, 1592 - Sir John Mandeville

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

Henslowe writes: R at mandefell the 1 of ap^rell 1591 ... xxx^s

In modern English: Received at Mandeville, 1^st April, 1592 ... 30 shillings

Mandevillian monster from
the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)

Today, Lord Strange's Men performed again their lost play about Sir John Mandeville. Although Mandeville is today most famous for his fantastical travel narratives, this play was probably a chivalric and comic romance, in which Sir John won the hand of a fair lady above his station. You can read more about it in the entry for 24th February.

The company had not performed Sir John Mandeville for over 5 weeks, and with good reason, as it had made only a paltry 12 shillings last time. However, this time it received a more solid 30 shillings. This turnaround is in keeping with the generally above average box office of this week, and is further evidence that Easter Week was great for business in the Elizabethan theatre .

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 2nd April was a Sunday in 1592. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 3rd April and we'll see if the company's run of success will last...

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Thursday, 31 March 2016

31 March, 1592 - Hieronimo

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

Henslowe writes: R at Jeronymo the 31 marche 1591 ... iij^ll

In modern English: Received at Hieronimo, 31^st March, 1592 ... £3

Woodcut from the 1615 edition of The Spanish Tragedy.

Today, Lord Strange's Men gave another performance of Hieronimo, which is almost certainly an alternate title for Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy, a play that they had previously performed a week and a half ago. You can read more about this play in the entry for the 14th of March. They performed it as part two of a diptych, following their staging of the preceding play, The Spanish Comedy of Don Horatio, yesterday.

The Spanish Tragedy was a well-established and popular play and had produced spectacular box office back on the 14th. It had disappointed on the 20th, but now it seemed to be back to normal, in tune with the general tenor of this week's performances; Easter Week still seems to be a great week for Henslowe's Rose.

14th March - 71 shillings
20th March - 38 shillings
31st March - 60 shillings

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Wednesday, 30 March 2016

30 March, 1592 - The Comedy of Don Horatio

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

Henslowe writes: R at doneoracio the 30 marche 1591 ... xxxix^s

In modern English: Received at Don Horatio, 30^th March, 1592 ... 39 shillings

Today, Lord Strange's Men gave another performance of The Spanish Comedy of Don Horatio, which they had previously performed just over two weeks ago. This lost play was most likely about the events leading up to those in Thomas Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy; you can read more about it in the entry for 23rd February.

On this outing, Don Horatio received a healthy box office, and ten shillings more than it did on its previous performance, thus continuing an upturn in the company's profits. As before, the returns may have been aided by the fact that Lord Strange's Men will perform The Spanish Tragedy itself tomorrow; it appears that the two plays were being staged on consecutive days to emphasize the links between their narratives.

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Tuesday, 29 March 2016

29 March, 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 mvlomvlucko the 29 of marche 1591 ... iij^ll ij^s

In modern English: Received at Muly Molocco, 29^th March, 1592 ... £3 and 2 shillings

1629 Portuguese illustration of the Battle of Alcazar

Today, Lord Strange's Men returned to Muly Molocco again, a play that they often performed, and had last staged just under two weeks ago. The 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.

This entry in Henslowe's Diary is a great surprise, because the takings for Muly Molocco are unexpectedly high. The play had previously always hovered in the mid-range of the box office; its takings so far have been 29, 34, and 28 shillings. Now, it has suddenly made double that, with 62 shillings.

What caused this sudden enthusiasm for a tale of Moroccan wars? And in general, why has Henslowe's box office skyrocketed in the last few days, after two weeks of sluggishness? My guess is that it may be a result of this being Easter Week - a time of festivity and, for some, days off work. Indeed, I wonder whether the previous week's poor box office might be related to it having been Holy Week, when many Londoners might have felt guilty about going to the theatre?

Henslowe links

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