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The Picture (Massinger Play)
''The Picture'' is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Philip Massinger, and first published in 1630. The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 8 June 1629; it was acted by the King's Men at both of their theatres, the Globe and the Blackfriars. The play was published in quarto the following year; Massinger dedicated the work to the members of the Inner Temple. The play was popular and highly regarded in its own era; in 1650 Richard Washington wrote an elegy on Massinger in his own copy of the quarto of ''The Picture.'' Massinger's sources for his plot were the 28th novel in Volume 2 of ''The Palace of Pleasure'' (1567) by William Painter, and an anonymous English translation of ''The Theatre of Honour and Knighthood'' (1623) by André Favyn. Cast The 1630 quarto contains an unusually full cast list of the original King's Men's production of the play: The list is informative on the state of the King's Men co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Literature In English
English literature is literature written in the English language from United Kingdom, its crown dependencies, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, and the countries of the former British Empire. ''The Encyclopaedia Britannica'' defines English literature more narrowly as, "the body of written works produced in the English language by inhabitants of the British Isles (including Ireland) from the 7th century to the present day. The major literatures written in English outside the British Isles are treated separately under American literature, Australian literature, Canadian literature, and New Zealand literature." However, despite this, it includes literature from the Republic of Ireland, "Anglo-American modernism", and discusses post-colonial literature. ; See also full articles on American literature and other literatures in the English language. The English language has developed over the course of more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Angl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Believe As You List
''Believe as You List'' is a Caroline era tragedy by Philip Massinger, famous as a case of theatrical censorship. Censorship The play originally dealt with the legend that Sebastian of Portugal had survived the battle of Alcácer Quibir, and the efforts of Philip II of Spain to suppress the "false Sebastians." On 11 January 1631, Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, noted in his records that he refused to license the play because "it did contain dangerous matter, as the deposing of Sebastian, king of Portugal, by Philip the Second, and there being a peace sworn between the kings of England and Spain." To avoid the censor, Massinger was obliged to move the setting of his play to the ancient world, substituting ancient Rome for Spain and a Seleucid King Antiochus for Sebastian. The revised play was licensed by the Master of the Revels on 6 May 1631, and was premiered the next day, 7 May, by the King's Men. (If the play was intended for the winter season, it was me ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Thompson (actor)
John Thompson (died December 1634) was a noted boy player acting women's roles in English Renaissance theatre. He served in the King's Men, the acting troupe formerly of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage. Thompson's career is notable for his length. Some boy actors, like John Honyman and Stephen Hammerton, filled female roles for only three to five years before switching to male roles; others, like Richard Sharpe, appear to have continued in women's roles for a decade. Thompson is known to have played women for at least ten years, if not more. Beginnings Thompson began as an apprentice of veteran comedian and teacher John Shank. In 1636, Shank claimed in legal testimony to have spent £40 to acquire Thompson as an apprentice. (Apprentices' contracts were sometimes purchased from their "masters," as with the case of Stephen Hammerton.) According to the cast list in the 1623 first edition of Webster's '' The Duchess of Malfi'', Thompson played Julia, the "Cardinals Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Shank
John Shank (also spelled Shanke or Shanks) (died January 1636) was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a leading comedian in the King's Men during the 1620s and 1630s. Early career By his own testimony, Shank began his stage career with Pembroke's Men and Queen Elizabeth's Men. "Presumably the Pembroke's company in question was that of 1597–1600, and the Queen Elizabeth's Men the travelling company of the latter years of the reign" – that is to say, the later years of Elizabeth I. Shank was with Prince Henry's Men by 1610, and was a sharer in the company (that is, a partner who shared in the profits rather than a hired man) by 1613. Shank seems to have fulfilled the function that clowns had filled at least since the time of Richard Tarleton: he was a "jigging clown" who sang and danced the jig that concluded each performance. In the controversy surrounding the Prince's Men's production of '' The Roaring Girl'' in 1611, Shank seems to have temporarily lost his jigg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King's Men Personnel
King's Men personnel were the people who worked with and for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the King's Men (for all practical purposes a single continuous theatrical enterprise) from 1594 to 1642 (and after). The company was the major theatrical enterprise of its era and featured some of the leading actors of their generation – Richard Burbage, John Lowin, and Joseph Taylor among other – and some leading clowns and comedians, like Will Kempe and Robert Armin. The company benefitted from the services of William Shakespeare, John Fletcher, and Philip Massinger as regular dramatists. The actors who performed the plays have left the most evidence of their lives and activities; but they were supported by musicians and other functionaries, and were enabled by managers and financial backers like Cuthbert Burbage. For more information on specific individuals, see individual entries: Robert Armin, Christopher Beeston, Robert Benfield, etc. Terms * "Sharer" – an actor w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eliard Swanston
