A Jacobean company and its playhouse : the Queen's Servants at The Red Bull Theatre, (c. 1605-1619)

Eva Griffith's book fills a major gap concerning the world of Shakespearean drama. It tells the previously untold story of the Servants of Queen Anna of Denmark, a group of players parallel to Shakespeare's King's Men, and their London playhouse, The Red Bull. Built in vibrant Clerkenwell, The Red Bull lay within the northern suburbs of Jacobean London, with prostitution to the west and the Revels Office to the east. Griffith sets the playhouse in the historical context of the Seckford and Bedingfeld families and their connections to the site. Utilising a wealth of primary evidence including maps, plans and archival texts, she analyses the court patronage of figures such as Sir Robert Sidney, Queen Anna's chamberlain, alongside the company's members, function and repertoire. Plays performed included those by Webster, Dekker and Heywood - entertainments characterized by spectacle, battle sequence and court-room drama, alongside London humor and song. Cover Half-title Title page Copyright information Dedication Dedication Table of contents List of illustrations Acknowledgements Note on transliteration List of abbreviations Introduction: The Red Bull playhouse, St John Street Chapter 1 Elizabethan contexts for a Jacobean playhouse: Clerkenwell, East Anglia, the Strand and the Liberty ... Thomas Seckford and his almshouses Anne Bedingfeild, Eustace Bedingfeld, Francis Naylor and the Seckford Estate Anne Bedingfeild née Draper and her sixteenth-century family Repertoire 1 Eustace Bedingfeld and his Uncle Henry: the strange case of If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody, Part i The true story of Princess Elizabeth’s custody and Thomas Heywood’s play Chapter 2 The earl of Worcester, the Essex circle, the Queen’s Servants and their playhouses (1589–1607) The earl of Worcester and the formation of the Queen’s Servants company Aaron Holland and Martin Slatiar New playhouse-ownership: Thomas Greene and Christopher Beeston Chapter 3 Who were the Queen’s Servants? What was the Red Bull like? Thomas Heywood, actor and City dramatist Repertoire 2 The Foure Prentises of London and the Queen’s Servants’ civic cohesiveness The company at the Rose, 1602–1603 A new start c. 1604: Thomas Greene, and all the Queen’s Servants’ theatres How big was the Red Bull playhouse? What was it like? Chapter 4 The court and its women: Queen Anna, her circle and some women-centred plays Queen Anna of Denmark: her family and her culture Danish fireworks Queen Anna: made in Denmark, forged in Scotland Making new friends: Queen Anna’s English circle of women Queen Anna’s women-centred circle and the Red Bull’s plays for women The courtly woman and her awkward situation: the countess of Hertford and the Sowernam/Swetnam pamphlets Repertoire 3 Swetnam the Woman-Hater, Arraigned by Women (a) The pamphlet debate (b) The anonymous Red Bull play Swetnam for women, two kinds of court, and the cross-dressed plays of the Queen’s Servants’ repertoire Swetnam the Woman-Hater: the title-page Chapter 5 Entities and splinter groups: the Queen’s Servants companies at the courts, in England and in Europe Song Repertoire 4 Thomas Heywood’s The Rape of Lucrece (London, 1608) The Queen’s Servants on tour – in England and Europe (i) English touring Robert Leigh (ii) European touring Chapter 6 The company: 1605–1612 Social mobility and northern playhouse audiences Repertoire 5 Greene’s Tu Quoque; or, The Cittie Gallant (London, 1614) The year 1612 and Greene the good clown Chapter 7 The company: 1612–1619 The year 1612 and Christopher Beeston Susan Greene’s 1612 claims and a succession of subsequent agreements Christopher Beeston, the Cockpit playhouse and further Susan Baskervile considerations Attitudes to Beeston after 1612 Robert Leigh’s ‘leaving’ and changes for the Queen’s Servants Repertoire considerations, the Cockpit riot and Robert Leigh’s ‘return’ Robert Leigh’s seven ‘young men’? The players up to 1622 The Revels Players at the Red Bull and beyond Conclusion: St John’s Day at night Select bibliography The National Archives, Kew London Metropolitan Archives Other manuscript sources British Library Cambridge University Archives College of Arms Dulwich College, London Essex Record Office, Chelmsford Gloucestershire Archives, Gloucester Guildhall Library Huntington Library, San Marino, California Islington Local History Centre, Finsbury Library, St John Street Kent History and Library Centre, Maidstone Lambeth Palace Library Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk Suffolk Record Office, Ipswich Surrey History Centre, Woking Westminster City Archives published works Index Eva Griffith's book fills a major gap concerning the world of Shakespearean drama. It tells the previously untold story of the Servants of Queen Anna of Denmark, a group of players parallel to Shakespeare's King's Men, and their London playhouse, The Red Bull. Built in vibrant Clerkenwell, The Red Bull lay within the northern suburbs of Jacobean London, with prostitution to the west and the Revels Office to the east. Griffith sets the playhouse in the historical context of the Seckford and Bedingfeld families and their connections to the site. Utilising a wealth of primary evidence including maps, plans and archival texts, she analyses the court patronage of figures such as Sir Robert Sidney, Queen Anna's chamberlain, alongside the company's members, function and repertoire. Plays performed included those by Webster, Dekker and Heywood - entertainments characterised by spectacle, battle sequence and courtroom drama, alongside London humour and song. This unique and colourful history tells the story of Thomas Heywood's playing company, the Queen's Servants, and their playhouse, The Red Bull. Eva Griffith makes use of extensive research to set the playhouse in the context of Jacobean London, offering new insights into the development of drama during Shakespeare's age.