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7

The Repertoire of the Renaissance Playing Companies

Brian Jay Corrigan

INTRODUCTION

In the process of a decades-long labor of love I call The Compendium of Renaissance Drama, I have been able, perhaps for the first time, to create several comprehensive lists of extant plays in their original settings. Several years ago one such series of lists, covering playhouses and their repertoires, appeared in Discoveries, and I offer now another series of lists indicating playing companies and their repertoires. This compendium is now online at cord.ung.edu. These lists are a comprehensive reflection of the place of extant plays in the repertoires of the various playing companies, adult and children, from the time of Westminster’s Boys (1564) until the closing of the theatres in 1642. Company histories are taken from Gurr and from my own notes to be found also online in the Compendium of Renaissance Drama. Companies are listed alphabetically while the plays are listed below each company chronologically. The dates listed are keyed to Harbage and Schoenbaum’s Annals and are therefore only approximate. A question mark before an entry indicates there is debate over whether the company in question performed that play. A question mark after a date indicates doubt that the play in question was performed at or around that date. The note [later] indicates that the play is known or thought to have been performed by that company but in a year sometime after its original production. The following lists will contain repetitions where a play is known or strongly suspected to have been performed by more than one company.

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I. ADULT COMPANY REPERTOIRES

THE ADMIRAL’S MEN

The Admiral’s Men date from 1585. It was in 1585 that their patron, Charles Howard, second baron Howard of Effingham (1536–1624), was appointed Lord High Admiral. He was first cousin to Anne Boleyn and married Elizabeth’s cousin and confidante, Katherine Carey. The company he patronized inhabited various playhouses in succession: , Newington Butts, Rose, and Fortune. Their business practice is well chronicled thanks to ’s Diary, a diurnal account of the company and its players. Discovery in 1989 of the western three- quarters of the company’s most famous playhouse, , has enhanced modern understanding of this company. In 2002 the remaining eastern portion was also uncovered, making the Rose the only playhouse foundation from the period to have been entirely unearthed. The Admiral’s Company’s chief actor was Henslowe’s step son–in–law, Edward “Ned” Alleyn. The company technically changed its name to Nottingham’s Men when in 1597 Charles Howard earned that title. Nevertheless, modern prejudice favors the title Admiral’s Men from 1585 to 1603 when players came under the purview of the Royal Household and the company patronage was assumed by the Stuart heir apparent, Prince Henry. See also Prince Henry’s Men and Palsgrave’s (Palatine’s) Men. After fire destroyed their playhouse, the Fortune, in 1621–and after it was rebuilt in 1623–the remnants of the company merged with the King and Queen of Bohemia’s Men in 1626.

PLAYS

The Spanish Tragedy (1587) 1 Tamburlaine (1587) The Two Angry Women of Abington (1588) The Wounds of Civil War, or Marius and Scilla (1588) The Battle of Alcazar (1589) 2 Tamburlaine (1589) ? John a Kent and John a Cumber (1589) The Dead Man’s Fortune (1590) [later] Doctor Faustus (1592)

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A Knack to Know an Honest Man (1594) ? Two Lamentable Tragedies (1594) I Tamar Cam (1596) A Tale of a Tub (1596/1633) The Blind Beggar of Alexandria (Irus) (1596) Captain Thomas Stukeley (1596) Frederick and Basilea (1597) An Humorous Day’s Mirth (1597) The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (1 Robin Hood) (1598) The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntingdon (2 Robin Hood) (1598) Englishmen for my Money, or A Woman Will Have Her Will (1598) Look About You (1599) (1599) The Shoemaker’s Holiday (1599) 1 Sir John Oldcastle (1599) Troilus and Cressida (1599) 1 The Blind Beggar of Bednal Green (1 Tom Stroud) (1600) The Four Prentices of (1600) Patient Grissil (1600) The Spanish Moor’s Tragedy (1600) ? Lust’s Dominion, or The Lascivious Queen (1600) ? The Devil and His Dame (1600) 2 Fortune’s Tennis (1602) Hoffman, or A Revenge for a Father (1602) ? The Family of Love (1602) ?The Noble Spanish Soldier (The Noble Soldier, or A Contract Broken Justly Revenged) (1626)

AMATEURS AT COURT

The Queen of Aragon (Cleodora) (1640)

AMATEURS AT SURRENDEN

Henry IV (1623)

THE CHAMBERLAIN’S MEN

Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, sponsored a company between 1564 and 1566. It is not until 1576 that they appear again. They

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played in York 8 September 1580 and appeared in court 27 December 1582. Sussex, Lord Chamberlain, died in 1583. The title Lord Chamberlain passed first to Charles Howard (Lord Effingham and later Lord Admiral) before it passed to his father-in-law Henry Carey in July 1585. In this role, Carey supported the Queen’s Men as the only court until 1594 when the Lord Chamberlain’s Men came into being.

