Henslowe and Alleyn's Entrepreneurship at Its Best: A Reexamination of the Globe-Fortune Rivalry

Susan E. Krantz

The recent excavation of the foundation of the Rose theater and the beginnings of the Globe dig within one hundred yards of each other on the Bankside of London invite renewed speculation concerning not only the physi­ cal appearances of Renaissance playhouses but also the nature of theater operation and competition. Questions regarding the importance of location, the attractiveness to playgoers ofthe physical surroundings in which they found themselves, the appeal of the new over the old, all combine with known repertory selections to contribute to our understanding of the complex nature of the business of operating a successful theatrical company. When Shakespeare's Globe opened to the public in the autumn of 1599, all those involved in the London dramatic, world took note. For playwrights the new Globe offered greater potential for innovative staging; for the Lord Chamberlain's Men it lent the added prestige of a magnifi­ cent theatrical home; and for the playgoers it afforded an impressive setting at which to see plays and to be seen at them. The novelty of a truly grand opening, as well as the Globe's greater seating and standing capacity, no doubt drew large numbers of playgoers away from the older, smaller, and relatively less well-equipped theaters and, in so doing, reactivated the spirit of competition in the business of playhouse ownership and operation. Certainly,

109 110 Explorations in Renaissance Culture the company in closest competition with the Lord Cham­ berlain's Men was the Lord Admiral's Men under the management of Philip Henslowe and his son-in-law, the actor Edward Alleyn. The shifting fortunes and rivalry of the two companies in relation to changing political temperament have long been established and elaborated by scholars, most notably Robert Sharpe, who correctly emphasizes the importance of governmental support, royal favor, and, at times, political acrobatics in determining which company had the ascendancy over its rival at any given period.l Equally important, if not more so, to the rivalry was the ability to draw large audiences to home playhouses, reflected in the day to day receipts from public performances. The opening of the Globe made that competition much more difficult for Henslowe and Alleyn at the Rose. Something had to be done; and, within a few months after the opening of the Globe, they were prepar­ ing to move the Admiral's Men out of the Rose- and into a new theater that could easily rival the magnificence of the Globe-the Fortune_ Because only a small portion of the Globe foundation has been excavated at the time of this writing, the physical comparisons between the Globe and the Rose and the Globe and the Fortune remain to a large degree conjec­ tural. However, because the Rose dig is complete and the Fortune contract is extant, we can accurately compare certain physical features ofthose theaters, and the archeo­ logical and architectural evidence available on those playhouses can be evaluated in light of the recently com­ pleted computer projections based on the uncovered section of chalk and mortar foundation of the Globe. The Rose theater was a sixteen to eighteen-sided edifice (basically circular) with a pit measuring 43 feet in diam­ eter. The outer walls of the theater measured 73 feet in diameter at its largest point. The stage area was between 16 and 20 feet deep by 36 to 40 feet wide. The theater had by 1592 enjoyed larger audiences than it could accom­ modate, and the stage end of the theater was expanded at