Blossoming at the Rose Theatre

The Rose playhouse was the first purpose-built theatre south of the Thames to be located on Bankside, Southwark.

The playhouse was erected by Philip Henslowe in 1587 and functioned for a couple of decades on the north side of Maiden Lane (now Park Street).

The first acting company known to have been in residence at the Rose was an innovative and talented troupe under the patronage of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange, the heir of the 4th Earl of Derby.

Actor Richard Burbage. By permission of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery

Thanks to the unique survival of the journal known as Henslowe’s Diary we can track the performances (and receipts) by play at the Rose during two seasons when Strange’s Men maintained residence (from 19 February-22 June 1592, and again from 29 December 1592-1 February 1593).

Actor Edward Alleyn was the star performer, and although we have no actual record that Shakespeare himself was a member of Strange’s Men, it is possible that he was indeed one of their hired actors at the time, as well as a contributing playwright.

Will Kemp, Thomas Pope and George Bryan, three leading members of Strange’s Men, migrated to join Shakespeare and Richard Burbage in the newly formed Chamberlain’s Men after the sudden death of their patron, Ferdinando Stanley (briefly 5th Earl of Derby) in the spring of 1594. All three would have been known to Shakespeare already, at least as actors in Henry VI, Part I during their heyday with Strange’s Men.

In the summer of 1592, when Henry VI Part I was performing early in the year at the Rose Theatre, Lord Strange’s Men - the premier performing troupe on London - were forced to go on a provincial tour.

This was due to the closure of the capital’s main theatres, firstly as result of an apprentices’ riot in Southwark in June that drew the ire of the Privy Council, and then as plague became endemic in the city of London later the same summer.

Their tour took them first along a circuit south-east of London to Maidstone, Rye, Folkestone, Canterbury, and Faversham in June and July, and then along a western route to Bristol, Gloucester, Oxford and Coventry, swinging back for a stop in Cambridge before their return to perform three plays at Hampton Court during the Christmas season.

We see details of the tour registered in the records – usually town halls or the like - however, town accountants almost never recorded the titles of plays performed so we can only speculate on the repertory that they may have taken on tour.

It is most unlikely that props and costumes for 24 plays would have been taken on foot, with only a wagon for transport, by Strange’s Men this year, but their current hit, Henry VI Part I, would seem an ideal choice for that tour.

At Coventry especially, it would have found a perfect setting in St Mary’s Guildhall where a magnificent late 15th c. tapestry and stained glass window commemorating Henry VI and his lineage would have formed the setting behind the mayor and council at the high end, as they still do today.

Edward Alleyn was one of the star actors in the Elizabethan theatre, associated with both Lord Strange’s Men at the height of their success in the early 1590s and then with the Lord Admiral’s Men at the Rose and the Fortune before he retired from the stage to continue his own business interests.

Actor Edward Alleyn. By permission of the Trustees of Dulwich Picture Gallery

Alleyn thrived financially, with rising social status, and through his wife Joan ultimately gained the bulk of theatre entrepreneur Philip Henslowe’s estate and sole ownership of his theatres.

He acquired extensive properties in Surrey and in 1619 founded Dulwich College on his estate.

The Jacobean building was replaced by an even grander school in Victorian style, which maintains its reputation as a vibrant educational institution today.

It was founded on June 21st 1619, with letters patent from King James I. This magnificent document with the Great Seal of England still survives.

Today the college boasts: "We are able to transform the multi-functional and versatile Edward Alleyn Theatre to enable boys to explore varied approaches to the actor audience relationship. Boys have the opportunity not only to act but also direct, design, build and work as part of a creative team, providing lighting, sound and stage management."

Records clearly show that William Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus was performed at the Rose Theatre in 1594.

The play which had preceded this performance was the lesser known George a Green, Pinner of Wakefield.

That same year, Titus Andronicus was printed, together with some information about its performance history - though without the name of its author.

Five years later, in 1599, George a Green, Pinner of Wakefield also went into publication – but again there was no name for the author.

It was around this time that a certain George Buc, soon to become Sir George Buc and Master of the Revels, acquired a copy of the new book and tried to establish the name of the author.

As part of his investigations he consulted two members of the theatre profession – Edward Juby and William Shakespeare.

Buc wrote notes in his copy of the book, Shakespeare was able to remember that the author was a minister who had acted the part of Pinner himself. Shakespeare could clearly not recall the author’s name because Buc left a space blank against his Shakespeare notes; but Edward Juby – a member of the Admiral’s Men group of actors at the time, identified the author as Robert Green.

George Buc’s copy of George a Green, Pinner of Wakefield, still survives in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C., complete with the notes from his personal interview with William Shakespeare.