15 June, 1594 - The Jew of Malta

Here's what the Admiral's Men and/or the Chamberlain's Men performed at the Newington Butts playhouse on this day, 424 years ago...

Henslowe writes: y^e 13 of June 1594 ... R at the Jewe ... iiij^s

In modern English: 15^th June, 1594 ... Received at The Jew ... 4 shillings

Caravaggio's portrait of the Grand

Master of the Knights of Malta,

1607-8.

Today, for their final performance at Newington Butts, the players performed once again The Jew of Malta, Christopher Marlowe's satirical comic tragedy; you can read more about this play in the blog entry for 26th February 1592.

The Jew of Malta has been one of the most reliably popular plays at the Rose, but today it received only 4 shillings, by far the lowest of Henslowe's receipts at Newington Butts. As always, we cannot be sure what the box office figures at this theatre mean, but it looks as though they left Newington with a whimper rather than a bang. 

What's next?

There will be no blog entry tomorrow because 16 June was a Sunday in 1594 and the players did not perform. But that does not mean the players were idle, for a huge change was underway.

For the past week, two playing companies have been sharing a theatre at Newington for reasons unknown. But in the next entry, all will be different. The companies will have separated, with the Chamberlain's Men heading off to the Theatre in north London, while the Admiral's Men return to the Rose. For Henslowe, this will be a return to normality and stability again.

Henslowe's Diary ... as a Blog! will thus return on 17th June for a week that will see some familiar plays back in heart of London. See you then!

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!