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A History of The Original Rose Theatre
When Henslowe built The Rose Theatre in 1587, he created a space where
competing entertainers mingled and mixed. The result was a very unique
offering, not repeated by any other Elizabethan playhouse. After all,
The Rose was the only playhouse where rival playwrights, Shakespeare
and Marlowe both staged plays; not to mention competitors Greene, Kyd,
Chapman, Fletcher and Ben Jonson. It was the only theatre to simultaneously
house rival companies like The Admiral’s Men, The Lord Strange’s
Men, The Queen’s Men and The Worcester’s Men. The Rose
was a theatre where – at first – you could even enjoy rival
entertainments: bear-baiting, cock-fighting or theatre. The Rose even
housed a duel between rival dramatists Ben Jonson and Gabriel Spenser;
luckily Jonson survived because he went on to help publish Shakespeare’s
plays. Only at court or at The Rose did the Elizabethan audience member
have as many choices for entertainment crowded into one place. It was
in this vibrant, varied and sometimes vicious environment that William
Shakespeare came to prominence as a writer.
In business, location is everything and the land that Henslowe leased
to build The Rose was ideally situated. It was located on the Southbank,
a short boat ride from the City of London. It was easy to get to for
visitors from the city; but it was far enough out to be subject to
slightly looser licensing laws. These laws and the more affordable
venues meant that the Southbank was already known for entertainment:
it was filled with brothels, gaming dens and bull and bear baiting
arenas. In addition the area itself was densely populated by people
who sought more affordable housing than was available in the city.
The location was perfect and Henslowe shrewdly spied an incredible
business opportunity.
Henslowe and his partner, John Chalmley, hired the carpenter, John
Griggs, to build the theatre in 1587. The building went up within a
year and by 1598 it was known around London simply as “The Playhouse;” probably
because there were no other theatres in the area. There is a strong
possibility that the theatre was also used for animal-baiting during
the first year. After all, the amphitheatre was originally built without
a stage and the first gallery was seven feet up, high enough so that
angry bears couldn’t reach. Then again, this would not explain
how the theatre so quickly came to be called “The Playhouse” and
it is equally possible that Griggs simply worked from a building design
more familiar to him: that of the animal-baiting arena. In fact, not
much at all is known about the first five years of “The Playhouse;” it
is even possible that Henslowe rented it out to a theatre company and
took a well-deserved break.
In 1592, Henslowe began to keep a record of accounts, which he called “Henslowe’s
Diary.” This still survives today and provides us with the best
account there is of Elizabethan Theatre practices. The diary also reveals
how deeply original Henslowe was as a theatre manager in those early
days at The Rose. Most managers like Richard Burbage, his son James
Burbage or the collective of actors that ran The Worcester’s
Men simply dealt with the venues and the plays that their own company
used. Not so with Henslowe: even though he managed The Admiral’s
Men and built The Rose for this company, he cleverly rented out his
playhouse to various different companies. He even rented out his own
company’s plays, bartered and swapped play scripts with other
companies and made loans to the theatre companies producing at The
Rose. As a result, Henslowe made a lot of money and The Rose became
a melding pot for competing actors, writers, musicians and playwrights.
The power this gave Henslowe also meant that his theatre was one of
the only two licensed to perform in 1594, further encouraging rival
companies to comingle under Henslowe’s leadership. Only at The
Rose could we see The Admiral’s Men performing Shakespeare; or
Shakespeare himself acting in The Lord Strange’s production of
a Jonson play!
