WHITEFRIARS
The district of Whitefriars, lying just outside the city wall to the
west, and extending from Fleet Street to the Thames, was once in the
possession of the order of White Friars, and the site of an important
monastery; but in Elizabeth's time the church had disappeared, most of
the ancient buildings had been dismantled, and in their place, as Stow
tells us, were "many fair houses builded, lodgings for noblemen and
others." Since at the dissolution of the monasteries the property had
come into the possession of the Crown, it was not under the
jurisdiction of the London Common Council--a fact which made
Whitefriars, like Blackfriars, a desirable refuge for players seeking
to escape the hostility of the city authorities.[519] One might
naturally expect the appearance of playing here at an early date, but
the evidence is slight.[520]
[Footnote 519: Whitefriars passed under city control in 1608 by grant
of King James I, but certain rights remained, notably that of
sanctuary. This has been celebrated in Shadwell's play, _The Squire of
Alsatia_, and in Scott's romance, _The Fortunes of Nigel_.]
[Footnote 520: Prynne, in _Histriomastix_ (1633), p. 491, quotes a
passage from Richard Reulidge's _Monster Lately Found Out and
Discovered_ (1628), in which there is a reference to a playhouse as
existing in Whitefriars "not long after" 1580. By "playhouse" Reulidge
possibly meant an inn used for acting; but the whole passage, written
by a Puritan after the lapse of nearly half a century, is open to
grave suspicion, especially in its details. Again Richard Flecknoe, in
_A Short Discourse of the English Stage_ (1664), states that the
Children of the Chapel Royal acted in Whitefriars. But that he
confused the word "Whitefriars" with "Blackfriars" is shown by the
rest of his statement.]
The first appearance of a regular playhouse in Whitefriars dates from
the early years of King James's reign. With our present knowledge we
cannot fix the date exactly, yet we can feel reasonably certain that
it was not long before 1607--probably about 1605.
The chief spirit in the organization of the new playhouse seems to
have been the poet Michael Drayton, who had secured a patent from King
James to "erect" a company of child actors, to be known as "The
Children of His Majesty's Revels."[521] Obviously his hope was to make
the Children of His Majesty's Revels at Whitefriars rival the
successful Children of Her Majesty's Revels at Blackfriars. In this
ambitious enterprise he associated with himself a wealthy London
merchant, Thomas Woodford, whom we know as having been interested in
various theatrical investments.[522] These two men leased from Lord
Buckhurst for a short period of time a building described as a
"mansion house" formerly a part of the Whitefriars monastery: "the
rooms of which are thirteen in number, three below, and ten above;
that is to say, the great hall, the kitchen by the yard, and a cellar,
with all the rooms from the Master of the Revells' office as the same
are now severed and divided."[523] The "great hall" here mentioned,
once the refectory of the monks, was made into the playhouse. Its
"great" size may be inferred from the fact that there were ten rooms
"above"; and its general excellence may be inferred from the fact that
it was leased at L50 per annum, whereas Blackfriars, in a more
desirable location and fully equipped as a theatre, was rented for
only L40.
[Footnote 521: Fleay, Murray, and others are wrong in assuming that
this troupe was merely a continuation of the Paul's Boys. So far as I
can discover, there is no official record of the patent issued to
Drayton; but that such a patent was issued is clear from the lawsuits
of 1609, printed by Greenstreet in _The New Shakspere Society's
Transactions_ (1887-90), p. 269.]
[Footnote 522: He was part proprietor of the Red Bull. In the case of
Witter _v._ Heminges and Condell he was examined as a witness (see
Wallace, _Shakespeare and his London Associates_, p. 74), but what
connection, if any, he had with the Globe does not appear.]
[Footnote 523: Greenstreet, _The New Shakspere Society's Transactions_
(1887-90), p. 275.]