PLAYS

[later] The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1593) ? The Taming of the Shrew (1594) [later] Love’s Labours Lost (1595) Richard II (1595) ? (1595) ? Sir Thomas More (fragment) (1595) A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1596) King John (1596) The Merchant of Venice (1596) 1 Henry IV (1597) 2 Henry IV (1597) Every Man in His Humor (1598) Much Ado About Nothing (1598) As You Like It (1599) Henry V (1599) Julius Caesar (1599) A Larum for London, or The Siege of Antwerp (1599) A Warning for Fair Women (1599) The Merry Wives of Windsor (1600) Twelfth Night, or (1600) Thiomas Lord Cromwell (1600) (1601) , or The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet (1601) All’s Well That Ends Well (1602) Merry Devil of Edmonton (1602) Troilus and Cressida (1602) ? [1607]

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DERBY’S MEN

Ferdinando, Lord Strange, had a company of players dating back to the 1570s. By 1591 Lord Strange’s Men, gave an unprecedented six performances at court during the 1591-92 season. They went to the Rose in 1592, where one of their members, , married Henslowe’s daughter. This may have been in part responsible for their stay at the Rose for five months from February to June 1592–perhaps the longest single tenure for a company at a single playhouse to that date. In September 1593, Fernando Stanley succeeded his brother as earl of Derby. This is when the company became Derby’s Men. He died, however, 16 April 1594. After that time, the earl’s widow took charge of the players, and we have a record of them performing under her name on 16 May 1594. By then, however, the original Derby company had been greatly subsumed into the Chamberlain’s and Admiral’s companies.

PLAY

The Rare Triumphs of Love and Fortune (1582)

2 DERBY’S MEN

After the death of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, fifth earl of Derby, (16 April 1594) the first Derby company seems to have been subsumed into the Chamberlain’s and Admiral’s companies. Derby’s widow sponsored what was probably a remnant or entirely new company at Winchester only a month later on 16 May 1594. The sixth earl of Derby, as with all the Stanleys before him, was a keen play fancier and sponsored the Second Derby’s company. He apparently even busied himself in June 1599 with “penning comedyes for the common players” (Peter Thomson, Shakespeare’s Career (Cambridge, 1992) p. 46). The Second Derby company apparently began as a provincial touring company. By 1599 they presented the first true competition to the ‘duopoly’ of the Chamberlain’s and Admiral’s players. They performed at court in February 1600 and twice in January 1601. Under the leadership of Robert Browne, the second Derby company tried to gain

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purchase of the London theatre world. They were under stiff competition from Worcester’s Men, and the two companies platooned between the Rose and Boar’s Head playhouses. By 1602, however, the Worcester’s company, strengthened by a merger with Oxford’s Men, gained complete possession of the Boar’s Head, though they soon left it for the Rose. Derby’s appears to have failed quickly after that, going into the provinces and disappearing from the record within two years.

PLAYS

[IN 1618?] Guy Earl of Warwick (1593) 1 Edward IV (1599) 2 Edward IV (1599) The Trial of Chivalry (The Gallant Cavaiero Dick Bowyer (1601)

HENRIETTA’S MAIDS

L’Artenice (Les Bergeries. The Queen’s Pastoral) (1626)

KING’S MEN

When James I decreed all playing companies come under royal sponsorship, he took over the former Lord Chamberlain’s Men himself. In 1603 the King’s Men owned a four-year-old playhouse, the Globe, and some of its members held the paper on another playhouse, the second Blackfriars. In 1608 the Blackfriars property ceased to be a children’s venue and reverted to the King’s Men. On 29 June 1613 the Globe amphitheatre burned to the ground during a performance of Shakespeare and Fletcher’s All is True (Henry VIII). The playhouse was quickly rebuilt and reopened in 1614, suggesting the financial strength or at least the popularity of the company. Also in or about 1613, the company lost its most prominent playwright, , who appears to have retired at about this time. The company remained relatively strong, however, and survived until the closing of the playhouses in 1642. The Globe was converted temporarily into a hay barn and finally demolished in 1644.