(The building that Henslowe oversaw was also eccentric and original
compared to other Elizabethan playhouses. In some ways, the design
was typical: The Rose was a fourteen sided polygon made of timber,
lather and plaster; the audience could stand in a front pit or sit
in the galleries around the edge. The Rose was smaller than The Globe
and The Swan, but this simply supports the theory that it was based
on earlier bull-baiting arenas. In other ways, however the theatre
was truly unique. For one thing, excavations reveal that the stage
was shaped like a lozenge, not the more typical thrust shape; this
meant that at no point did the actors have their backs to audience
members in the pit. The standing-pit itself was raked downwards towards
the front of the stage: this was a great idea to help those at the
back of the pit to see the play, but it did become problematic whenever
rainwater cause a muddy stink at the front of the pit. We think that
the stage was also positioned slightly off centre from the audience:
this allowed for a central back door entrance, without the central
support pillar getting in the way of the actors’ entrance. (The
Globe would solve this problem by having two support pillars off to
the side of the stage.) Finally, The Rose was also known for its unique
ability to house large scenes on the two different levels of the stage:
plays like Titus Andronicus made good use of this. )
Henslowe’s brilliance and The Rose’s structural advantages
may also have led to the downfall of the playhouse. Perhaps because
of the theatre’s unique ability to house crowd-scenes on both
levels of the stage, the theatre became known for its grand Histories
like Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus or Peele’s The
Battle of Alcazar. These fell out of favor compared to the more light-hearted
comedies and more succinct tragedies on offer at The Swan and at The
Globe. Henslowe’s power must also have been a motivating factor
for companies to found these two rival theatres. Although Henslowe
rented out the space to various different companies, he favored his
own company The Admiral’s Men. After the plague died down in
1594, The Admiral’s Men took up a more permanent residence at
The Rose, prompting Pembrooke’s Men to found The Swan in 1595
and The Queen’s Men to found The Globe in 1599. Henslowe was
a ruthless business-man and as soon as The Globe opened on The Southbank,
he and his son-in-law Edward Alleyn made arrangements to lease The
Fortune, a theatre further north away from the competition. The Fortune
was one of the only theatres licensed by The Privy Council in 1600,
ensuring Henslowe and Alleyn’s continued success, but perhaps
condemning The Rose to failure.
In 1602, the slightly impoverished, slightly worse-for-wear group
The Worcester’s Men took up occupation at The Rose. They performed
for one more inglorious season before abandoning the theatre to demolition
in 1605. In their company was a man called William Kempe, a drunkard
and somewhat of a national favorite, Kempe had departed abruptly from
Shakespeare’s Company the year before. It is thought that he
arrived at The Rose with a smuggled, stolen, cobbled-together copy
of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor. Certainly, he borrowed
money from Henslowe to make a “payer of gyente hosse” or
trousers in that same year, suggesting that he may have been reviving – or
stealing – the Queen’s Men’s beloved Falstaff.
TIMELINE
1552 – Record of
a small residence and two rose gardens called “The
Little Rose”.
1585 – Businessman
Philip Henslowe and Chef John Chalmley lease The Little Rose.
1587 – Philip Henslowe
and John Chalmley sign an eight-year agreement to run a theatre.
Carpenter John Griggs begins building the theatre, known as “The
Playhouse”.
1591 – The Admiral’s
Men split from Burbage’s company
and arrive at The Playhouse.
1592 - Actor, Edward
Alleyn marries Philip Henslowe’s
daughter Henslowe begins to keep “Henslowe’s Diary” in
a small account book Henslowe spends £105 enlarging the theatre
into a “flat
oval” or “bulging tulip”.
The Lord Strange’s Men arrive at The Playhouse and perform through
the year.
Shakespeare’s Henry VI is performed at The Rose by The Admiral’s
Men.
1593 - 11,000 people die from the plague, The Playhouse closes for
much of the year
1594 – The Playhouse
reopens after the plague: Marlowe, Greene and Kyd have died.
The Playhouse and The Fortune are the only playhouses licensed to perform.
The Chamberlain’s Men perform Shakespeare’s Titus
Andronicus at The Playhouse.
The Admiral’s Men return and perform at The Playhouse for the
next seven years.
1595 – The Swan
Theatre is opened nearby.
“The Playhouse” is renamed “The Rose”.
1599 – The Globe
opens on The Southbank.
Henslowe, spying the competition takes out a lease for The Fortune.
1600 – Henslowe
moves The Admiral’s Men up to The Fortune.
The Privy Council only licenses The Fortune and The Globe to perform.
1602 – The Worcester’s
Men revive performances at The Rose.
Shakespeare’s old clown, William Kempe, joins them; possibly
with a stolen copy of Shakespeare’s The Merry
Wives of Windsor.
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