Newington Butts Theater

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Newington Butts Theater
location
Address: (today) St. Georges Road, Junction Newington Butts ( A3 road )
City: London (Southwark)
Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '42 "  N , 0 ° 6' 3"  W Coordinates: 51 ° 29 '42 "  N , 0 ° 6' 3"  W.
Architecture and history
Opened: 1576
Named after: Location  (1576)
probably closed as a theater in September 1594 by order of the landowner (church)

The Newington Butts Theater was one of the first Elizabethan theaters and therefore one of the first theaters in London after Roman times . It is believed that it was built even before the better-known theater buildings The Theater (1576) and the Curtain Theater (1577). It is believed that it was at least one of the first to be under construction.

Origins

As a measure against the plague , which was rampant at the time , the Lord Mayor of London and the City Council banned all theater performances in 1572. Until the first permanent theaters were built, these mostly took place in inns . The city ​​management, which was dominated by the Puritans , considered the theater and its surroundings to be disreputable and vicious anyway, and they used the opportunity to expel all the theater actors from the city three years later. This had the consequence that the theater industry settled outside the city limits and thus outside the jurisdiction of London. The first theaters were built in the so-called Liberties , such as Halliwell ( Shoreditch ) and later the Liberty of the Clink . Newington Butts was the name of a small hamlet in the county of Surrey, which in turn took its name from the larger town of Newington . The rest of the name could come from an archery range ("Archery Butts") (piles of earth that serve as targets are called "butts"), even if this is not certain. "Butts" may have the meaning of a blunt end of a parceled piece of land. The Newington Butts Theater was not located in Newington Butts itself, but on the northern outskirts, where St. Georges Street meets the Newington Butts expressway ( A3 ) below a mighty roundabout (" Elephant and Castle ") .

The property of the theater building extended to 4,000 m² and had a width of 44 meters on the street front and bordered on the southern side by a sewer. The emeritus American literature professor William Ingram uses the records of the Commissions of Sewers (authority of the sewers of London) from 1576-1578, according to which Jerome Savage lived near the sewer and his theater was in the northern area of ​​his property.

The four hectare area, which was then listed under the name Lurklane , was leased to Richard Hick (e) s by the Canterbury Cathedral Chapter in 1566 . Hicks was a member of the Worshipful Company of Grocers and the royal retinue . He was also known as the "Yeoman of the Guard". Hicks left Lurklane to a tenant named Richard Thompson. He handed the lease over to the actor Jerome Savage on Lady Day , March 25, 1576, about three weeks before the land lease for The Theater in Shoreditch was signed. The Shakespearean scholar Glynne Wickham (1922-2004) interprets these documents to mean that Hicks [or Thompson?] Probably built a house or apartment building that someone (presumably the actor Savage) converted into a theater.

Construction of the theater

Jerome Savage was a member of the Warwick's Men theater company. The troupe competed with the Leicester's Men , albeit with moderate success. Their patron, Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick , was injured in the leg in the last days of the Battle of Le Havre in 1563 and as a result of the complications he suffered from persistent illness and movement disorders from around 1570. Warwick was appointed to Privy Council in the fall of 1573 , where he found himself in company with other ensemble operators such as the Earls of Sussex (see Sussex Men ), Earl of Lincoln , Arundel and his younger brother Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester . However, he was often absent due to illness.

Just as the Warwick's Men were about to become one of Queen Elizabeth I's favorite ensembles, Savage, the two brothers Dutton (John and Laurence) and other members of the troupe became more and more aware that their patron would not visit and support them. This was shown by the fact that they repeatedly encountered difficulties with the local authorities on their tours. Because of the Elizabethan Poor Laws of 1572, the situation of traveling actors was difficult - those who had no or sufficient patronage from a nobleman could be classified as a vagabond and be subject to a number of penalties, at least a performance ban. Savage then looks for a safe place where the Warwick's Men could play unhindered. About a mile south of the London Bridge , near the Ausspannungen from which later the famous "Elephant and Castle" -Gasthaus should be, found a Savage, for him an ideal fit, land on the east side of the road that leads to to Walworth . The property was an area with an orchard and a small house in the south and a barn or office building in the north. So instead of investing all of his assets in building a new theater, he was able to lease that property and remodel the existing structure at a fraction of the cost. However, he found that a tenant already existed here and that a lease contract, awarded by Richard Hicks to Richard Thompson in 1576, was set for 19 years, which had not yet expired. For one reason or another, Thompson agreed to Savage's proposal to buy out the lease, or at least sign an initial sublease. Perhaps it helped Savage that he appeared on behalf of the war hero Earl of Warwick.

