That Will Be Shall Be

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Historical Records

Performance Records

Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary

Fol. 25^v (Greg I.50)

Under the heading, "Jn the name of god amen begininge the 25 of novembʒ 1596 as foloweth the lord admerall players":

ye 3[1]0 of decembʒ 1596					. . . . ne . .			Res at that wilbe shalbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		ls
ye 3 of Jenewary 1597					———			Res at that wilbe shalbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		xxxxijs
ye 6 of Jenewary 1597								Res at that wilbe shalbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		xxxxijs
ye 13 of Janewary 1597								Res at that wilbe shalbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		xxijs
ye 18 of Janewary 1597								Res at that wilbe shalbe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .		xvs

Fol. 26 (F.26 / Greg I.51:)

Janewary 1957
		|24|				tt at that wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .		0|17|00 — 19 — 07
ffebreary
1597
Candelmaseday
		|2|				tt at that wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .		01|18|01 — 03 — 00
begynyng in leant
Marche 1597
		|3|				tt at that wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .		00|09|00 — 16 — 00
Aprelle 1597
		|6|				tt at that wilbe & shalbe. . . . . . . . . .		00|07|03 — 00 — 08

Fol. 26^v (Greg I.52)

(Aprelle 1597)

|30|

tt at what wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .

00|14|00 — 17 — 08

Fol. 27 (Greg I.53)

June 1597

|6|

tt at what wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .

00|10|00 — 16 — 00

July 1597

|5|

tt at what wilbe shalbe. . . . . . . . . .

00|10|02 — 00 — 00

Payments

To Philip Henslowe

Fol. 23 (Greg I.45)

Res at the second time of playinge that wilbe shalbe}

the 4 of Janewary 1597 the some of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . } xxxx^s

Theatrical Provenance

"That Will Be Shall Be" was played by the Admiral's men at the Rose from 30 December 1596 through 5 July 1597.

Probable Genre(s)

The title appears proverbial, but no specific proverb has been linked to it. Its subject matter, therefore, is unknown.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

No doubt there were circumstances in which early moderns said "what will be shall be," but no stories have specifically been associated with the phrase.

References to the Play

Information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Malone lists the play by the title, "What will be shall be" (p. 299); Collier chooses "That wilbe shalbe", acknowledging that Malone's choice occurs "sometimes" in Henslowe's manuscript (p. 84). Fleay BCED regularizes the spelling to "That will be shall be" (2.#188, p. 305); Greg II confirms this modernized phrasing and confirms what had previously been implied that the title was indeed the proverbial "Whatever will be, shall be" (#98, p. 181).

Gurr interprets Henslowe's listing of "That Will Be Shall Be" without the marking of "ne" as evidence that it was enjoying its "second performance" whereas the other plays in its block of entries—"Jeronimo," "Alexander and Lodowick," and "A Woman Hard to Please"— were being staged for the first time (p. 224, n.57). Addressing the set of payments for these four plays in January 1597 (specifically £2 on 4 January for "That Will Be Shall Be" [Fol. 23]), Gurr suggests that Henslowe might have been entering "cross-payments to whoever owned the playbooks, probably [Martin] Slater and [Edward] Alleyn, although they were recorded as 'Rd', or receipts, not as outgoings" (p. 94). Frustrated by his inability to reconcile these cross-payments with "more routine entries" for the four plays in the playlists, Gurr observes wryly that "[n]othing in the Diary explains to any would-be auditor what these figures mean" (p. 94).

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; 4 January 2020.