Robert Wilson (playwright)

Robert Wilson (known active time between 1572-1600) was a playwright and actor of the Elizabethan era , whose most important creative period extends into the 1580s and 1590s. It is also believed that he was an actor at an early age and preferred to impersonate clowns here.

It is associated with 16 plays which he wrote with other authors for the Rose Theater under its director Philip Henslowe . Although he was mentioned as a playwright by Francis Meres in 1598 , most of the information about his work comes from Henslowe's documents (the "Diaries").

Career

Since the name Robert Wilson occurs quite often, it is not certain whether Robert Wilson, who worked for Henslowe between 1598 and 1600, is the same who worked as a prominent actor and occasional writer in the 1580s; however, many scholars believe it is likely that the records refer to one Robert Wilson rather than two. If so, then Wilson was a member of the Leicester's Men in the 1570s and, like Richard Tarlton , was praised for his witty wit. Wilson is believed to be the author of The Three Ladies of London (published 1584), The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (1590) and The Cobbler's Prophecy (1594). It has been speculated that he could also have written Fair Em (around 1590). In Palladis Tamia of 1598, Francis Meres mentions Wilson together with Tarlton and connects him in particular with the Swan Theater , which was built around 1595.

Works

In a little over two years, from the spring of 1598 to the summer of 1600, Wilson worked with Henslowe's other in-house authors on 16 different pieces, including three two-part pieces. However, some of these were never completed.

1. Earl Goodwin and his Three Sons, Parts 1 and 2 , with Michael Drayton , Henry Chettle, and Thomas Dekker ; March 1598.
2. Piers of Exton , with Drayton, Chettle, and Dekker; March 1598.
3. Black Bateman of the North, Parts 1 and 2 , with Chettle; Part I also with Dekker and Drayton; May-June 1598.
4. The Funeral of Richard Cordelion , with Chettle, Drayton, and Anthony Munday ; June 1598.
5. The Madman's Morris , with Dekker and Drayton, July 1598.
6. Hannibal and Hermes , with Dekker and Drayton, July 1598.
7. Pierce of Winchester , with Dekker and Drayton, July – August 1598.
8. Catiline's Conspiracy , with Chettle; August 1598. Apparently unfinished.
9. Chance Medley , with Munday, Drayton and Dekker or Chettle; August 1598.
10. The Life of Sir John Oldcastle , Parts 1 and 2 , with Drayton, Munday and Richard Hathwaye ; October – December 1599.
11. Henry Richmond, Part 2 , with others; unfinished.
12. Owen Tudor , with Drayton, Hathwaye, and Munday; January 1600. Apparently unfinished.
13. Fair Constance of Rome, Part 1 , with Dekker, Drayton, Hathwaye and Munday; June 1600.

Only the first part of Wilson's work for Henslowe was published as a book by Sir John Oldcastle in 1600 and 1619 . Which also means that none of the other pieces have survived today. Sir John Oldcastle was commissioned as an alternative to the negative portrayal of the title character in the original versions of William Shakespeare's plays Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 . Objections from the descendants of the historical John Oldcastle , a Protestant martyr, appear responsible for both the writing of a corrected Oldcastle play and the change from Oldcastle to Falstaff , as featured in later versions of the Henry IV plays be. Wilson is also brought up for discussion as a possible author of some other, anonymously written, Elizabethan plays. Including Fair Em , The Pedlar's Prophecy , A Larum for London , Look About You , Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes and A Knack to Know a Knave .

additional

The collaboration with several authors, such as those under Henslowe, had clear advantages over independent playwrights, such as Shakespeare or Ben Jonson , who could only complete one or two plays per year. If even one of these failed, it could pose an existential threat. Sun signed Richard Brome 1635 a contract for three works, but was unable to fulfill this contract. Working with other authors helped to reduce the risk.

On November 20, 1600, a "Robert Wilson, yeoman (player)" was buried in the cemetery of St Giles-without-Cripplegate . This is consistent with the view that the two Robert Wilsons, the actors of the Leicester's Men and Henslowes playwrights, were one and the same person and also explains why the Wilson Henslowes stopped working in 1600.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Edmund Kerchever Chambers The Elizabethan Stage. 4 volumes, Clarendon Press, Oxford 1923; Volume 3, p. 516.
2. ^ SR Golding, "Shakespeare and Sir Thomas More, " Notes & Queries 154 (1928), 237-9.
3. ↑ HSD Mithal, 'The Two Wilsons Controversy', Notes & Queries 204 (1959), pages 106 and 107.