The Queen's Men on Tour
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THE QUEEN’S MEN ON TOUR PROVINCIAL PERFORMANCE IN VERNACULAR SPACES IN EARLY MODERN ENGLAND OLIVER JONES THESIS SUBMITTED FOR: PHD UNIVERSITY OF YORK DEPARTMENT OF ARCHAEOLOGY NOVEMBER 2012 2 ABSTRACT The ongoing work lead by the Records of Early English Drama project into evidence for drama in England before the closing of the London theatres in 1642 has by now shown that visits to provincial towns, and performances in the spaces made available there, represented common practice for Elizabethan acting companies. The pivotal study made by Scott McMillin and Sally-Beth MacLean, The Queen’s Men and their Plays (1998), demonstrated the potential for tracking the career and plays of one particular company, while the Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men project in Canada showed the merits of exploring the Queen’s Men’s repertory in performance. However, until now such research has been conducted without fully considering the buildings in which such plays were once performed. The specific material, social and political conditions a venue and its occupants imposed on a visiting company had direct consequences for their performances, and it is only by situating performance within extant spaces that we can begin to realise the full potential of McMillin and MacLean’s research. However, until now the methodologies to do so had not been developed. This thesis shows that by combining archaeological and theatre historical research we can better understand the nature of provincial performance, and offers strategies for the exploration of early modern texts in performance in provincial venues. 3 CONTENTS Abstract 2 Contents 3 List of Figures 6 List of Accompanying Material 7 Acknowledgements 8 Author’s Declaration 10 1 Introduction 11 1.1 Towards a ‘Theatre Archaeology’ 14 1.2 Methodologies: Archaeology of Standing Buildings, Theatre History and Theatre Practice 16 1.2.1 Archaeology 16 1.2.2 Theatre History 19 1.2.3 Performance and Theatre Practice 22 1.3 Original Practices, Shakespeare’s Globe and Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men 24 1.3.1 Shakespeare’s Globe 25 1.3.2 Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men 27 1.3.2.1 Stage configurations 29 1.4 The Queen’s Men, Stratford-upon-Avon Guildhall, and the Troublesome Reign of John, King of England 34 2 The State of Play 35 2.1 Sources of Evidence 35 2.1.1 Provincial Records 35 2.1.2 The Plays 37 2.1.3 The Company and Its Sharers 39 2.2 On the Road 41 2.2.1 The Red Lion, Norwich, 1583 43 2.3 Playing Spaces 45 2.3.1 Regulation 45 2.3.2 Venues 48 2.4 Finances 56 2.5 Government and Realpolitik: the Queen’s Men as a political entity 59 3 Stratford-upon-Avon 63 3.1 Introduction 63 4 3.2 Stratford and the Shadow of Shakespeare 64 3.3 Historiography 66 3.3.1 The Town: Political Masters and Religious Tensions 68 3.4 The Guildhall and Associated Buildings 76 3.4.1 The Guildhall Building Today 76 3.4.2 The Historical Evidence 79 4 The Troublesome Play of King John 85 4.1 The Queen’s Men’s Troublesome Reign and Shakespeare’s King John: Some Problems for Composition and Authorship 85 4.2 The Play 93 4.3 Polemical Protestantism or Political Heterodoxy? 97 5 Staging the Reign 101 5.1 Assumptions About Staging: Arthur ‘On the Walls’ 102 5.2 Staging on the Road 109 5.3 Space, Authority and Performance in Civic Halls 111 5.4 Possibilities for Staging at Stratford 116 5.4.1 The Falconbridge Dispute 117 5.4.2 Before the Walls of Angers 120 5.4.3 To Have You Crowned Again 122 5.4.4 Oath-Taking at St. Edmundsbury 123 5.4.5 No Pomp in Penury 124 6 Performance at Stratford 126 6.1 Introduction 126 6.2 Historical Evidence for Performance 128 6.2.1 The Company 129 6.2.2 The Repertory 133 6.2.3 Dividing in Two 136 6.2.4 Rehearsal and Recruitment 137 6.3 Models for Theatre Practice Research – Shakespeare and the Queen’s Men 143 6.3.1 Reflections on the SQM Process 146 6.4 The Professional Inheritance 152 6.5 The Troublesome Reign at Stratford 154 6.5.1 The Rehearsal Process 157 6.5.2 Staging Movement 161 6.5.3 Performance Shaped by Building 165 5 6.5.4 Further Reflections 167 7 Conclusion 171 Figures 174 Bibliography 186 6 LIST OF FIGURES 1 Plan of Globe foundation/ wall remains (all phases) 174 2 Queen’s Men Tour Stops, 1583-1603 175 3 The Guildhall, west elevation 176 4 The Guild Chapel 176 5 The Pedagogue’s House 177 6 The Almshouses 177 7 The Guildhall, east elevation 178 8 Five sections of plastered infill, decorated with pre-dissolution religious iconography 178 9 The upper hall 179 10 The blocked door to the ‘prevey’ 179 11 Trusses showing grooves for infill panels 180 12 The South Range 180 13 First floor plan of the Guild complex at the start of the sixteenth century 181 14 First floor plan of the Guild complex at