Book contents
- Leicester’s Men and their Plays
- Leicester’s Men and their Plays
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Starting Points
- Chapter 2 The First Decade (1558–1567)
- Chapter 3 The Second Decade (1567–1577)
- Chapter 4 The Third Decade (1578–1588)
- Afterword
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Chapter 4 - The Third Decade (1578–1588)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 November 2023
- Leicester’s Men and their Plays
- Leicester’s Men and their Plays
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Starting Points
- Chapter 2 The First Decade (1558–1567)
- Chapter 3 The Second Decade (1567–1577)
- Chapter 4 The Third Decade (1578–1588)
- Afterword
- Book part
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Chapter 4 covers their final decade, during which the company underwent a series of changes to the core membership following two decades of stability. The company shifted around 1578 from supplementing personnel by hiring boy players to shoring up membership with an apprenticeship system. This enabled them to survive the departure of James Burbage by 1581 and the cull of members to help form the Queen’s Men in 1583. I identify evidence that several of the Queen’s Men not previously attached to any other company were likely members of Leicester’s Men, which also means the cull was greater than has been imagined in the past. A final crisis hit the company when five of their members were sent by Leicester into service in Europe for a year, but I show that Will Kempe’s development of the stage jig was ideally timed to enable the remaining few members to still tour widely with jigs as their primary play stocks. The final section explains reasons to doubt that Richard Burbage or Shakespeare were ever in Leicester’s Men, but did undoubtedly forge ties with this company’s members after Dudley died, ensuring the legacy of this company was carried forward to Shakespeare’s own career.
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- Leicester's Men and their PlaysAn Early Elizabethan Playing Company and its Legacy, pp. 164 - 209Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023