THE FIRST BLACKFRIARS
The choir boys of the Chapel Royal, of Windsor, and of Paul's were all
engaged in presenting dramatic entertainments before Queen Elizabeth.
Each organization expected to be called upon one or more times a
year--at Christmas, New Year's, and other like occasions--to furnish
recreation to Her Majesty; and in return for its efforts each received
a liberal "reward" in money. Richard Farrant, Master of the Windsor
Chapel, was especially active in devising plays for the Queen's
entertainment. But having a large family, he was poor in spite of his
regular salary and the occasional "rewards" he received for the
performances of his Boys at Court; and doubtless he often cast about
in his mind for some way in which to increase his meagre income.
In the spring of 1576 James Burbage, having conceived the idea of a
building devoted solely to plays, had leased a plot of ground for the
purpose, and had begun the erection of the Theatre. By the autumn, no
doubt, the building was nearing completion, if, indeed, it was not
actually open to the public; and the experiment, we may suppose, was
exciting much interest in the dramatic circles of London. It seems to
have set Farrant to thinking. The professional actors, he observed,
had one important advantage over the child actors: not only could they
present their plays before the Queen and receive the usual court
reward, but in addition they could present their plays before the
public and thus reap a second and richer harvest. Since the child
actors had, as a rule, more excellent plays than the professional
troupes, and were better equipped with properties and costumes, and
since they expended just as much energy in devising plays and in
memorizing and rehearsing their parts, Farrant saw no reason why they,
too, should not be allowed to perform before the public. This, he
thought, might be done under the guise of rehearsals for the Court.
Possibly the Queen might even wink at regular performances before the
general public when she understood that this would train the Boys to
be more skilful actors, would provide Her Majesty with more numerous
and possibly more excellent plays, and would enable the Master and his
assistants to live in greater comfort without affecting the royal
purse.
[Illustration: BLACKFRIARS MONASTERY
A plan of the various buildings as they appeared before the
dissolution, based on the Loseley Manuscripts and other documents,
surveys, and maps. The Buttery became Farrant's, the Frater Burbage's
playhouse. (Drawn by the author.)]
For Farrant to build a playhouse specifically for the use of the
Children was out of the question. In the first place, it would be too
conspicuously a capitalization of the royal choristers for private
gain; and in the second place, it would be far too hazardous a
business venture for so poor a man as he to undertake. The more
sensible thing for him to do was to rent somewhere a large hall which
could at small expense be converted into a place suitable for training
the Children in their plays, and for the entertainment of
select--possibly at first invited--audiences. The performances, of
course, were not to be heralded by a trumpet-and-drum procession
through the street, by the flying of a flag, and by such-like vulgar
advertising as of a public show; instead, they were to be quiet,
presumably "private," and were to attract only noblemen and those
citizens of the better class who were interested in the drama.[148]
[Footnote 148: From this notion of privacy, I take it, arose the term
"private" theatre as distinguished from "common" or "public" theatre.
The interpretation of the term suggested by Mr. W.J. Lawrence, and
approved by Mr. William Archer, namely, that it was a legal device to
escape the city ordinance of 1574, cannot be accepted. The city had no
jurisdiction over the precinct of Blackfriars, nor did Farrant live in
the building.]
[Illustration: THE SITES OF THE TWO BLACKFRIARS PLAYHOUSES
The smaller rectangle at the north represents the Buttery, later
Farrant's playhouse, the larger rectangle represents the Frater, later
Burbage's playhouse. (From Ogilby and Morgan's _Map of London_, 1677,
the sites marked by the author.)]
Such was Farrant's scheme. In searching for a hall suitable for his
purpose, his mind at once turned to the precinct of Blackfriars, where
in former years the Office of the Revels had been kept, and where the
Children had often rehearsed their plays. The precinct had once, as
the name indicates, been in the possession of the Dominican or "Black"
Friars. The Priory buildings had consisted chiefly of a great church
two hundred and twenty feet long and sixty-six feet broad, with a
cloister on the south side of the church forming a square of one
hundred and ten feet, and a smaller cloister to the south of this. At
the dissolution of the religious orders, the property had passed into
the possession of the Crown; hence, though within the city walls, it
was not under the jurisdiction of the city authorities. Farrant
probably did not anticipate any interference on the part of the Common
Council with the royal choristers "practicing" their plays in order
"to yield Her Majesty recreation and delight," yet the absolute
certainty of being free from the adverse legislation of the London
authorities was not to be ignored. Moreover, the precinct was now the
home of many noblemen and wealthy gentlemen, and Farrant probably
thought that, as one of the most fashionable residential districts in
London, it was suitable for "private" performances to be given by
members of Her Majesty's household.