From an early seventeenth-century survey of the Whitefriars property
(see the opposite page), we are able to place the building very
exactly. The part of the monastery used as a playhouse--the
Frater--was the southern cloister, marked in the plan, "My Lords
Cloyster." The "kitchen by the yard" mentioned in the document just
quoted is clearly represented in the survey by the "Scullere." The
size of the playhouse is hard to ascertain, but it was approximately
thirty-five feet in width and eighty-five feet in length.[524] In the
London of to-day it extended roughly from Bouverie Street to
Ashen-tree Court, and lay just north of George Yard.
[Footnote 524: The stipple walls, in the original survey colored gray,
were of stone; the thinner walls of the adjoining "tenements," in the
original colored red, were of brick.]
[Illustration: A PLAN OF WHITEFRIARS
A portion of an early seventeenth-century survey of the Whitefriars
property. The playhouse adjoined the "Scullere" on the south. (This
survey was discovered in the Print Room of the British Museum by Mr.
A.W. Clapham, and reproduced in _The Journal of the British
Archaeological Association_, 1910.)]
Of the career of the Children under the joint management of Drayton
and Woodford we know almost nothing. But in March, 1608, a new
management assumed charge of the troupe, and from this point on the
history of the playhouse is reasonably clear.
The original lease of the building, it seems, expired on March 5,
1608. But before the expiration--in the latter part of 1607 or in the
early part of 1608--Drayton and Woodford secured a new lease on the
property for six years, eight months, and twenty days, or until
December 25 (one of the four regular feasts of the year), 1614. In
February, 1608, after having secured this renewal of the lease, Thomas
Woodford suddenly determined to retire from the enterprise; and he
sold his moiety to one David Lording Barry,[525] author of the play
_Ram Alley_. Barry and Drayton at once made plans to divide the
property into six shares, so as to distribute the expenses and the
risks as well as the hoped-for profits. Barry induced his friend,
George Androwes, to purchase one share, and hence the lawsuit from
which we derive most of our knowledge of the playhouse. From this suit
I quote below the more significant part relating to the new
organization:
Humbly complaining, sheweth unto your honorable lordship,
your daily orator, George Androwes, of London, silkweaver,
that whereas one Lordinge Barry, about February which was in
the year of our Lord 1607 [i.e., 1608], pretending himself
to be lawfully possessed of one moiety of a messuage or
mansion house, parcel of the late dissolved monastery called
the Whitefriars, in Fleet Street, in the suburbs of London,
by and under a lease made thereof, about March then next
following, from the right honorable Robert, Lord Buckhurst,
unto one Michael Drayton and Thomas Woodford, for the term
of six years, eight months, and twenty days then following,
for and under the yearly rent of fifty pounds reserved
thereupon; the moiety of which said lease and premisses, by
mean assignment from the said Thomas Woodford, was lawfully
settled in the said Lordinge Barry, as he did pretend,
together with the moiety of diverse play-books, apparel, and
other furnitures and necessaries used and employed in and
about the said messuage and the Children of the Revels,[526]
there being, in making and setting forth plays, shows, and
interludes, and such like. And the said Lordinge Barry ...
being desirous to join others with him in the interest of
the same, who might be contributory to such future charges
as should arise in setting forth of plays and shows there,
did thereupon ... solicit and persuade your orator to
take from the said Barry an assignment of a sixth part of
the messuage, premisses, and profits aforesaid.
[Footnote 525: By a stupid error often called Lodowick Barry. For an
explanation of the error see an article by the present writer in
_Modern Philology_, April, 1912, IX, 567. Mr. W.J. Lawrence has
recently shown (_Studies in Philology_, University of North Carolina,
April, 1917) that David Barry was the eldest son of the ninth Viscount
Buttevant, and was called "Lording" by courtesy. At the time he became
interested in the Whitefriars Playhouse he was twenty-two years old.
He died in 1610.]
[Footnote 526: At this time the Children of Blackfriars had lost their
patent, so that the Children at Whitefriars were the only Revels
troupe.]
[Illustration: MICHAEL DRAYTON
(From a painting in the National Portrait Gallery, London: photograph
copyrighted by Emery Walker, Ltd.)]
