CHAPTER IV
LONDON THEATRICAL COMPANIES
In the early days of Elizabeth, actors sought refuge under the aegis of some great noblemen, otherwise they were branded as rogues and vagabonds, subject to arrest at any moment, followed by a term of imprisonment. The only way of escaping these stringent and harsh measures was by placing themselves, as above stated, under the patronage of Royalty and nobility, thereby securing freedom in following their calling without interruption or molestation. When the actors first sought the protection of the aristocracy, in all probability they became in reality the servants of the Lord who protected them, keeping themselves in readiness at the command of their masters, either acting at a public place or giving private performances. In course of time these ties became loosened, and the actors, in name only, were the servants of their patron, acting wherever and whenever they could find an appreciative audience. The Act of Parliament proclaiming them outcasts still remains in force, the Act never having been repealed.
Under these conditions they called themselves servants of the Queen, the Earl of Pembroke or the Lord Chamberlain his servants, thus enabling them to follow their profession in peace, and remain within the bounds of the law. It is generally admitted that when Shakespeare arrived in London he joined the Earl of Leicester’s Company, or perhaps he may have enrolled himself as one of their members when they visited Stratford-on-Avon in the year 1587. A year later Leicester died; Shakespeare then became a member of Lord Strange’s Company and remained in this company under different patrons until his retirement from the stage about 1610. The last six years of his life were spent in Stratford-on-Avon, where he died in 1616.
As would naturally be expected, the company whose fortunes Shakespeare followed has loomed largely in the student’s mind. The other companies being partially ignored by thus restricting the attention to the Strange-Hunsdon company, the true perspective of the London companies is lost, and many which played quite an important part in the theatrical world of the time have become, through neglect in chronicling their history, somewhat obscured.
Behold here is another subject on which the Shakesperean student, by original research amongst the State and Records Office papers, might be able to throw considerable light on the histories of these dramatic companies. For the present the student must rely on the confused paragraphs of Fleay, recorded in his history of the stage. Mr. John Tucker Murray’s English Dramatic Companies is a mine of information, chiefly describing the performances given in provincial towns by the London Companies, and also their Court performances. He likewise gives an excellent account of the minor companies which, previous to this work, were quite unknown, but little of anything new is related in connexion with the careers of the well-known London companies.
THE
FAMOVS VICTORIES
of Henry the
fifth:
Containing the Honourable
Battell of Agin-court: