gedies and comedies. Perhaps indeed this change was not effected on a fudden, but the audiences were to be gradually weaned from their accustomed modes of amufement. The neceffity of half indulging and half repreffing a grofs and vicious tafte, might have given rife to fuch pieces of dramatick patchwork as this. Even the most rigid puritans might have been content to behold exhibitions in which Pagan histories were rendered fubfervient to Chriftian purposes. The dulnefs of the intervening homilift would have half abfolved the deadly fin of the poet. A fainted audience would have been tempted to think the reprefentation of Othello laudable, provided the piece were at once heightened and moralized by chorufes spoken in the characters of Ireton and Cromwell.— Let it be remembered, however, that to perform feveral fhort and diftinct plays in the course of the fame evening, was a practice continued much below the imagined date of this theatrical directory. Shakspeare's Yorkshire Tragedy was one out of four pieces acted together; and Beaumont and Fletcher's works fupply a further proof of the existence of the fame cuftom. This "Platt of the fecond part of the feven deadly fins" feems to be formed out of three plays only, moralized-] In Randolph's Mufe's Looking-Glafs, where two Puritans are made fpectators of a play, a player, to reconcile them in fome degree to a theatre, promifes to moralize the plot: and one of them answers, that moralizing "I do approve: it may be for instruction." Again, Mrs. Flowerdew, one of the characters, fays, "Pray, Sir, continue the moralizing." The old registers of the Stationers afford numerous inftances of this cuftom, which was encouraged by the encrease of puritanifin. STEEVENS. viz. Lord Buckhurst's Gorbodur, and two others with which we are utterly unacquainted, Sardanapalus and Tereus. It is easy to conceive how the different fins might be expofed in the conduct of the feveral heroes of these pieces. Thus, Porrex through envy deftroys his brother ;-Sardanapalus was a martyr to his floth: "Et venere, et cænis, et pluma Sardanapali." Juv. Sat. X. Tereus gratified his lechery by committing a rape on his wife's fifter. I mention these three only, because it is apparent that the danger of the four preceding vices had been illustrated in the former part of the fame entertainment. "These three put back the other four," as already done with, at the opening of the prefent exhibition. Likewife Enzy croffes the ftage before the drama of Gorboduc, and Sloth and Lechery appear before thofe of Sardanapalus and Tereus. It is probable also that these different perfonages might be meant to appear as in a vifion to King Henry VI. while he flept; and that as often as he awaked, he introduced fome 2 Tereus.] Some tragedy on this fubject moft probably had existed in the time of Shakspeare, who feldom alludes to fables with which his audience were not as well acquainted as himself. In Cymbeline he obferves that Imogen had been reading the tale of Tereus, where Philomel &c. An allufion to the fame ftory occurs again in Titus Andronicus. A Latin tragedy entitled Progre was acted at Oxford when Queen Elizabeth was there in 1566, See Wood's Hift. Ant. Un. Oxon. Lib. I. p. 287, col. 2. Heywood, in his Apology for Actors, 1610, has the following paffage, from which we may fuppofe that fome tragedy written on the ftory of Sardanapalus was once in poffeffion of the ftage. "Art thou inclined to luft? Behold the fall of the Tarquins in The Rape of Lucrece; the guerdon of luxury in the death of Sardanapalus;" &c. See alfo note 3, p. *497. STEEVENS. particular comment on each preceding occurrence. His piety would well enough entitle him to fuch an office. In this tafk he was occafionally feconded by Lidgate, the monk of Bury, whofe age, learning, and experience, might be fuppofed to give equal weight to his admonitions. The latter certainly, at his final exit, made a formal addrefs to the fpectators. As I have obferved that only particular fcenes from these dramas appear to have been employed, fo probably even these were altered as well as curtailed. We look in vain for the names of Lucius and Damafus in the lift of perfons prefixed to the tragedy of Gorboduc. Thefe new characters might have been added, to throw the materials that composed the last act into narrative, and thereby shorten the representation; or perhaps all was tragick pantomime, or dumb fhow,' except the alternate monologues of Henry and Lidgate; for from the Troie Boke of the latter I learn that the reciters of dramatick pieces were once diftinct from the acting performers or gefticulators. But at what period this practice (which was perhaps the parent of all the pageantry and dumb fhows in theatrical pieces during the reign of Elizabeth,) was begun or difcontinued, I believe (like many cuftoms of greater importance,) is not to be determined. "In the theatre there was a fmale aulter 3 I am led to this fuppofition by obferving that Lord Buckhurst's Gorboduc could by no means furnish fuch dialogue as many of thefe fituations would require; nor does the fucceffion of scenes, enumerated above, by any means correspond with that of the fame tragedy. STEEVENS. "And therein ftode an auncient poete "And after that with chere and face pale, "With style enclyned gan to tourne his tale, "And for to fynge after all their loose, "Full mortally the ftroke of Attropofe, "And tell alfo for all their worthy head "The fodeyne breaking of their lives threde, "How piteoufly they made their mortall ende "Thrugh falfe fortune that al the world wil fhende, "And how the fyne of all their worthyneffe "Ended in forowe and in high trifteffe. "By compaffynge of fraud or falfe treason, "By fodaine murder or vengeance of poyson, "Or confpyryng of fretyng falfe envye "How unwarily that they dydden dye, "And how their renowne and their mighty fame "Was of hatred fodeynly made lame, 66 "And how their honour downward gan decline, 66 Meaning and chere beneth of them playing "From poynt to poynt was alway answering; "Now trifte, now glad, now hevy, and now light, "And face ychaungid with a fodeyne fight "So craftely they coulde them transfygure, "And this was done," &c. Troie Boke, B. II. c. xii. I think Gravina has fomewhere alluded to the fame contrivance in the rude exhibitions of very early dramatick pieces. It may be observed, that though Lidgate affures us both tragedies and comedies were thus reprefented in the city of Troy, yet Guido of Colonna (a civilian and poet of Meffina in Sicily,) whom he has fometimes very closely followed, makes mention of no fuch exhibitions. The cuftom however might have been prevalent here, and it is probable that Lidgate, like Shakspeare, made no scruple of attributing to a foreign country the peculiarities of his own. To conclude, the mysterious fragment of ancient stage directions, which gave rife to the prefent remarks, must have been defigned for the use of those who were familiarly acquainted with each other, as fometimes, instead of the furname of a. performer, we only meet with Ned or Nich. Let 4 From this paper we may infer, with fome degree of certainty, that the following characters were reprefented by the following actors: E. of Warwick, Lieutenant, Purfoivant, King Henry VI. Geo. Bryan.* The names marked with an afterisk occur on the lift of original perform ers in the plays of Shakspeare. STEEVENS. This performer, and Kit. i. e. Chriftopher Beefton, who appears in this exhibition as an attendant Lord, belonged to the fame company as Burbage, Condell, &c. See B. Jonson's Every Man in bis Humour. MALONE. |