1 October, 1594 - Galiaso

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 29 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at galiaso ... xvij^s  

In modern English: [1^st October], 1594 ... Received at Galiaso ... 17 shillings

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 are performing the struggling Galiaso at increasingly long intervals; it has been two and a half weeks since its last performance, and its box office is still in the doldrums.

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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30 September, 1594 - Tamburlaine

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 28 of septmbȝ  1594 ... R at tamberlen ... xxxj^s 

In modern English: [30^th] September, 1594 ... Received at Tamburlaine ... 31 shillings.

Illustration of the historical Tamburlaine
from Richard Knolles' General History
of the Turks (1603).

Today, the players performed Tamburlaine, Christopher Marlowe's spectacular epic about the bloodthirsty conqueror of Asia. You can read more about this play in the entry for 30th August.

For Tamburlaine's third outing after its return to the stage, the Admiral's Men have once again waited a fortnight before performing it. And the box office is not as good as one might expect, being merely average for the Rose. Has the return of Tamburlaine been more trouble than it is worth?

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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28 September, 1594 - Cutlack

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 26 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at cuttlacke ... xiij^s 

In modern English: [28^th] September, 1594 ... Received at Cutlack ... 13 shillings

Illustration of Belinus (or Brennius, it's not clear)
from Holinshed's Chronicles (1577)

Today, for one last time, the the Admiral's Men revived Cutlack, their play about the eponymous Danish king and his violent intervention into a civil war in ancient Britain. You can read more about this play in the entry for 16 May, 1594.

There is a cull going on in Henslowe's Rose. Yesterday, we said goodbye to The Massacre at Paris. Today, Cutlack bites the dust. This once-popular play, which we first met back in May, has hit rock bottom of late, and the company has given up on it. Few people came to the Rose to say goodbye to the bombastic Dane.

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because September 29th was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on September 30th, for a week that will include the return of a much-loved classic and of something a bit more meh!

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?

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27 September, 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 25 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at the masacar... xiiij^s

In modern English: [27^th] September, 1594 ... Received at The Massacre ... 14 shillings  

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

Today, the Admiral's Men revived for one last time 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.

And so, farewell to The Massacre at Paris! We first met this play as a brand new drama more than a year and a half ago, and we have seen ten more performances of it since. But the play has slowly but surely faded from popularity as the audience wearied of it. Ironically enough, Marlowe's older plays, Dr Faustus and Tamburlaine have surged back to the stage in triumph, but today's wretched box office is no indication of a future rebound for the Massacre, and the Admiral's Men appear to have decided that enough is enough.

This is not in fact the end for Marlowe's play, though. In 1601, Henslowe will record payments to "the little tailor", for making costumes for a revival. And fortunately for us, the playtext has survived so that we can still read and perform it today.

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?

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26 September, 1594 - The Love of an English Lady

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 24 of septmbȝ 1594 ... ne... R at venesyon & the love of & Jngleshe lady ... 47^s 

In modern English: [26^th] September, 1594 ... New ... Received at Venetian and the Love of an English Lady ... 47 shillings

An English lady in winter,
etching by Wenceslas
Hollar (1644)

Today, the Admiral's Men performed a new play with a rather weird title, which should presumably read A Venetian and the Love of an English Lady. Later in the Diary, Henslowe will shorten its name to The Love of an English Lady. This play is lost, and, although its title is very precise, it gives few insights into its plot. Presumably somebody (perhaps a Venetian, unless that word crept in by mistake) falls in love with an English lady (or vice versa) but whether their amour takes place in Venice or England can never be known.

If this was a comedy involving Venice, it's intriguing to see it appear only a month after the players introduced The Venetian Comedy. They seem to be trying to diversify by creating Italian-style comedies, perhaps in an attempt a breaking away from the near-constant parade of violent dramas. However, the dismal box office of The Love of an English Lady - good for an ordinary day but terrible for a premiere - suggest that their audience will not be as receptive to these new plays as the company had hoped.

FURTHER READING

 

The Love of an English Lady information

• Andrew Gurr, Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company, 1594-1625 (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 207, 208.
• Martin Wiggins, British Drama, 1533-1642: A Catalogue, vol. 3 (Oxford University Press, 2013), entry 967.

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?

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25 September, 1594 - Belin Dun

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 23 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at bellendon ...  xxvj^s vj^d


In modern English: [25^th] September, 1594 ... Received at Belin Dun ... 26 shillings and sixpence

A highwayman portrayed in Richard

Head's The English Rogue (1666)

Today, the Admiral's Men once again performed Belin Dun, their lost play about the notorious robber who terrorized the highways around Dunstable during the reign of King Henry I; you can read more about this play in the entry for 10 June.

The company has left Belin Dun unperformed for a fortnight, but this has not had much impact on its box office, which remains below average, albeit not catastrophically so.

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?

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24 September, 1594 - The Venetian Comedy

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

Henslowe writes: y^e 22 of septmbȝ 1594 ... R at the venesyon comodey ... xxv^s 

In modern English: [24^th] September, 1594 ... Received at The Venetian Comedy ... 25 shillings

The Quack Doctor by Pietro Longhi (late
18th century)

Today, the Admiral's Men revived The Venetian Comedy, a play about which we know nothing beyond its title. You can read more about this play in the entry for 27 August.

After only four peformances, The Venetian Comedy is already declining rapidly in its box office, plunging to below average levels.

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!