AT LONDON
Printed by R. B. for Thomas Panier and are to bee sold at his
shop on Cornhill, neere to the exchange.
1608.
(Original Image)
1604–1609.
The Coronation of James was postponed on account of the plague, and it was not until the second year of his reign that this event was celebrated. Included in the procession, the actors of the King’s company took their place, clothed in crimson.
Little is known of the company’s engagements beyond a brief notice of having played in a piece called “The Gowrie Conspiracy,” which brought the players into disfavour. Unfortunately, very scanty records are in existence giving details of the repertoire of the Globe. The usual Court performances took place each year, and when the proprietors closed the theatre the company visited the provinces. In 1613 the Globe was burnt to the ground; before this event Shakespeare had ceased to be a member. The theatre was rebuilt in 1614; the actors continued under the patronage of the King until his death in 1625. After that event, Charles I, who succeeded his father, extended his patronage to the company, and they remained the servants until all the theatres were closed by Act of Parliament, 1642, on account of the outbreak of the Civil War. The Shakesperean plays, written expressly for the Globe Theatre, included “Hamlet,” “Othello,” “Macbeth,” “King Lear,” and many of his comedies and histories.