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PLAYS

[by 1610] Mucedorus (Mucedorus and Amandine) (1590?) [later?]?Guy Earl of Warwick (1593) [later] Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany (1594) Sejanus His Fall (1603) The Fair Maid of Bristow (1604) The London Prodigal (1604) (1604) (1604) (1604) ?1 Jeronimo, with The Wars of Portugal (1604) (1605) Macbeth (1606) The Miseries of Enforced Marriage (1606) The Revenger’s Tragedy (1606) Volpone, or The Fox (1606) The Yorkshire Tragedy (All’s One, or One of the Four Plays in One) (1606) Antony and Cleopatra (1607) ?[unacted?] Timon of Athens [1607] The Devil’s Charter, or Pope Alexander (1607) Coriolanus (1608) Pericles (1608) (1609) , or Love Lies A-Bleeding (1609) ?The Atheist’s Tragedy, or The Honest Man’s Revenge (1609) The Alchemist (1610) The Maid’s Tragedy (1610) The Winter’s Tale (1610) ?The Christian Turned Turk (The Two Famous Pirates) (1610) [later] The Woman’s Prize, or The Tamer Tamed (1611) Catiline His Conspiracy (1611) A King and No King (1611) The Second Maiden’s Tragedy (1611) The Silver Age (1611) (1611) ?The Brazen Age (1611) (1612) 1 The Iron Age (1612)

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2 The Iron Age (1612) ?The White Devil (1612) (1613) Henry VIII (All IS True ) (1613) (1613) (1614) (1614) More Dissemblers Besides Women (1615) (1615) The Devil Is an Ass (1616) Love’s Pilgrimage (1616) (1616) The Mad Lover (1617) (1617) Thierry and Theodoret (1617) [later] Hengist, King of Kent, or The Mayor of Queenborough (1618) (1618) The Loyal Subject (1618) The Fatal Dowry (1618) (Generous Enemies. Demetrius and Enanthe. The Noble Enemey) (1619) The Laws of Candy (1619) Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt (1619) ?The Bloody Brother (Rollo, Duke of Normandy) (1619) The Little French Lawyer (1619) The Custom of the Country (1620) The Double Marriage (1620) The False One (1620) Women Pleased (1620) Anything for a Quiet Life (1621) (1621) (1621) (1621) (1621) ? (1621) Beggar’s Bush (1622) (1622) (1622) The Spanish Curate (1622) The Maid in the Mill (1623)

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The Lovers’ Progress, or The Wandering Lovers (Lisander and Calista) (1623) A Game at Chess (1624) Rule a Wife and Have a Wife (1624) A Wife for a Month (1624) (1625) (1625) ?Love’s Cure, or The Martial Maid (1625) The Fair Maid of the Inn (1626) The Noble Gentleman (1626) The Roman Actor (1626) The Staple of News (1626) (1626) The Cruel Brother (1627) The Lover’s Melancholy (1628) (1629) The Deserving Favorite (1629) The Just Italian (1629) The New Inn, or The Light Heart (1629) The Northern Lass (1629) The Picture (1629) The Soddered Citizen (1629) ?The Siege (1629) Inconstant Lady, or Better Late than Never (1630) Believe as You List (1631) (1631) The Swisser (1631) ?The Queen’s Exchange (1631) (1632) The Magnetic Lady, or Humours Reconciled (1632) The Novella (1632) ?The Country Girl (1632) ?The Weeding of Covent Garden, or The Middlesex Justice of the Peace (The Covent Garden Weeded) (1632) The Corporal (1633) (1633) Albertus Wallenstein (1634) Cleander (Lisander and Calista) (1634) The Late Lancashire Witches (1634)

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Love and Honour (The Courage of Love. The Nonpareilles, or The Matchless Maids) (1634) , or The Prince of Tarent (1634) The Wits (1634) A Challenge for Beauty (1635) (Pallantus and Eudora [1635]) The Conspiracy (1635) News from Plymouth (1635) 1 Arviragus and Philicia (1636) 2 Arviragus and Philicia (1636) (1636) ?The Princess, or Love at First Sight (1636) Aglaura (1637) The City Match (1637) The Lost Lady (1637)

[THE KING’S PROVINCIAL COMPANY?]

