French Comedy, A

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Historical Records

Performance Records (Henslowe's Diary)

F. 26^v / Greg 1.52

Aprell 1597
		18		ne..		tt at a frenche comodey. . . . . . . . . .		02|00|01 — 01 — 03
		22				tt at frenche comodey. . . . . . . . . .		01|02|00 — 17 — 01
		26				tt at frenche comodey. . . . . . . . . .		01|02|00 — 11 — 00
Maye 1597
		2				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		01|00|00 — 09 — 03
		5				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		01|07|01 — 00 — 00
		21				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|14|00 — 13 — 06

F. 27 / Greg 1.53

June 1597
		1				tt at a frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|13|00 — 04 — 06
		16				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|07|00 — 13 — 06
		23				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|08|00 — 00 — 00
July 1597
		2				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|04|02 — 00 — 13

F. 27^v /Greg 1.54

July 1597
		16				tt at frenshe comodey. . . . . . . . . .		00|09|00 — 14 — 00

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral's men offered "A French Comedy" in late spring 1597 at the Rose; Henslowe marked it with "ne," seemingly therefore indicating that it was a new acquisition.

Probable Genre(s)

Comedy

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

Collier accepted "A French Comedy" as a new play but does observe that "we have had the title before" (p. 87, n1).

Fleay, BCED ignored the 1597 play and itemizes only "The French Comedy" in Henslowe's lists for the Admiral's men in 1595 (II.303; "Anonymous Plays," #162).

Greg II"" lumped the two "French Comedy" plays @ #67, but he observed that there was no way to tell whether there were two plays or one, with the 1597 run given to the original "revived with alterations" (p. 174, #67).

Gurr lumped the two French comedies into a single play, adding the performances of the 1597 play to those of the 1595 play as a revival run (#28 [p. 213-4, n.35).

Wiggins, Catalogue differentiates the two French comedies by giving the 1595 play the article "The" in the title and the 1597 play the article "A".

Collier accepts "A French Comedy" as a new play but does observe that "we have had the title before" (p. 87, n1).

For What It's Worth

Information welcome.

Works Cited

Gurr, Andrew. Shakespeare's Opposites: The Admiral's Company 1594-1625. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; updated 19 November 2019.