This passage gives us an interesting glimpse of Drayton and Barry in
their efforts to organize a syndicate for exploiting the Children of
His Majesty's Revels. They induced several other persons to buy
half-shares; and then they engaged, as manager of the Children, Martin
Slaiter,[527] a well-known and thoroughly experienced actor. For his
services as manager, Slaiter was to receive one whole share in the
organization, and lodgings for himself and his family of ten in the
building. The syndicate thus formed was made up of four whole-sharers,
Michael Drayton, Lordinge Barry, George Androwes, and Martin Slaiter,
and four half-sharers, William Trevell, William Cooke, Edward
Sibthorpe, and John Mason.[528]
[Footnote 527: Also spelled Slater, Slaughter, Slather, Slawghter.
Henslowe often refers to him as "Martin."]
[Footnote 528: Mr. Wallace (_The Century Magazine_, 1910, LXXX, 511)
incorrectly says that Whitefriars was held by "six equal sharers."]
The "great hall" had, of course, already been fitted up for the acting
of plays, and the new lessees did not at first contemplate any
expenditure on the building. Later, however,--if we can believe
Androwes,--they spent a not inconsiderable sum for improvements. The
Children already had certain plays, and to these were added some new
ones. Among the plays in their repertoire were Day's _Humour Out of
Breath_, Middleton's _Family of Love_, Armin's _The Two Maids of
Moreclacke_, Sharpham's _Cupid's Whirligig_, Markham and Machin's _The
Dumb Knight_, Barry's _Ram Alley_, and Mason's _The Turk_. The last
two writers were sharers, and it seems likely that Drayton, also a
sharer and experienced as a dramatist, contributed some plays towards
the stock of the company.
The new organization, with bright prospects for success, was launched
in March, 1608. Almost at once, however, it began to suffer from ill
luck. In April the Children at Blackfriars, by their performance of
_Byron_, caused King James to close all playhouses in London. How long
he kept them closed we do not know, but we find the lessees of
Whitefriars joining with the three other London companies in seeking
to have the inhibition raised. As the French Ambassador informed his
Government: "Pour lever cette defense, quatres autres compagnies, qui
y sont encore, offrent deja cent mille francs, lesquels pourront bien
leur en ordonner la permission."[529]
[Footnote 529: Letter of M. De La Boderie, the French Ambassador to
England; quoted by E.K. Chambers, _Modern Language Review_, IV, 159.]
Even if this inhibition was shortly raised, the Whitefriars
organization was not much better off, for in July the plague set in
with unusual violence, and acting was seriously if not wholly
interrupted for the next twelve months and more. As a result, the
profits from the theatre did not come up to the "fair and false
flattering speeches" which at the outset Barry had made to prospective
investors, and this led to bad feeling among the sharers.
The company at Blackfriars, of course, was suffering in a similar way.
On August 8, 1608, their playhouse was surrendered to the owner,
Richard Burbage, and the Children being thus left without a home were
dispersed. Early in 1609, probably in February, Robert Keysar (the
manager of the Blackfriars troupe), Philip Rosseter, and others
secured the lease of the Whitefriars Playhouse from Drayton and the
rest of the discontented sharers, and reassembled there the Children
of Blackfriars. What became of the Whitefriars troupe we do not know;
but it is highly likely that the new organization took over the better
actors from Drayton's company. At any rate, we do not hear again of
the Children of His Majesty's Revels.
When Keysar and this new troupe of child-actors moved into
Whitefriars, Slaiter and his family of ten were expelled from the
building. This led to a lawsuit, and explains much in the legal
documents printed by Greenstreet. Slaiter complained with no little
feeling that he had been "riotously, willfully, violently, and
unlawfully, contrary to the said articles and pretended agreement [by
which he had been not only engaged as a manager, but also guaranteed a
home for the period of "all the term of years in the lease"], put and
kept out of his said rooms of habitation for him, this defendant, and
his family, and all other his means of livelihood, thereby leaving
this defendant and his whole family, being ten in number, to the world
to seek for bread and other means to live by."[530]
[Footnote 530: Greenstreet, _The New Shakspere Society's Transactions_
(1887-90), p. 283.]