However, shortly afterwards Hicks and his son-in-law Peter Hunningborne tried to cancel this contract for unclear reasons. When they failed in court, they tried a year later tricky Savage to default on his lease payments. When Hunningborne also wanted to take possession of the property, Savage sought legal assistance. In court, Hunningborne tried Savage as "a very vulgar guy" who "lives on nothing but games on the stage and amusements" ("a verrie lewed fealowe" [who] "lives by noe other trade than playinge of staige plaies." and Interlevdes ”) and may reveal a reason why they wanted to terminate Savage. It ended with Savage being allowed to stay on the property and the eviction suit was withdrawn or dropped by the court.

The opening of the - actually nameless - theater on "Lady Day" 1577 is certain and, like the theater , it was put into operation before the winter of 1576/77. Nothing is known about the appearance and possible audience size. However, since it was used in winter and the building previously served other purposes, it is likely to have been closed in contrast to most of the other usual entertainment buildings of the time, which had an uncovered inner courtyard. The theater was far from the City of London (less than 2 km) and more difficult to get to. Ingram suspects this to be a reason for the lower public awareness and the corresponding record situation.

Success and decline

The Earl of Warwick's Men seemed to have had five successful years at the Newington Butt Theater when his illness finally forced the Earl of Warwick to his retirement home in Hertfordshire . The ensemble disbanded and became part of Oxford's Men under the Earls of Oxford . On May 13, 1580, the Privy Council reported to the judicial authorities in Surrey that an unknown theater company was playing at Newington Butts, despite the general ban on performance. It is known that in April 1580 John and Lawrence Dutton led members of the Warwick's Company to put together the Earl of Oxford 's Ensemble. Ingram suspects that it was these two who continued to run the theater at their old place of work. Oxford was locked up in the Tower of London the following year and banned from court until June 1, 1583. He then went to war in Flanders in 1585 as part of the Dutch uprising . John Dutton left the Oxford's Men in 1583 to join the newly formed Queen Elizabeth's Men . The Oxford's Men apparently coped with the departure of their leader, as there are still records about them, each from the years 1584–1587 and also afterwards.

A document from the Commissions of Sewers dated February 26, 1591 refers to Hunningborne and the theater building and here the house seemed to have already had its prime, especially since the theaters built afterwards are within walking distance of the boat docks, London Bridge and otherwise closer to central London . Sometime at the beginning of the 1590s (and certainly before September 1593) the Lord Strange's Men performed here on three days, however the undated letter from the Privy Council writes of the inconvenience of the venue and that the long-lasting pieces were not performed on working days. ("Of long tyme plaies haue not there bene vsed on working daies"). The plague caused the London city tour to close all theaters between June 22, 1522 and May 14, 1594. The impresario Philip Henslowe used the opportunity to renovate his Rose Theater , but the Privy Council did not allow it to reopen until June 15, 1594 for unknown reasons.

Henslowe promoted a series of theatrical performances with the Admiral's Men and Lord Chamberlain's Men at Newington Butts for June 3, 13, 1594 . However, why he did this is not known. Vickers, like other researchers, assume that the Newington Butts Theater belonged to Henslowe at that time. Scientists like Wickham also speculate that Henslowe's modest results this season are in part due to the theatre's high rent payments. The theory of ownership could be supported by Winifred Frazer (American, Professor Emeritus of the University of Florida , born 1916) suggestion that the enigmatic abbreviation ne used by Henslowe in his notes on certain pieces , which is usually a new piece ("new" ) was valid for a performance in Newington.

This season in June 1594 is well documented, as Henslowe conscientiously kept a record of it with his “Diaries”. This includes the earliest performances of well-known names such as Hamlet , Titus Andronicus and The Taming of the Shrew . However, the exact relationship between these 1594 plays and those we now attribute to Shakespeare is uncertain and controversial among scholars. Rutter regards the Titus listed by Henslowe am Rose in January 1594 as "almost certainly from Shakespeare" but that Hamlet is, however, early for the one we know from the Second Quarto and the First Folio , in which Hamlet was only ascribed to Shakespeare around 1600 . This and other evidence has led to the theory that the 1600 text is based on an earlier play called Ur-Hamlet , written by either [Thomas Kyd], William Shakespeare, or someone else entirely. This performance of the original Hamlet is the first which is attested in writing. although it is possible that the piece has existed since at least 1589.

On July 6, 1594, the cathedral chapter left the theater property to Paul Buck , on condition that he use the theater for other purposes and that no more plays are performed after Michael’s Day on September 29. Buck seemed to have fulfilled this condition, as there was no further mention of the theater in the renewal of the lease on April 5, 1595. On October 5, 1599, the Sewer Commission carried out the development of the property as “the houses where the old playe house did stand att Newington” (“the buildings where the old theater on Newington previously stood”). The references to this theater persisted, e.g. B. in the pun "Newington conceit" ("Newington vanity"), which was used in a 1612 play. Newington is also the place where playwright Thomas Middleton died . He was buried on July 4, 1627 in Newington Butts Church.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Map of the place, by William Ingram in the Google book search
  2. ^ A b William Ingram (Ed.): The business of playing: the beginnings of the adult professional theater in Elizabethan London . Cornell University Press, 1992, ISBN 978-0-8014-2671-1 , pp. 150 (English, online ).
  3. ^ A b Thomas Fairman Ordish (Ed.): Early London Theaters: In the Fields . Elliot Stock, London, 1899, pp. 30 (English, online ).
  4. ^ A b Ida Darlington (Ed.): Survey of London Volume 25 - St George's Fields, the Parishes of St. George the Martyr Southwark and St. Mary, Newington . London County Council, 1955, p. 83-84 (English, online ).
  5. ↑ Ingram (1992) pp. 160-162
  6. ↑ Ingram (1992) describes Hicks in detail on pages 153–157.
  7. ↑ Ingram (1992) p. 164
  8. ^ Glynne William Gladstone Wickham, Herbert Berry, William Ingram (eds.): English professional theater, 1530-1660, Cambridge University Press . 2000, ISBN 978-0-521-23012-4 , pp. 133-173 (English, online ).
  9. ↑ Simon Adams, "Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warick (c. 1530-1590)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Index number 101008143. First pub. 2004; online edn. Jan 2008.
  10. ↑ a b Ingram (1992) p. 172
  11. ↑ Ingram (1992) p. 166
  12. ^ Ingram (1992) pp. 167-168
  13. ↑ a b Ingram (1992) p. 168
  14. ↑ Ingram (1992) p. 170
  15. ^ Wickham, Berry, Ingram (2000) p. 320
  16. ↑ a b Ingram (1992) p. 174
  17. ^ Historical Manuscripts Commission, The Manuscripts of His Grace the Duke of Rutland, i, p. 150
  18. ↑ Ingram (1992) p. 175
  19. ↑ a b c Ingram (1992) p. 176
  20. ^ Edmund Kerchever Chambers (Ed.): The Elizabethan stage . Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1923, pp. 312-313 (English, online ).
  21. ↑ a b c d Wickham et al (2000) p. 328
  22. ^ Brian Vickers (Ed.): Shakespeare, Co-Author: A Historical Study of Five Collaborative Plays . Oxford University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-19-926916-7 , pp. 149 (English, online ).
  23. ↑ Winifred Frazer (Ed.): Henslowe's 'ne' . Notes & Queries, Volume 38, Issue 1, 1991, pp. 34-35 , doi : 10.1093 / nq / 38.1.34 (English).
  24. ↑ The June 1594 season was written as follows: 3rd Hester and Ahasuerus , 4th The Jew of Malta , 5th Andronicus , 6th Cutlack (since lost), 7th (no show), 8th Bellendon (since lost), 9th Hamlet , 10th Hester , 11th The Taming of a Shrew , 12th Andronicus , 13th The Jew
  25. ↑ Carol Chillington Rutter (Ed.): Documents of the Rose Playhouse . Manchester University Press, 1999, ISBN 978-0-7190-5801-1 , pp. 78 (English, online ).
  26. ^ Hamlet Second Quarto online in the British Library
  27. ↑ a b c Jesús Tronch-Pérez (Ed.): A synoptic Hamlet: a critical-synoptic edition of the second quarto and first folio texts of Hamlet . Universitat de València, 2002, ISBN 978-84-370-5381-3 , p. 26 (English, online ).
  28. ↑ Mary Ellen Lamb, Karen Bamford (Eds.): Oral traditions and gender in early modern literary texts . Ashgate Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-7546-5538-1 , pp. 133 (English, online ).
  29. ↑ Chambers (1923) Volume 2, p. 405, and refers to Field 's A Woman is a Weathercock III. iii. 25th
  30. ↑ Alfred Rayney Waller, Adolphus William Ward (ed.): Cambridge History of English Literature 6, Part 2: The Drama to 1642, Volume 6 . Cornell University Press Archive, 1920, ISBN 978-0-521-04520-9 , pp. 58 (English, online ).