New-York tribune., 1911-03-05
THE ELIZABETHAM STAGE
Companies and Players in the
Provinces.

ENGLISH DRAMATIC COMPANIES. 1853
1912. Bv John Tucker Murray. VI. y.
Two vols. Svo, PIP. XVI, 80; xii, 43i. BoS-
ton: The Houghton Mifilin Company.
Mr.. Murray's work is. as he himself
realizes. only n beginning, though a
thorough one. Of an interesting study,
which should have been made long ago.
but has thus far been much neglected.
Those interested in the subject, which
belongs primarily to the history Of the
English stage, but indirectly TO that of
the English drama as well. will there
fore receive with pleasure his statement
that he purposes TO follow up his pres
ent volumes with a more detailed study
Of some phases of the material here pre-
sented only i'm a general way. ,-
Hitherto, he points out in his preface,
the general student of the Elizabethan
drama. and the literary historian Of the
period have had to account for the brill
liant national drama Of that age by the
demand Of q few theatres and their
supporters in London only. The object
Of his researches is to trace the history
Of the dramatic companies Of these
theatres. not only in London itself. but
in the provincial towns Of England as
vell-"on tour" and road companies. -
as we say nowadays. The result fur
nishes proof that these smaller centres
of England, and even its villages, were
as enthusiastic patrons of drama and
theatre as the capital itself. How
! truly and how deeply national was the
dramatic outburst Of the Elzabethan
period." saws the author, and why it
was so national can only be fully un-
derstood when we consider how univer-
sally England was interested in the
4 drama"
/ This work was originally undertaken
as a college thesis, and its scope con-
| fined TO the provincial companies, but
as Mr.. Murray progressed on the road
/ of his investigations among the town
records of provincial England, it soon
became apparent TO him that the only
n-ctbod Of treatment Of the subject pos
| siblc was that Of including the London
corpanies as well. He also found him.
/ self obliged to do all the work of re-
search de moro. since his few prodcces-
sors had merely saratchcd the surface
Of the provincial records. while local
historians had. with a few exceptions,
neglected the topic altogether. HIS
chief sources have been the account
hooks. the Mayors Court books, ana
the letter books of the towns since I'm
tbem there were most likely to be found
entries of the visits OF dramatic compa-
nies. whose first duty it was to present
,beir license 10 Mayor and aldermen,
in order To obtain permission 20 play.
The fee paid t. the visiting players IN
recoenition of the free performance
which II was customary 10 give before
the officials and citizens, was also llkely
IN he entered. as were disputes, of
which there were many. from street
brawls TO appeals to patron. Privy
council or Master Of the Revels, in case
of refusal by tho local authorities To
issue the desired license Says the au-
thor:
The new material collected from the pro.
.ti,,'iar records has considerably modified
he history of almost every known dramatic
company of the Elzabcthan period. mas
brolight 10 light q large number oi new
conpanles and many hitherto uhkh"Nl
actors, has given much new iniornhtl"n
abont the methods Of licensing companies
the relations of the London and provincial
companies. the PLAYS acted in the province
The places Of acting the attitude or inc
pcople toward The players, thelr earnings
Land their relations 10 their patrons.
The neld in London itself, Mr. Murray
declares. yielded no new finds of inn
portance, with the exception OF ono man
uscript IN the Inner Temple mentioned
by Collier. but printed for the first time
i'm this work. as one of the numerous
appendices which hl the greater par
Of its second volume. They include als'
longer discussions Of particular points
whose treatment n the text proper mish
interrupt the course of the narrative
which. by The way, traverses briefly TN
] reigns of Henry VIII. Edward VI ah'
Mary. so far as the dramatic companie
e are concerned and ends with the yea
t 1912 and the Puritan reaction aBaihs