In furthering his project he sought the counsel and aid of his "very
friend" Sir Henry Neville, Lieutenant of Windsor, who, it is to be
presumed, was interested in the Windsor Boys. It happened that Neville
knew of exactly such rooms as were desired, rooms in the old monastery
of Blackfriars which he himself had once leased as a residence, and
which, he heard, were "to be let either presently, or very shortly."
These rooms were in the southwestern corner of the monastery, on the
upper floor of two adjoining buildings formerly used by the monks as a
buttery and a frater. A history of the rooms up to the time of their
use as a theatre may be briefly sketched.
In 1548 the buttery and frater, with certain other buildings, were let
by King Edward to Sir Thomas Cawarden, Master of the Revels; and in
1550 they were granted to him outright. In 1554 Cawarden sold the
northern section of the buttery, fifty-two feet in length, to Lord
Cobham, whose mansion it adjoined. The rest of the buttery, forty-six
feet in length, and the frater, he converted into lodgings. Since the
frater was of exceptional breadth--fifty-two feet on the outside,
forty-six feet on the inside--he ran a partition through its length,
dividing it into two parts. The section of the frater on the west of
this partition he let to Sir Richard Frith; the section on the east,
with the remainder of the buttery not sold to Lord Cobham, he let to
Sir John Cheeke. It is with the Cheeke Lodgings that we are especially
concerned.
About September, 1554, Cheeke went to travel abroad, and surrendered
his rooms in the Blackfriars. Sir Thomas Cawarden thereupon made use
of them "for the Office of the Queen's Majesty's Revells"; thus for a
time the Cheeke Lodgings were intimately connected with dramatic
activities. But at the death of Cawarden, in 1559, the Queen
transferred the Office of the Revels to St. John's, and the
Blackfriars property belonging to Cawarden passed into the possession
of Sir William More.
[Illustration: A PLAN OF FARRANT'S PLAYHOUSE
Frith's Lodging and the four southern rooms of Farrant's Lodging were
on the upper floor of the Frater; the two northern rooms of Farrant's
Lodging were on the upper floor of the Buttery. The playhouse was
erected in the two rooms last mentioned.]
In 1560 the new proprietor let the Cheeke Lodgings to Sir Henry
Neville, with the addition of "a void piece of ground" eighteen feet
wide extending west to Water Lane.[149] During his tenancy Neville
erected certain partitions, built a kitchen in the "void piece of
ground," and a large stairway leading to the rooms overhead. In 1568
he surrendered his lease, and More let the rooms first to some "sylk
dyers," and then in 1571 to Lord Cobham. In 1576 Cobham gave up the
rooms, and More was seeking a tenant. It was at this auspicious moment
that Farrant planned a private theatre, and enlisted the aid of Sir
Henry Neville.
[Footnote 149: This was enclosed with brick walls, and the greater
part used as a wood-yard. This yard was later purchased by James
Burbage when he secured the frater for his playhouse. The kitchen,
shed, and stairs, built on the eastern part, were sold to Cobham.]
On August 27 Farrant and Neville separately wrote letters to Sir
William More about the matter. Farrant respectfully solicited the
lease, and made the significant request that he might "pull down one
partition, and so make two rooms--one." Neville, in a friendly letter
beginning with "hearty commendations unto you and to Mrs. More," and
ending with light gossip, urged Sir William to let the rooms to
Farrant, and recommended Farrant as a desirable tenant ("I dare answer
for him"). Neither letter mentioned the purpose for which the rooms,
especially the large room referred to by Farrant, were to be used; but
More doubtless understood that the Windsor Children were to practice
their plays there, with occasional private rehearsals. Largely as a
result of Neville's recommendation, More decided to let the rooms to
Farrant. The progress of the negotiations is marked by a letter from
Farrant to More, dated September 17, 1576, requesting that there be
granted him also a certain "little dark room," which he found would be
useful.
The lease as finally signed describes the property thus:
Sir William More hath demised, granted, and to ferm letten,
and by these presents doth demise, grant, and to ferm let
unto the said Richard Farrant all those his six upper
chambers, lofts, lodgings, or rooms, lying together within
the precinct of the late dissolved house or priory of the
Blackfriars, otherwise called the friars preachers, in
London; which said six upper chambers, lofts, lodgings, or
rooms, were lately, amongst others, in the tenure and
occupation of the right honourable Sir William Brooke,
Knight, Lord Cobham; and do contain in length from the north
end thereof to the south end of the same one hundred fifty
and six foot and a half of assize; whereof two of the said
six upper chambers, lofts, lodgings, or rooms in the north
end of the premises, together with the breadth of the little
room under granted, do contain in length forty[150] and six
foot and a half, and from the east to the west part thereof
in breadth twenty and five foot of assize;[151] and the
four other chambers, or rooms, residue of the said six upper
chambers, do contain in length one hundred and ten foot, and
in breadth from the east to the west part thereof twenty-two
foot of assize.... And also ... the great stairs lately
erected and made by the said Sir Henry Neville upon part of
the said void ground and way.