[Played at the Fortune]

The Valiant Scot (1637) Aglaura (second version) (1638) The Doubtful Heir (Rosania, or Love’s Victory) (1638) The Fair Favorite (1638) The Goblins (1638) 1 The Passionate Lovers (1638) 2 The Passionate Lovers (1638) The Unfortunate Lovers (1638) Brennoralt, or The Discontented Colonel (1639) The Spanish Lovers (1639) The Queen of Aragon (Cleodora) (1640) The Country Captain (Captain Underwit) (1640) The Imposture (The Imposter) (1640) The Brothers (The Politic Father) (1641) The Cardinal (1641) The Parson’s Wedding (1641) The Sophy (1641) The Variety (1641) The Sisters (1642)

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THE KING’S REVELS MEN

The King’s Revels set up in 1629 and began performing at Salisbury Court playhouse. The name “Revels” suggests that the company would report directly to Henry Herbert, Master of the Revels. They remained at Salisbury Court until 1631 when they transferred to the Fortune. In 1634 they moved back to Salisbury Court where they performed until their dissolution in 1636 or early 1637, apparently unable to continue after the plague of 1636.

PLAYS

?Praeludium (1629) Amyntas, or The Impossible Dowry (1630) The Muses’ Looking Glass (The Entertainment) (1630) ?The City Wit, or The Woman Wears the Breeches (1630) Changes, or Love in a Maze (1632) Tottenham Court (1634) The Lady Mother (1635) Messalina, The Roman Empress (1635) The Queen and Concubine (1635) The Sparagus Garden (Tom Hoydon o’ Tanton Deane) (1635) ?Money Is an Ass (Wealth Outwitted) (1635) ?, or The New Exchange (1635) ?The Twins (1635) The Rebellion (1636) The Wasp (1637)

THE LADY ELIZABETH’S MEN

Lady Elizabeth’s company later became The Queen of Bohemia’s Players also called the King and Queen of Bohemia’s Company. Begun in 1611, this company performed at playhouse until 1615 but appears also to have performed at Whitefriars in 1613 and the Hope in 1614 while still performing at the Swan. In 1615 this company subsumed the remnants of the Children of the Queen’s Revels company and performed together with the Prince’s Men at Porter’s Hall (Puddle Wharf). Notwithstanding their appearance at Porter’s Hall, they appear to have been touring the provinces mainly during the period from

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1615 through 1622. They were in residence at the Cockpit/Phoenix from 1622 to 1625, but they disappear entirely until 1628 when they are reformed into the Queen of Bohemia’s Players.

PLAYS

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside (1611) ?, or The Little Thief (1611) The Honest Man’s Fortune (1613) ?No Wit, No Help Like a Woman’s (1613) Bartholomew Fair (1614) ?Wit Without Money (1614) (Father’s Own Son) (1615) All’s Lost by Lust (1619) (1622) ?Chabot, Admiral of France (1622) (The Noble Bondman) (1623) (1623) ?The Welsh Ambassador, or A of Disguises (1623) The Captives, or The Lost Recovered (1624) The City Nightcap, or Crede Quod Habes et Habes (1624) The Parliament of Love (1624) , or The Gentleman of Venice (1624) The School of Compliment (love Tricks) (1625)

[MAIDS AT COURT]

Florimene (1635)

OGILBY’S MEN

?The Royal Master (1637) The Constant Maid, or Love Will Find Out the Way (1638) The Doubtful Heir (Rosania, or Love’s Victory) (1638) The Politician (1639) 1 St. Patrick for Ireland (1639) ?The Gentleman of Venice (1639) Landgartha (1640)

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OXFORD’S MEN

“The Duttons and theyr fellow-players forsakyng the Erle of Warwycke theyr mayster, became followers of the Erle of Oxford, and wrot themselves as COMOEDIANS, which certayne Gentlemen altered and made CAMOELIANS.” The company set up in 1580 when the seventeenth Earl of Oxford was thirty years of age.

PLAY

The Weakest Goeth to the Wall (1600)

PALSGRAVE’S MEN

With the death of Prince Henry in 1612, the former Admiral’s Prince Henry’s company became Palsgrave’s (Palatine’s) Men. They performed at the Fortune playhouse until the 1621 fire. After the fire, the company rebuilt and in 1623 reoccupied the Second Fortune, but in a weakened state that required it to merge with the King and Queen of Bohemia’s Company in 1626.

