Dec 9, 2019
In Elizabethan England, much of what we know about how theaters were operated comes from the diary of a man who ran dozens of theaters during Shakespeare’s lifetime: Philip Henslowe. Henslowe was enterprising and ambitious, setting up the Bear Garden for bear baiting, and establishing the Rose, the Fortune, and the Hope theaters, among others. Throughout his dealings with numerous playing companies including Shakespeare’s The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Henslowe kept a diary about who he paid to perform, what productions were done, and even what props and costumes were used. The result is a fascinating tale of bits and pieces that give a real insider's look into the daily operations of what it meant to hire actors, collaborate across playing companies, and even part of how Henslowe was able to achieve a royal office in the court of James I as a theater owner in Shakespeare’s lifetime. Since we do not have a similar diary of Shakespeare’s dealings at The Globe, Henslowe’s records help us see into the world of Shakespeare’s theater to get an idea of what it was like to build dragons, stage the Battle of Shrewsbury, and where exactly the resources came from to pull off the grand feats of performance these theaters have gone down in history as having accomplished.
Our guest this week, Amy Lidster, returns to the podcast for her second visit here at That Shakespeare Life to talk with us about Henslowe and his diaries.