King Xerxes
Historical Records
Accounts of the Office of the Revels
The accounts of the Office of the Revels record various expenses disbursed in the preparation of the performance of "Xerxes" and its aftermath. Payments were made for Thomas Blagrave's two trips to peruse and reform the play; for armor lent from the armorer Roger Tindall; for wax for a cake; for a wig to be worn by Xerxes' sister; for a canvas fringe to decorate the set; and for the transportation of three loads of materials to Blackfriars after the play was performed.
| Thomas Blagrave esquier for mony by him disburced | ||
| vpon sundry occazions concerning this Office and Thaffares | ||
| thereof as foloweth videlicet | ||
| 26o Novembris. 1574 | ||
| Iorneyeng charges | Horshyer and charges by the waye at Wynsor | |
| stayeng there ij dayes in November iiij | ||
| daies for pervzing & Reformyng of ffarantes | ||
| playe &c. | xlijs vjd | |
| .5o. Decembris 1574 | ||
| Horsehyer to hampton Coorte to conferr with | ||
| my Lord Chamberlayne the Lord Haward, & | ||
| Mr Knevett vpon certayne devices & to pervze | ||
| ffarantes playe there againe iij daies the charges | ||
| wherof with horsemeate at kingston is | xxvijs viijd | |
| […] | ||
| 6o Ianvarij | ||
| […] | ||
| Hier of Armour | To Roger Tyndall tharmerer for Lending of Armor for | |
| ffarrantes playe and for attending the same | xjs. iiijd. | |
| […] | ||
| Wexchaundler | Wax for A Cake in ffarrantes playe | iijs vjd. |
| […] | ||
| Edward Buggyn gentleman clerkcomptrowler of Thoffice | ||
| for mony by him disburced videlicet | ||
| […] | ||
| xjo. Ianvarij. | ||
| for A periwigg of Heare for king xerxces syster | ||
| in ffarrantes playe | iiijs. viijd. | |
| for Cariage of iij Lode of stuf (for the playe &c. on | ||
| twelfe Nighte) to the watersyde at the Blackfryers | iijs. | |
| […] | ||
| .jo. ffebruarij .1574. | ||
| neccessaries | for ij ells of Canvas to make frenge for the players | |
| howse in farrantes play | xxd | |
(The National Archives, AO 3/907/4, ff. 9r–10r, 12r; qtd. Feuillerat 238-40, 244)
Declared Accounts of the Treasurer of the Chamber
(MSC VI, 9)
Theatrical Provenance
Performed on 6 January 1575 by the Children of Windsor before the Queen at Hampton Court.
Probable Genre(s)
Classical History (?) (Harbage)
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
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References to the Play
None known. (Content welcome.)
Critical Commentary
Wallace (124) assumes that the play was authored by Farrant, describing its tragic theme "well suited to such serious-mindedness of the man as exhibited in his rolling anthems."
Arkwright (129), notes that one of Farrant's extant songs, "O Jove, from the stately throne," refers to a character named "Altages"; assuming that this was intended to be a Persian name, he speculates that the song may have been written for "Xerxes."
Wiggins (121-22) offers a narrative reconstruction of the play (see above). He also proposes that the "Marrynels whissell," which appears in the Revels accounts unconnected to a specific play (Feuillerat 236), might well have been used in the production of "Xerxes." On the subject of Thomas Blagrave's "perusal" of the play, he suggests that Blagrave either read the play or saw it performed, and that in his second trip he may have been aided by Thomas Knyvet.
Streitberger (122n) argues, contra Wiggins, that there is "no evidence for the speculation […] that Knyvet assisted Blagrave in reforming" the play. Rather, given "Knyvet's connection to the storehouse at Westminster, he was probably consulting on material for the revels."
For What It's Worth
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Works Cited
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