PLAY

The Duchess of Suffolk (1624)

PEMBROKE’S MEN

The first record of Henry Herbert, second earl of Pembroke’s company comes from Canterbury in 1575-76. It was probably a new company, however, that appeared in London from 1591 to 1593. The company may have been the brainchild of Herbert’s wife, Mary (nee Sidney), who became his third wife (at the age of 25) in 1586. In 1592, Simon Jewell, a player in the company, mentioned Mary Herbert as a patron in his will. It is nevertheless odd that Henry Herbert at the age of 57 and spending most of his time in Ludlow and the Welsh Marches as Lord President should desire to sponsor a London playing company. Gurr opines that the company was James Burbage’s initiative to supply his theatre with a powerful company–applying to Pembroke for patronage–after Strange’s Men deserted the Theatre for the Rose. They were from

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the start a vital company, performing four of Shakespeare’s plays and originating Marlowe’s Edward II. The plague and pressures of touring a large company are usually cited as the cause of Pembroke’s rapid demise.

PLAYS

?The Taming of a Shrew (1589) ?2 Henry VI (1591) ?3 Henry VI (1591) Edward II (1592) ?Doctor Faustus (1592) ?Richard III (1593) ? (1594) [at Newington Butts Playhouse)

PRINCE HENRY’S MEN

In 1603 the Admiral’s Men changed patrons to become Prince Henry’s Men at the Fortune playhouse. Thus it remained until 1612. With the death of Henry, the company changed patrons again to become Palsgrave’s (Palatine’s) Men.

PLAYS

1 Honest Whore, or 1 The Converted Courtesan (1604) When You See Me You Know Me (Henry VIII) (1604) 2 (2 The Converted Courtesan) (1605) The Whore of Babylon (1606) , or Moll Cutpurse (1608)

PRINCE’S MEN

Charles, Duke of York’s company (the Duke’s Men) merged in 1612 with Lennox’s Men to form the Prince’s Men when Charles’ brother Henry died leaving Charles heir apparent. Nothing is known of this company’s playhouse, however, until 1615 when the company moved to the Hope and also merged briefly with the combined Lady Elizabeth’s/Queen’s Revels company at Porter’s Hall (Puddle Wharf). By 1616 the company appears alone at the Hope with no further association with the other company. In 1617

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the Prince’s Men moved to the Red Bull. In 1619 they moved again, this time to the Cockpit/Phoenix. They spent 1622 at the Curtain and moved again in 1623 back to the Curtain for one year before transferring one last time in 1624 to the Red Bull and apparently disbanded in 1625 when Charles became king and changed his patronage to the King’s Men.

PLAYS

The Valiant Welshman (Caradoc the Great) (1612) A Fair Quarrel (1617) All’s Lost By Lust (1619) (1621)

PRINCE CHARLES’S MEN

From 1631 to 1634 this company performed at the Salisbury Court playhouse. In 1634 they moved to the Fortune and moved again in 1640 to the Red Bull, where they performed until the closure of the theatres in 1642.

PLAYS

Holland’s Leaguer (1631) ?Changes, or Love in a Maze (1632) A Fine Companion (1633) Tottenham Court (1634) The Seven Champions of Christendom (1635?) ?The Lovesick Court, or The Ambitious Politic (1639)

THE QUEEN’S MEN

Begun on 10 March 1583 under Elizabeth I, the Queen’s Men cannibalized from the leading companies of the day for the best players. The year coincides with the death of Elizabeth’s Lord Chamberlain, Sussex, (who died about one month later on 16 April) and it has been argued that the company was created (by Francis Walsingham) to end the rivalries amongst Elizabeth’s nobles to have their companies perform for the queen in the

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Christmas season. Evidence indicates that, whether intended or not, Elizabeth’s nobles did not compete with their sovereign’s company.

PLAYS

?Clyomon and Clamydes (1570) Three Plays in One (1585) The Famous Victories of Henry V (1586) 1 The Troublesome Reign of King John (1588) 2 The Troublesome Reign of King John (1588) ?The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (1588) ?The Taming of a Shrew (1589) A Looking Glass for London and England (1590) Old Wives Tale (1590) ?King Leir (1590) ?The Scottich History of James IV (1590) Orlando Furioso (1591) The True Tragedy of Richard III (1591) ?Edward I (1591) Selimus I (1592) ?Nobody and Somebody (1592?)

QUEEN ANNE’S MEN

In 1603 the former Worcester’s company became Queen Anne’s Men and performed at the Boar’s Head and Curtain until 1606. From 1606 to 1617 they performed at the Red Bull before transferring to the Cockpit/Phoenix for two years. In 1619 they changed their name to the Red Bull (Revels) Company and returned to the Red Bull.

PLAYS

If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody 1, or The Troubles of Queen Elizabeth (1604) Sir Thomas Wyatt (1604) The Wise Woman Of Hogsdon (1604) If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody 2, with the Building of the Exchange, and the Famous Victory of Queen Elizabeth (1605)

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?Nobody and Somebody (1605?) (1607) The Travels of the Three English Brothers (1607) ? (1608) Fortune by Land and Sea (1609) The Golden Age, or The Lives of Jupiter and Saturn (1610) ?1 The Fair Maid of the West, or A Girl Worth Gold (1610) Greene’s Tu Quoque, or The City Gallant (1611) If It Be Not Good, The Devil Is in It (If This Be Not a Good Play, The Devil Is in It) (1611) ?Match Me in London (1611) The Brazen Age (1611) The Silver Age (1611) 1 The Iron Age (1612) 2 The Iron Age (1612) The Honest Lawyer (1615) The Devil’s Law Case (1617) The Poor Man’s Comfort (1617) Swetnam The Woman-Hater Arraigned by Women (1618) ?The Martyred Soldier (1618)

QUEEN HENRIETTA’S MEN

Queen Henrietta’s Men, under the management of , performed from 1626 until the closing of theatres in 1642. From 1626 to 1636 they performed at the Cockpit. They appear to have been idled by the plague of 1636, but returned to the Salisbury Court playhouse in 1637 as the Queen’s Men under Queen ’s patronage where they performed until 1642.

PLAYS

[later] The Royal King and Loyal Subject (1602) [later] 1 The Fair Maid of the West, or A Girl Worth Gold (1610) [later] The Careless Shepherdess (1619) [later] The Maid of Honor (1621) A New Way to Pay Old Debts (1625) The English Traveler (1625) A New Trick to Cheat the Devil (1625)

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The Maid’s Revenge (1626) The Wedding (1626) The Great Duke of Florence (The Great Duke) (1627) The Witty Fair One (1628) The Grateful Servant (The Faithful Servant) (1629) [later] The City Wit, or The Woman Wears the Breeches (1630) 2 The Fair Maid of the West, or A Girl Worth Gold (1631) The Humourous Courtier (The Duke) (1631) King John and Matilda (1631) Love’s Cruelty (1631) The Traitor (1631) The Wonder of a Kingdom (1631) The Ball (1632) (1632) Love’s Sacrifice (1632) ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore (1632) The Bird in the Cage (The Beauties) (1633) Covent Garden (1633) A Maidenhead Well Lost (1633) (1632) The Gamester (1633) A Tale of a Tub (1596/1633) The Young Admiral (1633) The Example (1634) Love’s Mistress, or The Queen’s Mask (Cupid and Psyche, or Cupid’s Mistress) (1634) The Opportunity (1634) The Shepherd’s Holiday (1634) The Antiquary (1635) (1635) The Fancies Chaste and Noble (1635) (1635) The Lady of Pleasure (1635) The Prisoners (1635) Claracilla ( Claricilla. Clarasilla) (1636) The Duke’s Mistress (1636) The Hollander (1636) , or The Mock Marriage (1637) The Fool Would Be a Favorite, or the Discreet Lover (1637) The Royal Master (1637)

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?Osmond the Great Turk, or The Noble Servant (1637) (1638) The Politician (1639) The Gentleman of Venice (1639) The Noble Stranger (1639) (1639) The Arcadia (1640)

RED BULL COMPANY

From 1626 to 1634 a company performed at the Red Bull known only as the Red Bull Company. In 1634 they transferred to the Fortune playhouse but apparently did not change their name. In 1640 they moved back to the Red Bull where they performed until the closure of the theatres in 1642.

PLAYS

?The Maid of Honor (probably the Red Bull [Revels] Men intended (1621) The Knave in the Grain, New Vamped [at the Fortune] (1639) ?The Walks of Islington and Hogsdon (Tricks of Youth) (1641)

RED BULL (REVELS) MEN

Growing from a long line of companies beginning with Worcester’s in 1562 through Queen Anne’s Men, the Red Bull (Revels) company ran from 1619 to 1625.

PLAYS

The Two Merry Milkmaids, or The Best Words Wear the Garland (1619) The Heir (1620) (1620) Herod and Antipater (1622) The Two Noble Ladies and the Converted Conjurer (1622) ?A Match at Midnight m(1622)

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STRANGE’S MEN

Ferdinando, Lord Strange, had a company of players dating back to the 1570’s. By 1591 Lord Strange’s Men gave an unprecedented six performances at court during the 1591-92 season. They went to the Rose in 1592, where one of their members, Edward Alleyn, married Henslowe’s daughter. This may have been in part responsible for their stay at the Rose for five months from February to June 1592–perhaps the longest single tenure for a company at a single playhouse to that date. In September 1593, Fernando Stanley succeeded his brother as earl of Derby. This is when the company became Derby’s Men. He died, however, 16 April 1594. After that time, the earl’s widow took charge of the players, and we have a record of them performing under her name on 16 May 1594. By then, however, the original Derby company had been greatly subsumed into the Chamberlain’s and Admiral’s companies.