The new Whitefriars troupe acted five plays at Court during the winter
of 1609-10. Payments therefor were made to Robert Keysar, and the
company was referred to merely as "The Children of the Whitefriars."
But on January 4, 1610, the company secured a royal patent authorizing
the use of the title "The Children of the Queen's Revels."[531] The
patent was granted to Robert Daborne, Philip Rosseter, John Tarbock,
Richard Jones, and Robert Browne; but Keysar, though not named in the
grant, was still one of the important sharers.[532]
[Footnote 531: Printed in The Malone Society's _Collections_, I, 271.]
[Footnote 532: See Keysar _v._ Burbage _et al._, printed by Mr.
Wallace, in his _Shakespeare and his London Associates_, pp. 80 ff.]
The troupe well deserved the patronage of the Queen. Keysar described
the Blackfriars Children whom he had reorganized as "a company of the
most expert and skillful actors within the realm of England, to the
number of eighteen or twenty persons, all or most of them, trained up
in that service in the reign of the late Queen Elizabeth for ten years
together."[533] And to these, as I have pointed out, it seems likely
that the best members of the bankrupt Children of His Majesty's Revels
had been added. The chief actor of the new organization was
Nathaniel Field, whose histrionic ability placed him beside Edward
Alleyn and Richard Burbage. One of the first plays he was called upon
to act in his new theatre was Jonson's brilliant comedy, _Epicoene_,
in which he took the leading role.
[Footnote 533: _Ibid._, p. 90.]
[Illustration: THE SITES OF THE WHITEFRIARS AND THE SALISBURY COURT
PLAYHOUSES
The Whitefriars Playhouse was just north of "K. 46"; the Salisbury
Court Playhouse was just south of the court of that name. (From Ogilby
and Morgan's _Map of London_, 1677.)]
The idea then occurred to Rosseter to secure a monopoly on
child-acting and on private playhouses. The Children of His Majesty's
Revels had ceased to exist. The Blackfriars Playhouse had been closed
by royal command, and its lease had been surrendered to its owner,
Richard Burbage. The only rival to the Children at Whitefriars was the
troupe of Paul's Boys acting in their singing-school behind the
Cathedral. How Rosseter attempted to buy them off is thus recorded by
Richard Burbage and John Heminges:
There being, as these defendants verily think, but only
three private playhouses in the city of London, the one of
which being in the Blackfriars and in the hands of these
defendants or of their assigns, one other being in the
Whitefriars in the hands or occupation of the said
complainant himself [Keysar], his partners [Rosseter, _et
al._], or assigns, and the third near St. Paul's Church,
then being in the hands of one Mr. Pierce, but then unused
for a playhouse. One Mr. Rosseter, a partner of the said
complainant [Keysar] dealt for and compounded with the said
Mr. Pierce [Master of the Paul's Boys] to the only benefit
of him, the said Rosseter, the now complainant [Keysar], the
rest of their partners and company, and without the privity,
knowledge, or consent of these defendants [the King's
Company], or any of them, and that thereby they, the said
complainant [Keysar] and the said Rosseter and their
partners and company might advance their gains and profit to
be had and made in their said house in Whitefriars, that
there might be a cessation of playing and plays to be acted
in the said house near St. Paul's Church aforesaid, for
which the said Rosseter compounded with the said Pierce to
give him, the said Pierce, twenty pounds per annum.[534]
[Footnote 534: Wallace, _Shakespeare and his London Associates_, p.
95.]
By this means Rosseter disposed of the competition of the Paul's Boys.
But, although he secured a monopoly on child-acting, he failed to
secure a monopoly on private playhouses, for shortly after he had
sealed this bargain with Pierce, the powerful King's Men opened up at
Blackfriars. Rosseter promptly requested them to pay half the "dead
rent" to Pierce, which they good-naturedly agreed to do.
