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The Admiral's Men (also called the Admiral's company, more strictly, the Earl of Nottingham's Men; after 1603, Prince Henry's Men; after 1612, the Elector Palatine's Men or the Palsgrave's Men) was a theatre company in the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, generally considered the second most important acting troupe of English Renaissance theatre (after the company of Shakespeare, the Lord Chamberlain's or King's Men). Romance and reality The Victorian era and the early twentieth century idealised the Elizabethan era Highlights of the Jacobean Era The practical if not formal unification of England and Scotland under one ruler was a development of the first order of importance for both English Renaissance theatre is English drama written between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642. William Shakespeare ( baptised The Lord Chamberlain's Men was the Playing company that William Shakespeare worked for as Actor and Playwright for most of his career The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare (1564&ndash1616 belonged through most of his career

They were first known as the Lord Howard's Men, named after their patron Charles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham. Charles Howard 1st Earl of Nottingham (1536 &ndash 14 December 1624) was an English statesman and admiral The company played once at Court on December 1576 (the play was called Tooley), again on February 17, 1577 (The Solitary Knight), and a third time the following Christmas season, January 5, 1578 (all dates new style). Old Style (or OS) and New Style (or NS) are used in English language historical studies either to indicate that the start of the Julian year They toured widely, from Bath to Nottingham, in the years 1577–9.

A powerful patron like Howard could make a great difference in a company's fortunes. Though there is little evidence that he was actively concerned with drama, Howard was almost alone among Elizabeth's closest councillors in opposing the Lord Mayor of London's 1584 drive to close the public theatres. The theatres stayed open. [1]

When Howard became England's Lord High Admiral in 1585, the group's name was changed to reflect his new title. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland They performed regularly in the provinces and at Court in the 1585–7 period; but a fatal accident at one of their performances forced them into a temporary retirement. (During a performance in London on November 16, 1587, stage gunfire went wrong, killing a child and a pregnant woman. )[2] But they returned to activity with two performances at Court in the winter of 1588–9, on December 29 and February 11.

Despite the power of their patron, the Admiral's Men were not entirely free of official interference. Both they and the Lord Strange's Men were stopped from playing by the Lord Mayor of London in November 1589; it seems that Edmund Tilney, the Master of the Revels, had taken a dislike to their choice of plays. Lord Strange's Men was an Elizabethan Playing company, comprising retainers of the household of Ferdinando Stanley Lord Strange (pronounced "strang" Edmund Tilney (c 1536 - 1610 was a courtier best known now as Master of the Revels to Elizabeth I and James I. The Master of the Revels was a position within the British royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally During this period of difficulty the Admiral's Men moved ito James Burbage's The Theatre for a time (November 1590–May 1591), and there they played Dead Man's Fortune with a young Richard Burbage in the cast — the only time that the later competitors Burbage and Edward Alleyn, the longtime star of the Admiral's, are known to have acted together. The Theatre was an Elizabethan playhouse located in Shoreditch (in Curtain Road part of the modern London Borough of Hackney) just outside the Richard Burbage ( January 7, 1568 &ndash March 13 1619) was an Actor and theatre owner Edward Alleyn (ˈælɪn ( 1 September 1566 &ndash 25 November 1626) was an English Actor who was a major figure of the

If the Admiral's Men were having difficulties in the City in this period, they were still welcome at Court (December 28, 1589; March 30, 1590), and still popular in the towns and shires, where they toured more in 1589–90. Indeed, this was perhaps the height of their achievement: in these years Alleyn was making a sensation acting the heroes of Christopher Marlowe. Tamburlaine was printed in 1590 with their name on its title page. Tamburlaine the Great is the name of a play in two parts by Christopher Marlowe. Some of the plays of Robert Greene, and Thomas Lodge's The Wounds of Civil War, were also in their repertory in the early 1590s. Thomas Lodge (c 1558 &ndash 1625 was an English Dramatist and writer of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods

It was during the later 1580s that the company established its longterm relationship with Philip Henslowe, theatre builder, producer, impressario. Henslowe's Rose Theatre was home to the Admiral's Men for a number of years, and Henslowe played a key role as a blend of manager and financier. The Rose was an Elizabethan theatre. It was the fourth of the public theatres to be built after The Theatre ( 1576) the Curtain After the major disruption of the 1592–4 era, when the public theatres endured a long closure due to bubonic plague, the Admiral's Men entered another lush period in 1594 and after. Bubonic plague is the best-known manifestation of the bacterial disease plague, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis (formerly known as

