Richard Robinson (died March 1648) was an actor in

English Renaissance theatre The English Renaissance theatre or Elizabethan theatre was the theatre of England from 1558 to 1642. Its most prominent playwrights were William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Background The term ''English Renaissance theatr ...

and a member of Shakespeare's company the King's Men.

Biography

Robinson started out as a

boy player A boy player was a male child or teenager who performed in Medieval theatre, Medieval and English Renaissance theatre, English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for adult companies and performed the female roles, since women ...

with the company; in 1611 he played the Lady in their production of ''

The Second Maiden's Tragedy ''The Second Maiden's Tragedy'' is a Jacobean play that survives only in manuscript. It was written in 1611, and performed in the same year by the King's Men. The manuscript was acquired but never printed by the publisher Humphrey Moseley afte ...

.'' He was cast in their production of

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

's ''

Catiline Lucius Sergius Catilina ( – January 62 BC), known in English as Catiline (), was a Roman politician and soldier best known for instigating the Catilinarian conspiracy, a failed attempt to seize control of the Roman state in 63 BC. ...

'' in the same year, and in their '' Bonduca,'' c. 1613. He became a sharer in the King's Men in

1619 Events January– March * January 12 – James I of England's Banqueting House, Whitehall in London is destroyed by fire."Fires, Great", in ''The Insurance Cyclopeadia: Being an Historical Treasury of Events and Circumstances Co ...

, perhaps succeeding Richard Cowley; and he was cast in their revival of

Webster's ''Webster's Dictionary'' is any of the US English language dictionaries edited in the early 19th century by Noah Webster (1758–1843), a US lexicographer, as well as numerous related or unrelated dictionaries that have adopted the Webster's n ...

The Duchess of Malfi ''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theat ...

'' c. 1621. Robinson reportedly played the part of Wittipol in Jonson's '' The Devil is an Ass'' in

1616 Events January–March * January 1 – King James I of England attends the masque '' The Golden Age Restored'', a satire by Ben Jonson on fallen court favorite the Earl of Somerset. The king asks for a repeat performance on January 6. ...

. In the printed text of that play (

1631 Events January–March * January 23 – Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany. * February 5 &ndas ...

), Jonson praises Robinson's acting of female roles and calls him an "ingenious youth." Robinson played the role of Aesopus in the company's

1626 Events January–March * January 7 – Polish–Swedish War (1625–1629), Polish-Swedish War: Battle of Wallhof in Latvia – Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, defeats a Polish army. * January 9 – Peter Minuit sail ...

production of Massinger's '' The Roman Actor,'' and Count Orsinio in Lodowick Carlell's '' The Deserving Favourite'' (

1629 Events January–March * January 7 – Henry Frederick, Hereditary Prince of the Palatinate, the 15-year-old son of the German Palatinate elector, Frederick V of the Palatinate, Frederick V, drowns in an accident while sailing ...

). Robinson is included in the cast lists for the company's productions of '' Bonduca'', '' The Double Marriage'', '' A Wife for a Month'', and '' The Wild Goose Chase'', plays in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators. According to the last will and testament of Nicholas Tooley, Robinson owed Tooley £29 13''s.'' in 1623; Tooley forgave the debt in his will. Robinson married Winifred Burbage (d.1642), the widow of

Richard Burbage Richard Burbage (6 January 1567 – 13 March 1619) was an English stage actor, widely considered to have been one of the most famous actors of the Globe Theatre and of his time. In addition to being a stage actor, he was also a theatre owne ...

. Together with Cuthbert Burbage,

William Heminges William Heminges (1602 – c. 1653?), also Hemminges, Heminge, and other variants, was an English playwright and theatrical figure of the Caroline period. He was the ninth child and third son of John Heminges, the actor and colleague of William ...

, Joseph Taylor and John Lowin, Robinson and his wife, Winifred, filed a Bill of Complaint on 28 January 1632 in the Court of Requests against the owner of the Globe, Sir Matthew Brend, in order to obtain confirmation of an extension of the 31-year lease originally granted by Sir Matthew Brend's father, Nicholas Brend.. Robinson was one of the King's Men who signed the dedication of the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio in

1647 Events January–March * January 2 – Chinese bandit leader Zhang Xianzhong, who has ruled the Sichuan province since 1644, is killed at Xichong County, Xichong by a Qing archer, after having been betrayed by one of his officer ...

. Seventeenth-century sources, including James Wright's '' Historia Histrionica'' ( 1699), falsely report that Robinson was killed in the siege of Basing House in October 1645, during the

English Civil War The English Civil War or Great Rebellion was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Cavaliers, Royalists and Roundhead, Parliamentarians in the Kingdom of England from 1642 to 1651. Part of the wider 1639 to 1653 Wars of th ...

. Richard Robinson was probably confused with another actor with a similar name; there was more than one Robinson in

Caroline era The Caroline era is the period in English and Scottish history named for the 24-year reign of Charles I of England, Charles I (1625–1649). The term is derived from ''Carolus'', Latin for Charles. The Caroline era followed the Jacobean era, the ...

theatre —; though the actor in question was most likely comedian and fellow King's Man William Robbins. In fact, Richard Robinson was buried at St. Anne's Church, in Blackfriars, on 23 March 1648.

Notes

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Richard 17th-century English male actors 1648 deaths Year of birth unknown King's Men (playing company)