Red Bull Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Red Bull was a playhouse in London
during the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences. After Parliament
closed the theatres in 1642, it continued to host illegal performances intermittently, and when the theatres reopened after the Restoration
, it became a legitimate venue again. It burned in the Great Fire of London
, among the last of the Renaissance theatres to fall.
and Fortune Theatre
. It was constructed in 1604 on St John Street in Clerkenwell
; court documents reveal that it was built by renovating an inn with a central square. This origin accounts for its square floorplan, a design shared only by the original Fortune among period playhouses. It may have been named for cattle that were driven down St John Street toward the markets at Smithfield
.
Apart from these few facts, little is known of the theatre's particulars. Scholars assume that it was roughly the same size as the Globe and Fortune, its competitors; at least in its early decades, its companies offered credible competition to the King's Men
and Prince Henry's Men
. W. C. Lawrence argued that the theatre was roofed over in the early 1620s, but his arguments were largely refuted by Leslie Hotson and G. E. Bentley
. The Red Bull was most likely similar to the other outdoor theaters against which it competed, with an uncurtained thrust-forward stage backed by a tiring house
and balcony, surrounded by standing room, and overlooked by galleries on three walls. Its occupancy was perhaps slightly less than the nearly 3,000 of the Globe.
are known to have performed there; however, court records show that the theatre was built in 1604
, and references in the royal patent for the venue mention Thomas Greene, comedian of the Queen's company, suggest it was built for that troupe. In addition to Greene, Martin Slater, Aaron Holland (a servant of the Earl of Devonshire
as well as a Queen's Man), and Thomas Swinnerton were involved in the planning. Perhaps because they had learned from Philip Henslowe
's recent problems with neighborhood opposition in building the Fortune, they did not approach the court for approval until they had already placated their parish neighbors—as Henslowe had—by contributing liberally to poor relief.
Queen Anne's Men stayed at the theater until 1617. They employed prominent playwrights: most of Thomas Heywood
's tremendous output was staged there, as were John Webster
's The White Devil
and The Devil's Law-case, Thomas Dekker's If This Be Not A Good Play, the Devil Is in It, and John Cooke's well-known Greene's Tu Quoque. It also came into possession of some older plays, including Christopher Marlowe
's Edward II
, and as the period progressed, the Red Bull companies, along with those at the Fortune were associated with old-fashioned plays performed for noisy, ignorant audiences. The audience appears to have booed The White Devil in 1611, and in later years it was the cause of, or scene of, numerous brawls violent enough to result in court cases.
In 1617, the Queen's Men, now directed by impresario
Christopher Beeston
moved to Beeston's new Cockpit Theatre
; the move prompted a mob of apprentices (presumably angry that their favorite plays were now to be staged at the more expensive indoor thater) to burn the Cockpit on Shrove Tuesday
1617. The Queen's Men returned to the Red Bull, however, only until the Cockpit was repaired. They were succeeded at the Red Bull by Prince Charles' Men, partly financed by Edward Alleyn
. The disintegration of Queen Anne's men after Anne's
death in 1618 produced a little-understood reshuffling of these companies. In the decline of the Jacobean period, this company produced plays including Dekker and Massinger's
The Virgin Martyr, Thomas May
's The Heir, and Gervase Markham
and William Sampson's Herod and Antipater.
After James's death, Charles
assumed patronage of the King's Men, and the former Prince Charles' Men disbanded. From this date, an even less reputable company took up residence at the Red Bull. Scholars generally call this troupe the Red Bull company, as the actors called themselves when in London; when touring, as they did frequently, they styled themselves the King's Players. In 1627, Henry Herbert, acting on a request from John Heminges
, ordered this company to cease performing Shakespeare's plays. In November 1629, the theater hosted visiting French actors who had earlier played at the Fortune and Blackfriars Theatre
; a contemporary reference may indicate that this troupe, which included women, was poorly received in Clerkenwell.
By 1634, the Red Bull housed a new company patronized by the child Prince Charles II
. By this point, the Red Bull's reputation was irrevocably tarnished; its name appears rarely on quarto
title pages, suggesting either that its offerings were not worth publishing, or that publishers doubted the name would aid sales. But the new company boasted a popular comedian, Andrew Cane, and it was able to survive the Privy Council's
anger over the slanderous play The Whore New Vamped, which mocked an alderman
by name and complained of recently levied taxes.
Wit Without Money; advertisements for the performance were thrown into gentlemen's carriages. There followed a crackdown on performances by Parliament, which grew wiser to the real implications of advertisements for "rope dancing" and other entertainments at the old theatres. In 1650 the Red Bull was successfully raided, a number of actors arrested and their clothes and properties confiscated.
The Red Bull is the only theatre incontestably associated with the droll
, those brief farces taken from the most popular older plays. In 1653, Robert Cox
was arrested at the Red Bull for a performance which crossed the line and was deemed a play. Sir William Davenant
and Sir George Fletcher
reportedly watched a play at the Red Bull in February or March of 1655. In September 1655, the Red Bull was raided again as part of the same sterner attitude that led Cromwell's soldiers to deface the Fortune and Blackfriars, and actors were arrested for performing there in 1659.
A collection of drolls was published by Francis Kirkman
, some attributed to "the incomparable Robert Cox", as The Wits (1662, and enlarged 1672–73). Kirkman said many had been performed at the Red Bull; however, the frontispiece to his volume does not, as used to be supposed, represent a performance at the Red Bull.
The theatre was re-opened in 1660 upon the Restoration
of the monarchy, as home for Michael Mohun
's company and George Jolly
's troupe. Its new management returned to the business of staging crowd-pleasing drama; Samuel Pepys
recorded seeing a revival of William Rowley
's All's Lost by Lust
there. The Red Bull was eventually destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London
. After the fire, buildings were constructed on its foundations, and the outline of its structure, including the passageway from the auditorium to the street, can still be found in the street now known as Hayward's Place off Woodbridge Street.
www.redbulltheater.com
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
during the 17th century. For more than four decades, it entertained audiences drawn primarily from the northern suburbs, developing a reputation for rowdy, often disruptive audiences. After Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
closed the theatres in 1642, it continued to host illegal performances intermittently, and when the theatres reopened after the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
, it became a legitimate venue again. It burned in the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
, among the last of the Renaissance theatres to fall.
Design
Less is known of the Red Bull's provenance than of other contemporary venues such as the Globe TheatreGlobe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
and Fortune Theatre
Fortune Playhouse
The Fortune Playhouse was an historic theatre in London. It was located between Whitecross Street and the modern Golden Lane, just outside the City of London...
. It was constructed in 1604 on St John Street in Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
; court documents reveal that it was built by renovating an inn with a central square. This origin accounts for its square floorplan, a design shared only by the original Fortune among period playhouses. It may have been named for cattle that were driven down St John Street toward the markets at Smithfield
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
.
Apart from these few facts, little is known of the theatre's particulars. Scholars assume that it was roughly the same size as the Globe and Fortune, its competitors; at least in its early decades, its companies offered credible competition to the King's Men
King's Men (playing company)
The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
and Prince Henry's Men
Admiral's Men
The Admiral's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in the Elizabethan and Stuart eras...
. W. C. Lawrence argued that the theatre was roofed over in the early 1620s, but his arguments were largely refuted by Leslie Hotson and G. E. Bentley
Gerald Eades Bentley
Gerald Eades Bentley was an American academic and literary scholar, best remembered for his The Jacobean and Caroline Stage, published by Oxford University Press in seven volumes between 1941 and 1968...
. The Red Bull was most likely similar to the other outdoor theaters against which it competed, with an uncurtained thrust-forward stage backed by a tiring house
Green room
In British English and American English show business lexicon, the green room is that space in a theatre, a studio, or a similar venue, which accommodates performers or speakers not yet required on stage...
and balcony, surrounded by standing room, and overlooked by galleries on three walls. Its occupancy was perhaps slightly less than the nearly 3,000 of the Globe.
Jacobean and Caroline
There is no documentary proof that the Red Bull was occupied before 1607, when Queen Anne's MenQueen Anne's Men
Queen Anne's Men was a playing company, or troupe of actors, in Jacobean era London. -Formation:...
are known to have performed there; however, court records show that the theatre was built in 1604
1604 in literature
The year 1604 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Isaac Casaubon becomes sub-librarian of the royal library in Paris.*Construction of the Red Bull Theatre in London....
, and references in the royal patent for the venue mention Thomas Greene, comedian of the Queen's company, suggest it was built for that troupe. In addition to Greene, Martin Slater, Aaron Holland (a servant of the Earl of Devonshire
Charles Blount, 1st Earl of Devonshire
Charles Blount , 8th Baron Mountjoy and 1st Earl of Devonshire was an English nobleman and soldier who served as Lord Deputy of Ireland under Queen Elizabeth I, then as Lord Lieutenant under King James I.-Early life:...
as well as a Queen's Man), and Thomas Swinnerton were involved in the planning. Perhaps because they had learned from Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe
Philip Henslowe was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance London...
's recent problems with neighborhood opposition in building the Fortune, they did not approach the court for approval until they had already placated their parish neighbors—as Henslowe had—by contributing liberally to poor relief.
Queen Anne's Men stayed at the theater until 1617. They employed prominent playwrights: most of Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood
Thomas Heywood was a prominent English playwright, actor, and author whose peak period of activity falls between late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre.-Early years:...
's tremendous output was staged there, as were John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
's The White Devil
The White Devil
The White Devil is a revenge tragedy from 1612 by English playwright John Webster . A notorious failure when it premiered, Webster complained the play was acted in the dead of winter before an unreceptive audience. The play's complexity, sophistication and satire made it a poor fit with the...
and The Devil's Law-case, Thomas Dekker's If This Be Not A Good Play, the Devil Is in It, and John Cooke's well-known Greene's Tu Quoque. It also came into possession of some older plays, including Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
's Edward II
Edward II (play)
Edward II is a Renaissance or Early Modern period play written by Christopher Marlowe. It is one of the earliest English history plays. The full title of the first publication is The Troublesome Reign and Lamentable Death of Edward the Second, King of England, with the Tragical Fall of Proud...
, and as the period progressed, the Red Bull companies, along with those at the Fortune were associated with old-fashioned plays performed for noisy, ignorant audiences. The audience appears to have booed The White Devil in 1611, and in later years it was the cause of, or scene of, numerous brawls violent enough to result in court cases.
In 1617, the Queen's Men, now directed by impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
Christopher Beeston
Christopher Beeston
Christopher Beeston was a successful actor and a powerful theatrical impresario in early 17th century London. He was associated with a number of playwrights, particularly Thomas Heywood.-Early life:...
moved to Beeston's new Cockpit Theatre
Cockpit Theatre
The Cockpit was a theatre in London, operating from 1616 to around 1665. It was the first theatre to be located near Drury Lane. After damage in 1617, it was christened The Phoenix....
; the move prompted a mob of apprentices (presumably angry that their favorite plays were now to be staged at the more expensive indoor thater) to burn the Cockpit on Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
1617. The Queen's Men returned to the Red Bull, however, only until the Cockpit was repaired. They were succeeded at the Red Bull by Prince Charles' Men, partly financed by Edward Alleyn
Edward Alleyn
Edward Alleyn was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School.-Early life:...
. The disintegration of Queen Anne's men after Anne's
Anne of Denmark
Anne of Denmark was queen consort of Scotland, England, and Ireland as the wife of King James VI and I.The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark, Anne married James in 1589 at the age of fourteen and bore him three children who survived infancy, including the future Charles I...
death in 1618 produced a little-understood reshuffling of these companies. In the decline of the Jacobean period, this company produced plays including Dekker and Massinger's
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
The Virgin Martyr, Thomas May
Thomas May
Thomas May was an English poet, dramatist and historian of the Renaissance era.- Early life and career until 1630 :...
's The Heir, and Gervase Markham
Gervase Markham
Gervase Markham was an English poet and writer, best known for his work The English Huswife, Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to Be in a Complete Woman first published in London in 1615.-Life:Markham was the third son of Sir Robert Markham of Cotham, Nottinghamshire, and was...
and William Sampson's Herod and Antipater.
After James's death, Charles
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
assumed patronage of the King's Men, and the former Prince Charles' Men disbanded. From this date, an even less reputable company took up residence at the Red Bull. Scholars generally call this troupe the Red Bull company, as the actors called themselves when in London; when touring, as they did frequently, they styled themselves the King's Players. In 1627, Henry Herbert, acting on a request from John Heminges
John Heminges
John Heminges was an English Renaissance actor. Most noted now as one of the editors of William Shakespeare's 1623 First Folio, Heminges served in his time as an actor and financial manager for the King's Men.-Life:Heminges was born in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire in 1556...
, ordered this company to cease performing Shakespeare's plays. In November 1629, the theater hosted visiting French actors who had earlier played at the Fortune and Blackfriars Theatre
Blackfriars Theatre
Blackfriars Theatre was the name of a theatre in the Blackfriars district of the City of London during the Renaissance. The theatre began as a venue for child actors associated with the Queen's chapel choirs; in this function, the theatre hosted some of the most innovative drama of Elizabeth and...
; a contemporary reference may indicate that this troupe, which included women, was poorly received in Clerkenwell.
By 1634, the Red Bull housed a new company patronized by the child Prince Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
. By this point, the Red Bull's reputation was irrevocably tarnished; its name appears rarely on quarto
Book size
The size of a book is generally measured by the height against the width of a leaf, or sometimes the height and width of its cover. A series of terms is commonly used by libraries and publishers for the general sizes of modern books, ranging from "folio" , to "quarto" and "octavo"...
title pages, suggesting either that its offerings were not worth publishing, or that publishers doubted the name would aid sales. But the new company boasted a popular comedian, Andrew Cane, and it was able to survive the Privy Council's
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...
anger over the slanderous play The Whore New Vamped, which mocked an alderman
Alderman
An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members themselves rather than by popular vote, or a council...
by name and complained of recently levied taxes.
After 1642
Along with all the other theatres in London, the Red Bull was closed for plays in 1642 by the Puritans. In the short term, the prohibition was of limited effect; as late as 1648, the Red Bull hosted a performance of Fletcher'sJohn Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
Wit Without Money; advertisements for the performance were thrown into gentlemen's carriages. There followed a crackdown on performances by Parliament, which grew wiser to the real implications of advertisements for "rope dancing" and other entertainments at the old theatres. In 1650 the Red Bull was successfully raided, a number of actors arrested and their clothes and properties confiscated.
The Red Bull is the only theatre incontestably associated with the droll
Droll
A droll is a short comical sketch of a type that originated during the Puritan Interregnum in England. With the closure of the theatres, actors were left without any way of plying their art. Borrowing scenes from well-known plays of the Elizabethan theatre, they added dancing and other...
, those brief farces taken from the most popular older plays. In 1653, Robert Cox
King's Men personnel
King's Men personnel were the people who worked with and for the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the King's Men from 1594 to 1642...
was arrested at the Red Bull for a performance which crossed the line and was deemed a play. Sir William Davenant
William Davenant
Sir William Davenant , also spelled D'Avenant, was an English poet and playwright. Along with Thomas Killigrew, Davenant was one of the rare figures in English Renaissance theatre whose career spanned both the Caroline and Restoration eras and who was active both before and after the English Civil...
and Sir George Fletcher
Sir George Fletcher, 2nd Baronet
Sir George Fletcher, 2nd Baronet was an English politician.He was the only surviving son of Sir Henry Fletcher, 1st Baronet and his wife Catharine Dalston, daughter of Sir George Dalston, 4th Baronet. In 1645, he succeeded his father as baronet. Fletcher was High Sheriff of Cumberland in 1658 and...
reportedly watched a play at the Red Bull in February or March of 1655. In September 1655, the Red Bull was raided again as part of the same sterner attitude that led Cromwell's soldiers to deface the Fortune and Blackfriars, and actors were arrested for performing there in 1659.
A collection of drolls was published by Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman
Francis Kirkman appears in many roles in the English literary world of the second half of the seventeenth century, as a publisher, bookseller, librarian, author and bibliographer...
, some attributed to "the incomparable Robert Cox", as The Wits (1662, and enlarged 1672–73). Kirkman said many had been performed at the Red Bull; however, the frontispiece to his volume does not, as used to be supposed, represent a performance at the Red Bull.
The theatre was re-opened in 1660 upon the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
of the monarchy, as home for Michael Mohun
Michael Mohun
Michael Mohun was a leading British actor both before and after the 1642—60 closing of the theatres.Mohun began his stage career as a boy player filling female roles; he was part of Christopher Beeston's theatrical establishment at the Cockpit Theatre, "eventually becoming a key member of Queen...
's company and George Jolly
George Jolly
George Jolly, or Joliffe was an actor, an early actor-manager and a theatre impressario of the middle seventeenth century...
's troupe. Its new management returned to the business of staging crowd-pleasing drama; Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
recorded seeing a revival of William Rowley
William Rowley
William Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626...
's All's Lost by Lust
All's Lost by Lust
All's Lost by Lust is a Jacobean tragedy by William Rowley. A "tragedy of remarkable frankness and effectiveness," "crude and fierce," it was written between 1618 and 1620.-Publication:...
there. The Red Bull was eventually destroyed in 1666 in the Great Fire of London
Great Fire of London
The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of the English city of London, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666. The fire gutted the medieval City of London inside the old Roman City Wall...
. After the fire, buildings were constructed on its foundations, and the outline of its structure, including the passageway from the auditorium to the street, can still be found in the street now known as Hayward's Place off Woodbridge Street.
Namesakes
Founded in 2003, Red Bull Theater of New York City takes its name and inspiration from the original Red Bull. Past productions include The Revenger's Tragedy,Women Beware Women, and The Witch of Edmonton.www.redbulltheater.com