The re-constituted company resumed performances on May 14, 1594, with The Jew of Malta and two anonymous and lost plays, The Ranger's Comedy and Cutlack. The Jew of Malta is a play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. [3] The Admiral's Men had Edward Alleyn as their leading man; other personnel included George Attewell, Thomas Downton, and James Tunstall, all veterans of the earlier pre-1592 iteration of the Admiral's, and Richard Jones, a former mate of Alleyn's and Tunstall's in Worcester's Men in the 1580s. The Earl of Worcester's Men was an acting company in Renaissance England. (Jones and Downton would defect to Pembroke's Men in early 1597, only to be caught up in their disastrous performance of The Isle of Dogs, and return to the Admiral's by the end of that year. The Earl of Pembroke's Men was an Elizabethan era Playing company, or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre. The Isle of Dogs is a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson which was performed in 1597. ) Attewell was a "jigging" clown, known for his dancing; when Richard Tarlton had died in 1588, Attewell had taken over the job of dancing a jig at the end of each performance of the Queen Elizabeth's Men. Richard Tarlton (1530 &ndash September 3, 1588) an English actor was the most famous clown of his era Queen Elizabeth's Men was a Playing company or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre. John Singer, another clown with the Queen Elizabeth's company, also joined the Admiral's in 1594; other members included Edward Juby, Martin Slater, and Thomas Towne. The company's repertory came to feature plays by George Chapman, William Haughton, and Anthony Munday, among many other poets. George Chapman (c 1559 &ndash May 12 1634) was an English Dramatist, Translator, and Poet. William Haughton (d 1605 was an English Playwright in the age of English Renaissance theatre. Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560? &ndash August 10, 1633) was an English Dramatist and miscellaneous writer

The survival of Henslowe's so-called Diary (actually an account book kept by Henslowe and others in his organization) provides scholars with more detailed information about the Admiral's Men in this era than is available for any contemporaneous acting troupe. Among other points, the Diary illustrates the enormous demands the Elizabethan repertory system placed upon the actors. In the 1594–5 season, the Admiral's Men generally performed six days a week, and staged a total of 38 plays; 21 of these were new plays, introduced at a rate of approximately one every two weeks — but only eight were acted again in subsequent seasons. The next season, 1595–6, demanded 37 plays, including 19 new ones; and the following year, 1596–7, 34 plays, 14 new. Taken altogether, the most popular play over this 1594–7 period was the anonymous The Wise Man of Westchester,[4] which was acted 32 times over the three years. The company consistently played the works of Marlowe throughout this era. Tamburlaine Part 1 was acted 14 times in the 1594–5 season, followed by Doctor Faustus (12 performances), The Massacre at Paris (ten), The Jew of Malta (nine), and Tamburlaine Part 2 (six). The Massacre at Paris is an Elizabethan play by the English dramatist Christopher Marlowe. The Jew of Malta is a play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. [5]

Henslowe had interests in other theatres, including the Fortune Theatre (built in 1600); the Admiral's Men moved into the new venue, and when the lease ran out on The Rose in 1605 it was abandoned. The Fortune Playhouse is the name of an historic Theatre in London. The company prospered, at least moderately, in its new location: in 1600 a share in the Admiral's Men (one out of a total of ten) was worth £50, while in 1613 a share (one of twelve) was valued at £70. [6]

Sometime in the winter of 1603–4, after the House of Stuart succeeded to the throne of England, the Admiral's Men acquired a new patron, Prince Henry (1594–1612), later the Prince of Wales (1610–12). The House of Stuart or Stewart was a Royal house of the Kingdom of Scotland, later also of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of For other people known as Henry Prince of Wales see Henry Prince of Wales. Edward Alleyn retired from the stage in 1604, though he was involved with the company as their Fortune Theatre landlord. During this period their core cohort of players consisted of William Bird, Thomas Towne, Samuel Rowley, Charles Massey, Humphrey and Anthony Jeffes, Edward Juby, and Thomas Downton (who'd been part of Pembroke's Men's notorious 1597 production of The Isle of Dogs). Samuel Rowley was a 17th century English Dramatist and Actor. The Earl of Pembroke's Men was an Elizabethan era Playing company, or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre. The Isle of Dogs is a play by Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson which was performed in 1597. Edward Juby was the company's payee for Court performances, which suggests that he had significant responsibility for the troupe's finances.

