Dear Me.

 Meh.

Shakespeare:  The Biography

by

Peter Ackroyd

Part Four

Chapter 42: To Fill the World with Words

Soon after the formation of the Lord Chamberlain's Men Shakespeare and his colleagues began a shared run with the Lord Admiral's Men at the playhouse in Newington Butts.  This association with their principal rivals did not last for long.  After about ten days the Lord Admiral's Men decamped to the Rose.

The unique position of the two companies in the Elizabethan theatre of course created competition and rivalry.  When Lord Chamberlain's Men put on Shakespeare's plays of Richard III and Henry V, the Lord Admiral's Men retaliated with Richard Crookback.  When the Lord Admiral's Men staged at least seven plays on biblical subjects, the Lord Chamberlain's Men replied with Hester and Ahasuerus and other similar dramas.  There was a constant cross-fertilisation of themes and ideas between the companies, fueled by fashion and inspired by rivalry,

After appearing at Newington Butts the Lord Chamberlain's Men toured parts of the country, including Wiltshire and Berkshire, before returning to London for the winter season.  On 8 October, Lord Hundson, their patron, wrote to the Lord Mayor requesting him to allow his servants to play in the City. It is curious that they were not using the Theatre or the Curtain, but it is likely either that the playhouses were in a state of disrepair or that they were not considered suitable venues for the darker winter season.  The Lord Lord Chamberlain's Men also performed at the court that winter, and played on two occasions before Elizabeth.  On 26 and 28 of December they attended at her palace in Greenwich.

The actors did not simply arrive, with their costumes and instruments.  They had to rehearse the plays intended for Her Majesty's pleasure before the Master of the Revels.  When all was settled they took a boat downriver from one of the London wharves, with an attendant barge for their costumes and devices.  The great hall at Greenwich had been cleared for the performance.  The stage was at one end and the royal dais was at the other.  The hall, on this late winter afternoon and evening, was illuminated by candles and torches.  The musicians were placed on the wooden balcony above the stage.  It was the most fashionable entertainment of the year, and it would have been natural for Shakespeare and his fellow actors to be a little nervous.  The names of the plays they performed are not on record, but it has been suggested the queen saw Love's Labour's Lost as well as Romeo and Juliet.  What better fillip for an ageing queen than tales of young lovers?

The Lord Chamberlain's Men were a success, and became something of a royal favourite.  The records show that on this first occasion the Lord Admiral's Men performed three times, and the Lord Chamberlain's Men were called more often.  In the winter season of 1596 and 1597 the Lord Chamberlain's Men played six times while the Lord Admiral's Men did not appear at all.  A reference to William Shakespeare occurs in the payment for the royal entertainment at Greenwich in 1594, when £20 was granted to "William Kemp, William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage" for "two comedies showed before Her Majesty in Christmas time last."  It is an indication of seniority in the company that he should be listed before the principal actor -  unless, of course, he was the principal actor.  It suggests in any case that he was a leading member at the time of its inception.  The entry in the treasurer's account has the distinction of being the only official reference to Shakespeare's connection with the stage.

On the night of the last day they performed at Greenwich, the Lord Chamberlain's Men also gave a performance of The Comedy of Errors in the hall of Gray's Inn.  They play was part of the Christmas revels of that Inn, presided by a lord of misrule known as the Prince of Purpoole."  Shakespeare may have been chosen as the dramatist through his association with Southampton.  The play of twins and of mistaken identity, with all the complication of evidence involved was naturally popular among students of the English law.  For the purposes of the Inn, Shakespeare revised The Comedy of Errors. He introduced more legalisms and two trial scenes.  

The connection between the legal Inns and the drama is a very close one.  Many of the poets and dramatists of the age were attached to one of the four Inns of Court -  Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, the Middle Temple and the Inner Temple - and it has been asserted that formal English drama itself originated in those surroundings.  One of the earliest English tragedies, Gorboduc, was written by two members of the Inner Temple and first performed at the Inns of Court.

In certain plays Shakespeare introduces reference and allusions that were understood only by the students of the law as they in fact formed a large or at least recognisable part of his audience.  They were "coming men" trained to be the judges and administrators and diplomats of the next generation. Many of Shakespeare's own friends and acquaintances came from that circle.

It is important to understand the connection between law and drama, if only to bring to life Shakespeare's use of law and legal terms in his plays and poetry.  A dram like The Merchant of Venice can be properly understood only in this context, with the civil law of Portia pitted against the common law of Shylock.  It is one of the defining structures of Shakespeare's imagination.