[Footnote 150: By an error in the manuscript this reads "fifty"; but
the rooms are often described and always as "forty-six" feet in
length; moreover, the error is made obvious by the rest of the lease.]
[Footnote 151: The breadth is elsewhere given as twenty-six, and
twenty-seven feet.]
It was agreed that the lease should run for twenty-one years, and that
the rental should be L14 per annum. But Sir William More, being a most
careful and exacting landlord, with the interest of his adjacent
lodgings to care for, inserted in the lease the following important
proviso, which was destined to make trouble, and ultimately to wreck
the theatre:
Provided also that the said Richard Farrant, his executors
or assigns, or any of them, shall not in any wise demise,
let, grant, assign, set over, or by any ways or means put
away his or their interest or term of years, or any part of
the same years, of or in the said premises before letten, or
any part, parcel, or member thereof to any person, or
persons, at any time hereafter during this present lease and
term of twenty-one years, without the special license,
consent, and agreement of the said Sir William More, his
heirs and assigns, first had, and obtained in writing under
his and their hands and seals.
The penalty affixed to a violation of this provision was the immediate
forfeiture of the lease.
Apparently Farrant entered into possession of the rooms on September
29[152] (although the formal lease was not signed until December 20),
and we may suppose that he at once set about converting the two upper
rooms at the north end of the lodgings into a suitable theatre.[153]
Naturally he took for his model the halls at Court in which the
Children had been accustomed to act. First, we are told, he "pulled
down partitions to make that place apt for that purpose"; next, he
"spoiled" the windows--by which is meant, no doubt, that he stopped up
the windows, for the performances were to be by candle-light. At one
end of the hall he erected a platform to serve as a stage, and in the
auditorium he placed benches or chairs. There was, presumably, no room
for a gallery; if such had been erected, the indignant More would
certainly have mentioned it in his bill of complaints.[154]
Chandeliers over the stage, and, possibly, footlights, completed the
necessary arrangements. For these alterations Farrant, we are told,
became "greatly indebted," and he died three or four years later with
the debt still unpaid. More complained that the alterations had put
the rooms into a state of "great ruin," which meant, of course, from
the point of view of a landlord desiring to let them again for
residential purposes. Just how costly or how extensive the alterations
were we cannot now determine; but we may reasonably conclude that
Farrant made the hall not only "commodious for his purpose," but also
attractive to the aristocratic audiences he intended to gather there
to see his plays.
[Footnote 152: The date from which the lease was made to run.]
[Footnote 153: It is usually said that he converted the entire seven
rooms into his theatre, but that seems highly unlikely. The northern
section was 46 x 26 feet, the southern section 110 x 22--absurd
dimensions for an auditorium. Moreover, that Farrant originally
planned to use only the northern section is indicated by his request
to be allowed to "pull down one partition and so make two rooms--one."
The portion not used for the playhouse he rented; in 1580, we are
told, he let "two parcels thereof to two several persons."]
[Footnote 154: M. Feuillerat, I think, is wrong in supposing that
there was a gallery. He deduces no proof for his contention, and the
evidence is against him.]
To reach the hall, playgoers had to come first into Water Lane, thence
through "a way leading from the said way called Water Lane" to "a
certain void ground" before the building. Here "upon part of the said
void ground" they found a "great stairs, which said great stairs do
serve and lead into" the upper rooms--or, as we may now say,
Blackfriars Playhouse.[155]
[Footnote 155: There must have been two stairways leading to the upper
rooms; I have assumed that playgoers used Neville's stairs to reach
the theatre.]
Having thus provided a playhouse, Farrant next provided an adequate
company of boy actors. To do this, he combined the Children of Windsor
with the Children of the Chapel Royal, of which William Hunnis was
master. What arrangement he made with Hunnis we do not know, but the
Court records show that Farrant was regarded as the manager of the new
organization; he is actually referred to in the payments as "Master of
the Children of Her Majesty's Chapel," and Hunnis's official
connection with the Children is ignored.