the end of the sixteenth century 181 15 Arthur on the walls 182 16 The high end of the Guildhall 183 17 Performance at Stratford – John’s coronation 183 18 The citizens of Angers 184 19 Oath-taking at St Edmundsbury 184 20 Early rehearsals in Stratford 185 7 LIST OF ACCOMPANYING MATERIAL DVD – Performance at Stratford-upon-Avon, 9-10 July 2011 Inside back cover 8 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I have been hugely fortunate to have had the support and guidance of a wealth of colleagues, friends and family while undertaking this research, and to all I am deeply grateful. First thanks must go to my supervisors, Kate Giles and Mike Cordner, and to my TAP chair, Mark Edmonds, whose passion, encouragement and humour have been a constant guide and who have made this process exciting and enjoyable (even the difficult bits). To my colleagues and friends at York in the Departments of Archaeology and Theatre, Film and Television and in CREMS, and especially to Nik Morris, Dav Smith, Gareth Dean, Jenny Basford, Tom Cantrell, Chris Hogg, Doug Kern, Mark Smith and Mark France, and from further afield Nicola Boyle, Pete Kirwan, and Derek Dunne, for collaborations, papers, proof-reading, pints and mugs of tea, for debating the use of ephemera and other Carrollian nonsense: thank you. This project would have been impossible without access to Stratford Guildhall, now owned by King Edward’s School. The Governors, Headmaster, staff and pupils were gracious hosts and hugely supportive of our endeavours. Ronnie Mulryne and Perry Mills have been endlessly helpful and encouraging both by enabling us to visit and work in the Guildhall in the first place, and by hosting the performance workshops in July 2011. Ronnie headed the team of researchers investigating the Guild complex, whose book, The Guild and Guild Buildings of Shakespeare’s Stratford has just been published (Ashgate, 2012), and whose collective insight and expertise formed the bedrock of my study. It was wonderful to work with such a willing and talented cast, who tackled the challenges of staging The Troublesome Reign with gusto: Cat Bennett, Will Edwards, Freddy Elletson, Ela Gaworzewska, Bengee Gibson, Jonny Glasgow, Alex Gordon, Nick Green, Virginia Hartman, Josh Hatfield, Ryan Lane, Sarah Lewis, Joe Williams, and Sam Williams, and joining us from KES, Alastair Campbell, Rajan Gill, Lawrence Barber and Jack Lovegrove. I am indebted to numerous scholars who were generous enough to send me early proofs and unpublished materials: Helen Ostovich, Charles Forker, Guy Halsall and Jane Freeman. Sally-Beth MacLean offered her marvellous advice and support from the project’s inception, and with Lawrence Manley allowed me to share and discuss my ideas at the Shakespeare after REED seminar at the World Shakespeare Congress in 9 Prague in July 2011. I was invited by Farah Karim-Cooper to join the Architectural Research Group at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2009, and the debates and discussions prompted by our research for the new Sam Wanamaker Indoor Jacobean Theatre and beyond have had a great influence. In particular I would like to thank Farah, Andy Gurr, Martin White, Jon Greenfield, Peter McCurdy, Sarah Dustagheer, Pen Woods and Gordon McMullan for their support of my work both in York and in London. My research was support through a number of grants and bursaries, and sincere thanks are due to the Vice Chancellor of the University of York, the Department of Archaeology, the Department of Theatre, Film and Television, the Stapley Educational Trust, SCAST and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. My last round of thanks goes to my friends and family, for their love and support, (but mostly their mocking) – to the Vergers, Chris and Tasha Bush, Ian McCluskey, Neil Arden, Kate and Chris Ross, Nik Morris, Anna Oulton, and Dave Burton; the Davies family; my siblings Pippa, Steve and Mike, and to my parents, who have given me their unfailing support and encouragement. Finally, to B, for everything. 10 AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own work and has not been submitted for any other degree at the University of York or any other institution. Portions of chapters one, four and five have appeared in an early form in The Guild and Guild Buildings of Shakespeare’s Stratford as ‘The Queen’s Men in Stratford and The Troublesome Reign of John, King of England’ (Jones 2012). Oliver Jones, 28 November 2012 11 1 – INTRODUCTION In 1587, after four years travelling the length and breadth of the kingdom, the royal troupe of Elizabethan players, the Queen’s Men, presented themselves to the high bailiff and aldermen of the Corporation of Stratford-upon-Avon at their headquarters in the town’s medieval Guildhall, in order to seek license to perform their plays in the town.