In 1635 a playhouse was opened in Dublin by John Ogilby,—dancing-master, theatrical manager, playwright, scholar, translator, poet,—now best known, perhaps, for the ridicule he inspired in Dryden's MacFlecknoe and Pope's Dunciad. At the beginning of his versatile career he was a successful London dancing-master, popular with "the nobility and gentry." When Thomas Earl of Strafford was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he took Ogilby with him to Dublin, to teach his wife and children the art of dancing, and also to help with the secretarial duties. Under Strafford's patronage, Ogilby was appointed to the post of Master of the Revels for Ireland; and in this capacity he built a small playhouse in Dublin and began to cultivate dramatic representations after the manner of London. Anthony à Wood in Athenæ Oxonienses, says:
He built a little theatre to act plays in, in St. Warburg's street in Dublin, and was then and there valued by all ingenious men for his great industry in promoting morality and ingenuity.[693]
Aubrey writes:
He had a warrant from the Lord Lieutenant to be Master of the Ceremonies for that kingdom; and built a pretty[694] little theatre in St. Warburgh Street in Dublin.
The history of this "little theatre" is not known in detail. For its actors Ogilby himself wrote at least one play, entitled The Merchant of Dublin,[695] and Henry Burnell a tragi-comedy entitled Landgartha, printed in 1641 "as it was presented in the new theatre in Dublin with good applause." But its chief playwright was James Shirley, who came to Dublin in 1636 under the patronage of the Earl of Kildare. For the Irish stage he wrote The Royal Master, published in 1638 as "acted in the new theatre in Dublin"; Rosania, or Love's Victory, now known as The Doubtful Heir, under which title it was later printed; St. Patrick for Ireland;[696] and in all probability The Constant Maid.[697] The actors, however, had little need to buy original plays, for they were free, no doubt, to take any of the numerous London successes. From Shirley's Poems we learn that they were presenting Jonson's Alchemist, Middleton's No Wit, two of Fletcher's plays, unnamed, and two anonymous plays entitled The Toy and The General; and we may fairly assume that they honored several of Shirley's early plays in the same way.
The theatre came to a sudden end with the outbreak of the rebellion in 1641. In October the Lords Justices prohibited playing there; and shortly after, we are told, the building was "ruined and spoiled, and a cow-house made of the stage."[698]
IV
The French Players’ Temporary Theatre in Drury Lane
In February, 1635, a company of French players, under the leadership of the eminent actor, Josias de Soulas, better known by his stage-name of Floridor,[699] appeared in London, and won such favor at Court that they were ultimately allowed to fit up a house in Drury Lane for a temporary theatre. The history of these players is mainly found in the records of the Master of the Revels and of the Lord Chamberlain. From the former, Malone has preserved the following entries by Herbert: