Category:Richard Tarlton: Difference between revisions

Richard Tarlton was so celebrated as the premier comedian of his time that he was eulogized in a play by his fellow company players in one of their popular repertory pieces, The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London (S. R. 31 July 1590; published, 1590). In keeping with his theatrical career, Tarlton was associated with other forms of popular entertainments such as ballads, jests, and jigs; a posthumous collection, Tarlton's Jests (1600), confirms that his reputation extended well beyond his life. A feature of his theatrics was his skill as a musician; the primary image that depicts Tarlton from his times features him playing a pipe and tabor. In addition, he was a superb athlete, noted specifically in his time for fencing. He also was a writer; a now lost "Seven Deadly Sins" (1585) is attributed to him.

Tarlton had a stage career with Sussex's men before 1583, when the Queen's men were created, but most of the details about his professional life fall within that company's tenure. Thomas Nashe, a pamphleteer and playwright whose career was beginning as Tarlton's closed, provided anecdotes about Tarlton's amusement of Queen Elizabeth in Strange News (1592). A spate of publications full of stories of dubious accuracy also capitalized on Tarlton's fame, including a ballad called Tarltons Farewell and another called Tarltons Newes out of Purgatorie ... Published by an old companion of his, Robin Goodfellow (c. 1590).

Roles

As the primary clown of the company, Tarlton would have had a role/s in the following plays:

Sussex's men
"Phedrastus", "Phigon and Lucia", "The Red Knight", "The Cynocephali", "The Cruelty of a Stepmother", "The Rape of the Second Helen", "Murderous Michael", "The Duke of Milan and the Marquess of Mantua", "Portio and Demorantes", "Sarpedon", "The History of Ferrar"

Queen's men
Clyomon and Clamydes, The Famous Victories of Henry V, Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay, King Leir, The Old Wives Tale, Selimus, The Troublesome Reign of King John, Three Lords and Three Ladies, True Tragedy of Richard III
"Five Plays in One", "Phillyda and Corin", "Seven Deadly Sins", "Three Plays in One", "Valentine and Orson"