The Documentary History and Repertory of the Lady Elizabeth's Men

This thesis is the first to provide an amalgamation of the documents pertaining to the Lady Elizabeth’s Men playing company that flourished in England from 1611 to 1625. It provides a chronological history based upon empirical evidence gathered from a range of sources such as Records of Early English Drama (REED); Henslowe’s Papers and the Office Book of Henry Herbert. These documents provide a narrative which allows a consideration of the different facets of the company throughout its existence within the commercial world of Jacobean theatre. Chapter 1 provides a chronological history of the company based upon the gathered documents; Chapter 2 reconstructs the repertory and considers its nature, whilst Chapter 3 provides a study of the staging requirements of the plays. Consideration is also given to establishing the size of the company necessary to successfully perform the plays, through the construction and analysis of doubling charts. The various groups of personnel personnel behind the company--the players, financiers, writers, and patrons--are considered in Chapter 4, together with a study of the roles they played within the operations of the Lady Elizabeth’s Men. The various places of playing, and how they bear upon the company’s development, are discussed in Chapter 5. The documents at the source of this thesis have been gathered, collated, classified, and arranged in chronological order together with information about their provenance and their bearing upon the company’s activities.