PLAYS

The Spanish Tragedy (1587) Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay (1589) The Jew of Malta (1589) ?John a Kent and John a Cumber (1589) Fair Em, The Miller’s Daughter (1590) Orlando Furioso (1591) ?2 Henry VI (1591) ?3 Henry VI (1591) 1 Henry VI (1592) A Knack to Know a Knave (1592) ?Doctor Faustus (1592) ?John of Bordeaux, or The Second Part of Friar Bacon (1592) ?The Comedy of Errors (1592) The Massacre at Paris (1593) ?Richard III (1593)

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SUSSEX’S MEN

PLAYS

George A Greene, The Pinner of Wakefield (1590) Titus Andronicus [at Newington Butts Playhouse] (1594) ?The Taming of the Shrew (1594) [Tradesmen at Bull & Curtain] (1614)

TRADESMEN AT BULL & CURTAIN

The Hector of Germany, or The Palsgrave, Prime Elector (1614)

WORCESTER’S MEN

Under the patronage of Edward Somerset, third earl of Worcester, this company performed intermittently in the provinces and London between 1590 and 1601. In 1601 it subsumed the former Oxford’s Men and took up residence at the Boar’s Head playhouse. In 1602 the company transferred to the Rose and the next year, 1603, became Queen Anne’s Men and performed at the Boar’s Head and Curtain until 1606, the Red Bull until 1617, and finally moved to the Cockpit/Phoenix until 1619 when they returned to the Red Bull to become the Red Bull (Revels) Company.

PLAYS

How a Man May Choose a Good Wife from a Bad (1602) ?The Royal King and Loyal Subject (1602) A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603)

II. CHILDREN’S COMPANY REPERTOIRES

BEESTON’S BOYS

From 1637 to the closing of the theatres in 1642, Beeston’s Boys attempted to revive the popularity of children’s theatre from the earliest years of the century. They performed exclusively at the Cockpit in Drury Lane after being formed by Christopher and

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William Beeston. managed the company during 1640, but William Beeston took over management in 1641.

PLAYS

The Ladies’ Privilege (The Lady’s Privilege) (1637) 1 The Cid (The Valiant Cid) (1637) , or The New Ordinary (1637) Argalus and Parthenia (1638) The Bride (1638) The Cunning Lovers (1638) The Lady’s Trial (1638) Wit in a Constable (1638) (1639) ?The Mad Couple Well Matched (1639) The Court Beggar (1640) The Swaggering Damsel (1640) , or The Merry Beggars (1641)

CHILDREN OF THE CHAPEL

William Hunnis was master of the company and Richard Farrant their first acting master of record, appearing in 1577 when the company took up residence at First Blackfriars. Hunnis continued as master until 1597, overseeing the period in 1583 when the company appears to have combined briefly with Windsor’s Boys and “Oxford’s Boys” (a.k.a Paul’s Boys). Nathaniel Gyles became master of the boys in 1597, and in 1600 the company transferred to the Second Blackfriars, where Henry Evans, Edward Kirkham, and Robert Keysar became the company’s playhouse managers. In 1603 they became the Queen’s Revels. In 1605, having lost their patron, they became merely the Revels company. The following year, 1606, they changed their name to the Children of Blackfriars. They moved in 1607 to a new playhouse, changing their name to the Children of Whitefriars to reflect the move. Sometime during 1612 they became the Children of the Queen’s Revels but left Whitefriars only months after and ultimately merged with Lady Elizabeth’s Men by March of 1613 and the combined company merged with the Prince’s Men in 1615,

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during which year they are noted as performing in Porter’s Hall (Puddle Wharf).

PLAYS

The Wars of Cyrus (1577) The Arraignment of Paris (1581) Dido, Queen of Carthage (1587) Cynthia’s Revels, or The Fountain of Self-Love (1601) Poetaster, or The Arraignment (1601) The Gentleman Usher (1602) May-Day (1602) Sir Giles Goosecap (1602)

KING’S REVELS BOYS

This company is possibly the remnant of Paul’s Boys, which dissolved in 1606. In 1608 they are noted performing at Whitefriars under the management of Martin Slaiter.