In 1613 Whitefriars was rented by certain London apprentices for the
performance "at night" of Robert Taylor's _The Hog Hath Lost His
Pearl_. The episode is narrated by Sir Henry Wotton in a letter to Sir
Edmund Bacon:
On Sunday last, at night, and no longer, some sixteen
apprentices (of what sort you shall guess by the rest of the
story) having secretly learnt a new play without book,[535]
entitled _The Hog Hath Lost His Pearl_, took up the
Whitefriars for their theatre, and having invited thither
(as it should seem) rather their mistresses than their
masters, who were all to enter _per buletini_ for a note of
distinction from ordinary comedians. Towards the end of the
play the sheriffs (who by chance had heard of it) came in
(as they say) and carried some six or seven of them to
perform the last act at Bridewell. The rest are fled. Now it
is strange to hear how sharp-witted the city is, for they
will needs have Sir John Swinerton, the Lord Mayor, be meant
by the Hog, and the late Lord Treasurer by the Pearl.[536]
[Footnote 535: Miss Gildersleeve, in her valuable _Government
Regulation of the Elizabethan Drama_, p. 112, says: "Just what is the
meaning of 'a new Play without Book' no one seems to have
conjectured." And she develops the theory that "it refers to the
absence of a licensed play-book," etc. The phrase "to learn without
book" meant simply "to memorize."]
[Footnote 536: _Reliquiae Wottonianae_ (ed. 1672), p. 402. The letter is
dated merely 1612-13. In connection with the play one should study
_The Hector of Germany_, 1615.]
Apparently the Children of the Queen's Revels continued successfully
at Whitefriars until March, 1613. On that date Rosseter agreed with
Henslowe to join the Revels with the Lady Elizabeth's Men then acting
at the Swan. The new organization, following the example of the King's
Men, used Whitefriars as a winter, and the Swan as a summer, house.
Thus for a time at least Whitefriars came under the management of
Henslowe.
Rosseter's lease of the building was to expire in the following year.
He seems to have made plans--possibly with the assistance of
Henslowe--to erect in Whitefriars a more suitable playhouse for the
newly organized company; at least that is a plausible interpretation
of the following curious entry in Sir George Buc's Office Book: "July
13, 1613, for a license to erect a new playhouse in Whitefriars, &c.
L20."[537] But the new playhouse thus projected never was built,
doubtless because of strong local opposition. Instead, Henslowe
erected for the company a public playhouse on the Bankside, known as
"The Hope."
[Footnote 537: Malone, _Variorum_, III, 52.]
In March, 1614, at the expiration of one year, Rosseter withdrew from
his partnership with Henslowe. On December 25, 1614, his lease of the
Whitefriars expired, and he was apparently unable to renew it.
Thereupon he attempted to fit up a private playhouse in the district
of Blackfriars, and on June 3, 1615, he actually secured a royal
license to do so. But in this effort, too, he was foiled.[538]
[Footnote 538: See the chapter on "Rosseter's Blackfriars." The
documents concerned in this venture are printed in The Malone
Society's _Collections_, I, 277.]
After this we hear little or nothing of the Whitefriars Playhouse. Yet
the building may occasionally have been used for dramatic purposes.
Cunningham says: "The case of Trevill _v._ Woodford, in the Court of
Requests, informs us that plays were performed at the Whitefriars
Theatre as late as 1621; Sir Anthony Ashley, the then landlord of the
house, entering the theatre in that year, and turning the players out
of doors, on pretense that half a year's rent was yet unpaid to
him."[539] I have not been able to examine this document. Neither
Fleay nor Murray has found any trace of a company at Whitefriars after
Rosseter's departure; hence for all practical purposes we may regard
the Whitefriars Playhouse as having come to the end of its career in
1614.
[Footnote 539: _The Shakespeare Society's Papers_, IV, 90. The
document printed by Collier in _New Facts Regarding the Life of
Shakespeare_ (1835), p. 44, as from a manuscript in his possession,
is, I think, an obvious forgery.]