Farrant may have been able to open his playhouse before the close of
the year; or he may have first begun performances there in the early
months of 1577. He would certainly be anxious to make use of the new
play he was preparing for presentation at Court on Twelfth Day,
January 6, 1577.
For four years, 1576-1580, the playhouse was operated without trouble.
Sir William More, however, was not pleased at the success with which
the actors were meeting. He asserted that when he made the lease he
was given to understand that the building was to be used "only for the
teaching of the Children of the Chapel"--with, no doubt, a few
rehearsals to which certain persons would be _privately_ invited. But,
now, to his grief, he discovered that Farrant had "made it a continual
house for plays." He asserted that the playhouse had become offensive
to the precinct; and doubtless some complaints had been made to him,
as landlord, by the more aristocratic inhabitants.[156] At any rate,
he became anxious to regain possession of the building.
[Footnote 156: I suspect that the theatre gave greater offense to More
himself than it did to any one else, for it adjoined his home, and the
audience made use of the private passage which led from Water Lane to
his mansion. Unquestionably he suffered worse than any one else both
from the noise and the crowds.]
In the autumn of 1580 he saw an opportunity to break the lease and
close the playhouse. Farrant made the mistake of letting "two parcels
thereof to two severall persons" without first gaining the written
consent of More, and at once More "charged him with forfeiture of his
lease." But before More could "take remedy against him" Farrant died,
November 30, 1580. More, however, "entered upon the house, and refused
to receive any rent but conditionally."
By his will, proved March 1, 1581, Farrant left the lease of the
Blackfriars to his widow, Anne Farrant. But she had no authority over
the royal choristers, nor was she qualified to manage a company of
actors, even if she had had the time to do so after caring for her
"ten little ones." What use, if any, was made of the playhouse during
the succeeding winter we do not know. The widow writes that she,
"being a sole woman, unable of herself to use the said rooms to such
purpose as her said husband late used them, nor having any need or
occasion to occupy them to such commodity as would discharge the rents
due for the said rooms in the bill alledged, nor being able to
sustain, repair, and amend the said rooms," etc.;[157] the natural
inference from which is that for a time the playhouse stood unused.
The widow, of course, was anxious to sublet the building to some one
who could make use of it as a playhouse; and on December 25, 1580, she
addressed a letter to Sir William More asking his written permission
to make such a disposal of the lease. The letter has a pathetic
interest that justifies its insertion here:
_To the right worshipful Sir William More, Knight, at his
house near Guilford, give these with speed._
_Right worshipful Sir:_
After my humble commendations, and my duty also
remembered--where it hath pleased your worship to grant unto
my husband in his life time one lease of your house within
the Blackfriars, for the term of twenty-one years, with a
proviso in the end thereof that he cannot neither let nor
set the same without your worship's consent under your hand
in writing. And now for that it hath pleased God to call my
said husband unto His mercy, having left behind him the
charge of ten small children upon my hand, and my husband
besides greatly indebted, not having the revenue of one
groat any way coming in, but by making the best I may of
such things as he hath left behind him, to relieve my little
ones. May it therefore please your worship, of your abundant
clemency and accustomed goodness, to consider a poor widow's
distressed estate, and for God's cause to comfort her with
your worship's warrant under your hand to let and set the
same to my best comodity during the term of years in the
said lease contained, not doing any waste. In all which
doing, I shall evermore most abundantly pray unto God for
the preservation of your worship's long continuance. From
Grenwich, the twenty-fifth of December,
By a poor and sorrowful widow,
ANNE FARRANT.[158]
[Footnote 157: Wallace, _The Evolution of the English Drama_, p. 163.]
[Footnote 158: Wallace, _The Evolution of the English Drama_, p.
153.]
Whether she secured in writing the permission she requested we do not
know. Four years later More said that she did not. Possibly, however,
she was orally given to understand that she might transfer the lease
to her husband's former partner in the enterprise, William
Hunnis.[159] Hunnis naturally was eager to make use of the building in
preparation for the Christmas plays at Court. At some date before
September 19, he secured the use of the playhouse on a temporary
agreement with the widow; but in order to avoid any difficulty with
More, he interviewed the latter, and presented a letter of
recommendation from the Earl of Leicester. This letter has been
preserved among Sir William's papers:
_Sir William More:_
Whereas my friend, Mr. Hunnis, this bearer, informeth me
that he hath of late bought of Farrant's widow her lease of
that house in Blackfriars which you made to her husband,
deceased, and means there to practice the Queen's Children
of the Chapel, being now in his charge, in like sort as his
predecessor did, for the better training them to do Her
Majesty's service; he is now a suitor to me to recommend him
to your good favour--which I do very heartily, as one that I
wish right well unto, and will give you thanks for any
continuance or friendship you shall show him for the
furtherance of this his honest request. And thus, with my
hearty commendations, I wish you right heartily well to
fare. From the Court, this nineteenth of September, 1581.