PLAYS

Law Tricks, or Who Would Have Thought It (1604) Cupid’s Whirligig (1607) The Turk (Mulleasses the Turk) (1607) Every Woman in Her Humor (1607) The Dumb Knight (1608) Humour Out of Breath (1608) Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks (1608) The Two Maids of More Clacke (1608)

OXFORD’S BOYS

In 1584 Paul’s Boys performed at Blackfriars under the management of Henry Evans and possibly John Lilly. The company appears to have merged for that year with Windsor’s Boys and the Children of the Chapel. Their master at this time was Thomas Gyles, who had been their master at Paul’s since 1582 and would continue in that position until 1600. It is possible that the plague of the previous year made attractive the 1584 merger, which lasted

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only the one year before Oxford’s Boys returned to Paul’s and dropped the Oxford name.

PLAYS

Campaspe (Alexander, Campaspe, and Diogenes) (1584) Sappho and Phao (1584)

PAUL’S BOYS

Sebastian Westcott is the first master of record, leading the boys until 1582 when Thomas Gyles became master. At that time Henry Evans and possibly John Lily became their playhouse managers. Sometime in 1584 the company transferred briefly to Blackfriars under the name Oxford’s Boys and merged with Windsor’s Boys and the Children of the Chapel. This merger was possibly occasioned by a bout of plague shortly before. The move and merger did not last a full year, however, and 1585 finds Paul’s Boys once again performing at Paul’s with Thomas Gyles in the dual role of master and playhouse manager. became playhouse manager for the company from 1599 to 1603. One year after Marston’s involvement, in 1600, Thomas Gyles’s tenure as master ended when Edward Pearce became the new master of Paul’s Boys. When Marston stepped down in 1603, it is possible that Thomas Woodford became manager for a year. In 1604, however, Edward Kirkham took over as manager, but the company dissolved in 1606. It is possible the remnants of Paul’s Boys went on to become the King’s Revels under the management of Martin Slaiter at Whitefriars.

PLAYS

Philomathes’ Dream (1584) Gallathea (Titirus and Galthea) (1585) Philomathes’ Second Dream (1586) Endymion, or The Man in the Moon (1588) Midas (1589) Mother Bombie (1589) Love’s Metamorphosis (1590) (1599)

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Histiriomastix, or The Player Whipped (1599) The Wisdom of Doctor Dodypoll (1599) Antonio’s Revenge (1600) Jack Drum’s Entertainment (Katherine and Pasquil) (1600) The Maid’s Metamorphosis (1600) Blurt, Master Constable, or The Spaniard’s Night Walk (1601) Satiromastix, or The Untrussing of the Humorous Poet (1601) ?What You Will (1601) ?Wily Beguiled (1602) Bussy D’Ambois (1604) (1604) ! (1604) ! (1605) A Trick to Catch the Old One (1605) ?Your Five Gallants (The Five Witty Gallants) (1605) A Mad World, My Masters (1606) (1606) , or The Widow of Watling Street (1606) (The Hungry Courtier (1606)

THE QUEEN’S REVELS BOYS

A title briefly taken by the Children of the Chapel. In quick succession this company next became the Revels, Children of Blackfriars, Children of Whitefriars, and Children of the Queen’s Revels before merging with Lady Elizabeth’s Men and the Prince’s Men.

PLAYS

All Fools (1604) The Dutch Curtezan (Cockledemoy) (1604) The Malcontent (1604) Monsieur D’Olive (1604) Philotas (1604) [later] Your Five Gallants (The Five Witty Gallants) (1605) Eastward Ho! (1605) The Parasitaster, or The Fawn (1605) The Wonder of Women, or Sophinisba (1605) ?The Widow’s Tears (1605)

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The Fleer (1606) The Isle of Gulls (1606) The Knight of the Burning Pestle (1607) The Conspiracy of Charles Duke of Byron (1608) The Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron (1608) Cupid’s Revenge (1608) ?The Faithful Shepherdess (1608) The Coxcomb (1609) Epicoene, or The Silent Woman (1609) A Woman Is a Weathercock (1609) The Insatiate Countess (1610) The Revenge of Bussy D’Ambois (1610) ?The Christian Turned Turk (The Two Famous Pirates) (1610) ?Amends for Ladies (1611) ?The Scornful Lady (1613)

WESTMINSTER’S BOYS

?Appius and Virginia (1564)

Works Cited

Corrigan, Brian Jay. Compendium of Renaissance Drama (CORD). http://cord.ung.edu.

Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearian Playing Companies. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1996.

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