The company was known as Prince Henry's Men until the Henry's early death (November 6, 1612), after which they came under the patronage of his new brother-in-law, Frederick V, Elector Palatine. Frederick V (Friedrich V ( August 26 1596 – November 29 1632) was Elector Palatine (1610–23 and as Frederick I Their new patent of January 11, 1613 lists six of the actors of the pevious decade, Juby, Bird, Rowley, Massey, Downton, and Humphrey Jeffes, plus six new sharers,[7] who included John Shank, later a long-time member of the King's Men, and Richard Gunnell, who would become a theatre producer and impressario by building the Salisbury Court Theatre with William Blagrave in 1629. John Shank also spelled Shanke or Shanks (d January 1636 was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a leading comedian in the King's Men The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London.

The company suffered a major set disaster when the Fortune Theatre burned down on December 9, 1621, destroying their stocks of playscripts and costumes. The owner, Edward Alleyn, rebuilt it in 1623, in brick, at a cost of £1000. Edward Alleyn (ˈælɪn ( 1 September 1566 &ndash 25 November 1626) was an English Actor who was a major figure of the The actors moved back in, though recovery was difficult. They persisted for years, but endured a longterm decline in reputation. The company finally collapsed in 1631; after a re-organization, a troupe with some of the same personnel received royal patronage under the name of the infant Prince Charles, the future Charles II, and became the second iteration of Prince Charles's Men at the Salisbury Court Theatre. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. Prince Charles's Men (known as the Duke of York's Men from 1608 to 1612 was a Playing company or troupe of actors in Jacobean and Caroline The Salisbury Court Theatre was a theatre in 17th-century London. In December 1631 the Fortune Theatre, vacated by the Admiral's/Palsgrave's company, received the King's Revels Men from the Salisbury Court for the next few years (1631–3). The King's Revels Men or King's Revels Company was a Playing company or troupe of actors in seventeenth-century England [8]

Repertory

The Admiral's Men acted a huge repertory of plays during their long career; Henslowe's Diary lists dozens from the 1597–1603 period alone. Unfortunately, most of these plays have not survived; they exist only as titles (sometimes provocative titles, like The Boss of Billingsgate, or Mahomet, or Judas). The list that follows is a selection of their most noteworthy surviving plays.

[See also: Sir Thomas More. George Chapman (c 1559 &ndash May 12 1634) was an English Dramatist, Translator, and Poet. An Humorous Day's Mirth is an Elizabethan era stage play a Comedy by George Chapman, first acted in 1597 and published in 1599 Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560? &ndash August 10, 1633) was an English Dramatist and miscellaneous writer Henry Chettle (c 1564 &ndash c 1607 was an English Dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era. The Shoemaker's Holiday or the Gentle Craft is an Elizabethan play written by Thomas Dekker. Thomas Dekker is the name of Thomas Dekker (writer (1572&ndash1632 Elizabethan poet and dramatist Thomas Dekker (actor (born 1987 Sir John Oldcastle is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-15th century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Robert Wilson (flourished 1572 &ndash 1600 was an Elizabethan Dramatist who worked primarily in the 1580s and 1590s Richard Hathwaye (fl 1597 - 1603 was an English Dramatist. Little is known about Hathwaye's life Michael Drayton (1563 &ndash December 23, 1631) was an English Poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. The Honest Whore is an early Jacobean City comedy, written in two parts Part 1 is a collaboration between Thomas Dekker Thomas Middleton (1580 &ndash 1627 was an English Jacobean playwright and Poet. When You See Me You Know Me is an early Jacobean history play about Henry VIII, written by Samuel Rowley and first published in 1605 Samuel Rowley was a 17th century English Dramatist and Actor. The Roaring Girl is a Jacobean stage play a Comedy written by Thomas Middleton and Thomas Dekker ca Sir Thomas More is an Elizabethan play by Anthony Munday and others that depicts the life of Thomas More. ]

Notes

  1. ^ Kenny, pp. 31-2.
  2. ^ Chambers, Vol. 2, p. 135.
  3. ^ Halliday, p. 24.
  4. ^ The Wise Man of Westchester, which debuted on December 3, 1594 and was last played on July 18, 1597, has not survived; earlier scholars speculated that it might be an alternative title for Anthony Munday's John a Kent and John a Cumber (see Chambers, Vol. 3, p. 446), though no firm evidence supports this idea.
  5. ^ Gurr, pp. 103-4.
  6. ^ Gurr, p. 68.
  7. ^ Chambers, Vol. 2, pp. 186-92.
  8. ^ Adams, p. 287.

References

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