Eliard Swanston (died 1651), alternatively spelled Heliard, Hilliard, Elyard, Ellyardt, Ellyaerdt, and Eyloerdt, was an English actor in the Caroline era. He became a leading man in the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, in the final phase of its existence. Career Swanston started his acting career with Prince Charles's Men around 1620. In 1622 he moved to the Lady Elizabeth's Men, and two years later transferred to the King's Men. He may have been brought into that company to replace the veteran John Underwood, who died in 1624. By 1631 he had acquired a role in the management of the company, along with Joseph Taylor and John Lowin; the three men received the company's payments for their performances at Court. In some cases, Swanston was the sole payee for the King's Men's Court performances; he received sums of £120 (February 1632), £270 (March 1633), and £220 (April 1634), and other amounts, in trust for the company. Being a leader was no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Pollard
Thomas Pollard (1597 – 1649×1655) was an actor in the King's Men – a prominent comedian in the acting troupe of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage. Thomas Pollard was christened on 11 December 1597 in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. His date of death is not known. Career Pollard starting as a boy player specializing in women's roles. He was trained by John Shank, a noted comic actor; and after he matured and left female roles behind, Pollard acquired his own reputation as a gifted comic performer. His most notable part was the title role in Fletcher's ''The Humorous Lieutenant''. He had the comical role of Timentes the cowardly general in Arthur Wilson's '' The Swisser''. He played Silvio in Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'', in the productions of c. 1614 and c. 1621. He appeared in Shakespeare's ''Henry VIII'', probably in the 1628 revival at the Globe Theatre. Pollard played the role of Pinac in ''The Wild Goose Chase'' in the 1632 revival, and was in a number o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lowin
John Lowin (baptized 9 December 1576 – buried – 24 August 1653) was an English actor. Early life Born in St Giles-without-Cripplegate, London, Lowin was the son of a tanner. Like Robert Armin, he was apprenticed to a goldsmith. While he is not recorded as a free citizen of this company, he did perform as a goldsmith, Leofstane, in a 1611 city pageant written by Anthony Munday. This pageant was commissioned by the Goldsmiths' Company in honor of the election of one of their company as mayor; in the document employing him, Lowin is described as a "brother" of the company, suggesting some form of ongoing relationship with that community. He lived in Southwark, where parish registers record two marriages involving a man of his name (in 1607 and 1620); the latter definitely involved the actor. Career Lowin was definitely associated with the theatrical world by 1602. His name frequently occurs in the account books of Philip Henslowe in 1602, when he was playing with Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard Sharpe (actor)
Richard Sharpe (c. 1602 – January 1632) was an actor with the King's Men, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage. Sharpe began his career as a boy player acting female roles, then switched to male roles in his young adulthood. ''The Duchess of Malfi'' Sharpe's earliest known role was, arguably, both his most significant and his most controversial. The first edition of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'', printed in 1623, contains the earliest cast list in English Renaissance drama. The list states that Sharpe originated the title role of the Duchess. The 1623 cast list actually covers two separate productions, the premiere staging and a later revival. * The original starred Richard Burbage and is usually dated to c. 1614. It must have occurred prior to William Ostler's death in December 1614, since Ostler played the role of Antonio. * The revival production starred Burbage's replacement Joseph Taylor, and so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Benfield
Robert Benfield (died July 1649) was a seventeenth-century actor, noted for his longtime membership in the King's Men in the years and decades after William Shakespeare's retirement and death. Nothing is known of Benfield's early life. He was most likely with the Lady Elizabeth's Men in 1613, and acted in their productions of Fletcher's '' The Coxcomb'' and the Fletcher/ Massinger play '' The Honest Man's Fortune'' in that year. Benfield soon joined the King's Men, possibly to replace William Ostler, who died unexpectedly in December 1614. He acted in the company's production of John Webster's ''The Duchess of Malfi'' c. 1621. He was a shareholder in the company by 1619, when he is listed in the renewed patent for the King's Men issued in that year. Benfield also eventually became a sharer in both the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, but only after a conflict: in 1635 he was one of three King's Men (the others were Thomas Pollard and Eliard Swanston) who petitioned the Lord C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Taylor (17th-century Actor)
Joseph Taylor (died 1652) was a 17th-century English actor. As the successor of Richard Burbage as the leading actor with the King's Men, he was arguably the most important actor in the later Jacobean and the Caroline eras. Early career Taylor started as a child actor with the Children of the Chapel in the first decade of the century. As he matured he remained in the profession, with the Lady Elizabeth's Men and Prince Charles's Men. With those companies, he developed into an important leading man. King's men Richard Burbage died in March 1619; Taylor joined the King's Men the next month, and over the coming years he acted all the major roles of the Shakespearean canon. According to James Wright's '' Historia Histrionica'' (1699), Taylor "acted Hamlet incomparably well" and was noted for his Iago. He was also famous for the parts of Paris in '' The Roman Actor'' (Philip Massinger), Ferdinand in ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (John Webster), and Mosca in ''Volpone,'' Face in '' The Al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Swisser
''The Swisser'' is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Arthur Wilson. It was performed by the King's Men in the Blackfriars Theatre in 1631, and is notable for the light in throws on the workings of the premier acting company of its time. (In seventeenth-century parlance, "Swisser," or "Swizzer" or "Switzer," referred to a Swiss mercenary soldier.) Though Humphrey Moseley entered the play into the Stationers' Register on 4 September 1646, no edition of the drama was printed in the seventeenth century. The play remained in manuscript until it was published in the early 1900s. The manuscript, now ''Add. MS. 36,749'' in the collection of the British Museum, is in the author's hand. The play ''The Swisser'' shares the primary fault of Caroline drama as a whole; it is unoriginal and highly derivative of earlier works. Felix Schelling catalogued the play's stock elements as "the lecherous tyrant; the love-lorn girl page; the banished lord...; two old men of noble h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
