Black Joan

(1598 ?)

Historical Records

Henslowe Papers

Greg, Papers, 118:

Under Henslowe's title, "The Enventary tacken of all the properties for my Lord Admeralles men, the 10 of Marche 1598" is:

Item, j frame for the heading [i.e. beheading] in Black Jone.

Greg, Papers, 121:

Under Henslowe's title, "A Note of all suche bookes as belong to the Stocke, and such as I have bought since the 3d of March 1598" is:

Black Jonne.

Theatrical Provenance

The Admiral’s Company.

Probable Genre(s)

Tragedy (?) (Harbage, 64-5).

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known.

References to the Play

None known.

Critical Commentary

H. W. Herrington posits a “dramatic vogue” for witchcraft plays in the late 1590s (478), and, after discussing Mother Redcap, writes:

Earlier in the same year [1597] Henslowe notes a performance of "The Witch of Islington." By the next year had been written "Black Joan." The former was either an out-and-out witch play, or else such a play with political bearings. The latter, in all probability, was a witch play also. If we may judge from the titles and the growing realism of dramatic treatment, they were of a kind far closer to actual life than those hitherto considered. (478)

Purkiss supports Herrington's suggestion of a mini-vogue for witch plays at this time and speculates that the play may have influenced Shakespeare's Joan la Pucelle in 1 Henry VI (197 n.28)

Works Cited

Herrington, H. W. “Witchcraft and Magic in the Elizabethan Drama”. The Journal of American Folklore 32.126 (1919): 447–85. Print. Web.

Purkiss, D. The Witch in History. London & New York: Routledge, 199c. Print. Web (Google Books).

Site created and maintained by Simon Davies, University of Sussex; updated 13 May 2011.