Entertainment at Salisbury House

Revision as of 18:00, 2 February 2012 by Laura Estill (talk | contribs)

Ben Jonson (1608)


Historical Records

Records at Hatfield house include bills for this entertainment, with payments to Ben Jonson (playwright), Edward Alleyn (actor), Inigo Jones (set design), and a juggler and conjurer.


Theatrical Provenance

This was performed at Salisbury House and hosted by the Earl of Salisbury. The show was performed between the 5th and 11th of May, 1608.


Probable Genre(s)

Royal Entertainment (Schoenbaum Second Supplement to Harbage)


Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

None known.


References to the Play

None known.


Critical Commentary

Scott McMillin summarizes the historical documents in his article.

Grace Ioppolo compares the rates of pay with other Jonson masques and points out that Jonson may have acted in the masque too.


For What It's Worth

Feel free to add thoughts.


Works Cited

Ioppolo, Grace. Dramatists and their Manuscripts in the Age of Shakespeare, Jonson, Middleton and Heywood. New York: Routledge, 2006, p. 53.

McMillin, Scott. "Jonson's Early Entertainments: New Information from Hatfield House." Renaissance Drama, n.s. 1 (1968): 155-166.

Schoenbaum, S. Annals of English Drama 975-1700: A Second Supplement to the Revised Edition Evanston, IL: Northwestern U, 1970, p. 3.


Site created and maintained by Laura Estill; updated 2 February, 2012.