1575 and added to in 1586, not to mention Chaucer, Boccaccio and Italian literature, and the popular stories, fairy tales and legends of heroes and romantic love told around many a winter hearth.
Lyly offered his audiences dramatic presentations of the latter, the earliest of which was
The Woman in the Moon
, and the most popular
Mother Bombie
. Peele’s first known play,
The Arraignment of Paris
, based on the Greek myth, was first performed in 1581, three years after The Theatre had been built. It is highly likely that he also took a role in it since for the previous two years he had needed to support himself following a court case on 19 September 1579 when his father was bound over to discharge from his house before Michaelmas ‘his son, George Peele, and all other of his household which have been chargeable to him’; in other words Peele’s rowdy lifestyle, and the kind of friends he brought home with him, did not go down at all well with Christ’s Hospital’s governing body. He went on to join the company of the Lord Admiral’s Men, remaining with them as a player until 1589 when his circumstances improved after he married a lady who brought him a dowry of both land and property. Yet in spite of his dissolute reputation the only play of his that has come down to us more or less intact is his charming and amusing
Old Wives’ Tale
, in which two young men lost in a forest are taken in by an old woman who regales them with a series of popular tales which are duly acted out for the audience, including allusions to Celtic mythology where disembodied heads in wells converse and offer advice to various characters. We know from Henslowe’s
Diaries
that it was very popular, along with his patriotic piece,
The Battle of Alcazar
, and a biblical play on the subject of David and Bathsheba, which have not survived.
Greene too wrote lively and popular lightweight pieces based around popular tales, the best known being the comedies
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
and
George a Green, the Pindar of Wakefield
. He took the Italian play
Orlando Furioso
, made it his own and sold the exclusive rights twice. He also supplemented his income, as did many others including Nashe and Thomas Dekker, writing pamphlets, the most popular of which,
A Notable Discovery of Cosenage
, dedicated to ‘Gentlemen Readers’, purports to warn readers of the dangers and immorality of the Elizabethan underworld, which he describes in vivid detail, thus ensuring its popularity under the pretence that he is merely exposing sin.
As well as borrowing ideas from past writers, there were also rewrites of plays already in the early repertoires such as
The Famous Victories of Henry V
(in which Tarlton took a role),
The True Tragedy of Richard III, King Leir and his Three Daughters
and
The Troublesome Reign of King John
, the last attributed to John Bale who died in 1563, who wrote a number of plays to be performed by children. All three were, of course, seized on later by Shakespeare. Elizabethan audiences enjoyed a good murder story just as much as the Victorian playgoers who flocked to melodramas like
Murder in the Red Barn
and
Sweeney Todd
or today’s addicts of ‘true crime’ series.
One such is the anonymous play
Arden of Faversham
, dating from about 1587, which was regularly in the repertoire of the Lord Admiral’s Men and much of which falls into the realm of black comedy, even if the reality was not so amusing. On St Valentine’s Day 1551 Thomas Arden of Faversham in Kent, Chief Controller of HM Customs, was found dead outside his house after his wife, Alice, had made several attempts to do away with him. She was considerably younger than him and was already involved in an affair with the family steward, Mosbie, before the marriage took place. The drama details her various attempts to get rid of Arden, starting with poisoning his gruel, and ending with her employing a couple of hit men to do the deed for a fee of £10. If the play is to be
Lyly offered his audiences dramatic presentations of the latter, the earliest of which was
The Woman in the Moon
, and the most popular
Mother Bombie
. Peele’s first known play,
The Arraignment of Paris
, based on the Greek myth, was first performed in 1581, three years after The Theatre had been built. It is highly likely that he also took a role in it since for the previous two years he had needed to support himself following a court case on 19 September 1579 when his father was bound over to discharge from his house before Michaelmas ‘his son, George Peele, and all other of his household which have been chargeable to him’; in other words Peele’s rowdy lifestyle, and the kind of friends he brought home with him, did not go down at all well with Christ’s Hospital’s governing body. He went on to join the company of the Lord Admiral’s Men, remaining with them as a player until 1589 when his circumstances improved after he married a lady who brought him a dowry of both land and property. Yet in spite of his dissolute reputation the only play of his that has come down to us more or less intact is his charming and amusing
Old Wives’ Tale
, in which two young men lost in a forest are taken in by an old woman who regales them with a series of popular tales which are duly acted out for the audience, including allusions to Celtic mythology where disembodied heads in wells converse and offer advice to various characters. We know from Henslowe’s
Diaries
that it was very popular, along with his patriotic piece,
The Battle of Alcazar
, and a biblical play on the subject of David and Bathsheba, which have not survived.
Greene too wrote lively and popular lightweight pieces based around popular tales, the best known being the comedies
Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay
and
George a Green, the Pindar of Wakefield
. He took the Italian play
Orlando Furioso
, made it his own and sold the exclusive rights twice. He also supplemented his income, as did many others including Nashe and Thomas Dekker, writing pamphlets, the most popular of which,
A Notable Discovery of Cosenage
, dedicated to ‘Gentlemen Readers’, purports to warn readers of the dangers and immorality of the Elizabethan underworld, which he describes in vivid detail, thus ensuring its popularity under the pretence that he is merely exposing sin.
As well as borrowing ideas from past writers, there were also rewrites of plays already in the early repertoires such as
The Famous Victories of Henry V
(in which Tarlton took a role),
The True Tragedy of Richard III, King Leir and his Three Daughters
and
The Troublesome Reign of King John
, the last attributed to John Bale who died in 1563, who wrote a number of plays to be performed by children. All three were, of course, seized on later by Shakespeare. Elizabethan audiences enjoyed a good murder story just as much as the Victorian playgoers who flocked to melodramas like
Murder in the Red Barn
and
Sweeney Todd
or today’s addicts of ‘true crime’ series.
One such is the anonymous play
Arden of Faversham
, dating from about 1587, which was regularly in the repertoire of the Lord Admiral’s Men and much of which falls into the realm of black comedy, even if the reality was not so amusing. On St Valentine’s Day 1551 Thomas Arden of Faversham in Kent, Chief Controller of HM Customs, was found dead outside his house after his wife, Alice, had made several attempts to do away with him. She was considerably younger than him and was already involved in an affair with the family steward, Mosbie, before the marriage took place. The drama details her various attempts to get rid of Arden, starting with poisoning his gruel, and ending with her employing a couple of hit men to do the deed for a fee of £10. If the play is to be
Similar Books
