Woman Hard To Please, A
Historical Records
Payments
To Philip Henslowe
Fol. 23 (Greg I.45)
- Res at a womon hard to please the 27 of Janewary 97 . . } iiijli
Performance Records
Playlists in Philip Henslowe's diary
Fol. 26 (Greg 1.51)
January 1597 |27| ne.. tt at womane hard to please. . . . . . . . . . . . . 02|11|06—07—08 |29| tt at womon hard to please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 02|03|04—14—00 ffebreary 1597 |1| tt at womones hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . 01|05|02—11—02 |4| tt at womon hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . . . 01|08|04—03—00 Shrove tewesday |8| tt at womon hard to please. . . . . . . . . . . . . 01|09|01—02—01
begynyng in leant Marche 1597 |7| tt at a womon hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . 01|05|06-02-01 Easter mvnday |28| —— tt at a womon hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . 01|11|00-00-00 Aprelle 1597 |8| tt at womon hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . . . 00|05|03-00-00
Fol. 26v (Greg 1.52)
Aprelle 1597 |16| —— tt at womon hard to please. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00|05|03-00-00 Maye 1597 |10| tt at womon hard to plesse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00|17|03-10-00 |27| tt at womon hard to pleasse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 00|05|00-00-00
Theatrical Provenance
The Admiral's men introduced "A Woman Hard to Please" to the stage at the Rose in the spring of 1597.
Probable Genre(s)
Comedy
Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues
Information welcome.
References to the Play
None known.
Critical Commentary
Gurr, addressing the set of payments for four plays in January 1597 including the payment of £4 for "A Woman Hard to Find" on the 27th (F. 23), suggests that Henslowe was entering "cross-payments to whoever owned the playbooks, probably [Martin] Slater and [Edward] Alleyn, although they were recorded as 'Rd', or receipts, not outgoings." Frustrated by his inability to reconcile these cross-payments with "more routine entries" for the four plays in the playlists, he observes wryly that [n]othing in the Diary explains to any would-be auditor what these figures mean" (p. 94).
Wiggins, Catalogue toys with the possibility that Henry Porter was the author of "A Woman Hard to Please" (see #1056 for details).
For What It's Worth
The Admiral's men gave "A Woman Hard to Please" five performances over a span of eleven days, a rare (if not unique) repetition of the same play during this short a period of time.
Works Cited
Site created and maintained by Roslyn L. Knutson, Professor Emerita, University of Arkansas at Little Rock; 2 December 2019.