Your very friend,
R. LEICESTER.[160]
[Footnote 159: More had "refused to accept any rent but
conditionally." Probably he refused written consent to the sublease
for the same reason.]
[Footnote 160: Wallace, _The Evolution of the English Drama_, p. 154.]
The result of this interview we do not know. But on December 20
following, the widow made a formal lease of the property to William
Hunnis and John Newman, at a rental of L20 13_s._ 4_d._ a year, an
increase of L6 13_s._ 4_d._ over the rental she had to pay More. She
required of them a bond of L100 to guarantee their performance of all
the covenants of the lease. Thereupon the theatre under Hunnis and
Newman resumed its career--if, indeed, this had ever been seriously
interrupted.
In the course of time, More's anxiety to recover possession of the
hall seems to have increased. The quarterly payments were not promptly
met by the widow, and the repairs on the building were not made to his
satisfaction. Probably through fear of the increasing dissatisfaction
on the part of More, Hunnis and Newman transferred their lease, in
1583, to a young Welsh scrivener, Henry Evans, who had become
interested in dramatic affairs. This transfer of the lease without
More's written consent was a second clear breach of the original
contract, and it gave More exactly the opportunity he sought.
Accordingly, he declared the original lease to Farrant void, and made
a new lease of the house "unto his own man, Thomas Smallpiece, to try
the said Evans his right." But Evans, being a lawyer, knew how to take
care of himself. He "demurred in law," and "kept the same in his hands
with long delays."
The widow, alarmed at the prospect of losing her lease, brought suit,
in December, 1583, against Hunnis and Newman separately for the
forfeiture of their several bonds of L100, contending that they had
not paid promptly according to their agreement, and had not kept the
building in proper repair. Hunnis and Newman separately brought suit
in the Court of Requests for relief against the widow's suits.
Meanwhile More was demanding judgment against Evans. Hunnis, it seems,
carried his troubles to the Court and there sought help. Queen
Elizabeth could take no direct action, because Sir William More was a
good friend of hers, who had entertained her in his home. But she
might enlist the aid of one of her noblemen who were interested in the
drama. However this was, the young Earl of Oxford, himself a
playwright and the patron of a troupe of boy-actors, came to the
rescue of the theatre. He bought the lease of the building from Evans,
and undertook to reorganize its affairs. To Hunnis's twelve Children
of the Chapel he added the Children of St. Paul's Cathedral, making
thus a company of adequate size. He retained Hunnis, no doubt, as one
of the trainers of the Boys, and he kept Evans as manager of the
troupe. Moreover, shortly after the purchase, probably in June, 1583,
he made a free gift of the lease to his private secretary, John Lyly,
a young man who had recently won fame with the first English novel,
_Euphues_. The object of this, like the preceding transfers of title,
it seems, was to put as many legal blocks in the path of Sir William
More as possible. More realized this, and complained specifically that
"the title was posted from one to another"; yet he had firmly made up
his mind to recover the property, and in spite of Oxford's
interference, he instructed his "learned council" to "demand
judgment."
Meanwhile the dramatic organization at Blackfriars continued under the
direction of Hunnis, Evans, and Lyly, with the Earl of Oxford as
patron. Not only was Lyly the proprietor of the theatre, but he
attempted to supply it with the necessary plays. He had already shown
his power to tell in effective prose a pleasing love romance. That
power he now turned to the production of his first play, written in
haste for the Christmas festivities. The play, _Alexander and
Campaspe_, was presented before Her Majesty on January 1, 1584, and at
Blackfriars, with great applause. Lyly's second play, _Sapho and
Phao_, was produced at Court on March 3, following, and also at
Blackfriars before the general public.
But at the Easter term, 1584, Sir William More got judgment in his
favor. The widow begged Sir Francis Walsingham to intercede in her
behalf, declaring that the loss of the lease "might be her utter
undoing."[161] Walsingham sent the letter to More, and apparently
urged a consideration of her case. More, however, refused to yield. He
banished Lyly, Hunnis, Evans, and the Children from the "great upper
hall," and reconverted the building into tenements.
[Footnote 161: The letter is printed in full by Mr. Wallace in _The
Evolution of the English Drama_, p. 158. Mr. Wallace, however,
misdates it. It was not written until after More had "recovered it
[the lease] against Evans."]