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{{Short description|16th-century English playing company associated with William Shakespeare}}
'''The Lord Chamberlain's Men''' was the [[playing company]] that '''[[William Shakespeare]]''' worked for as [[actor]] and [[playwright]] for most of his career. Formed at the end of a period of flux in the theatrical world of [[London]], it had become, by [[1603]], one of the two leading companies of the city and was subsequently patronized by [[James I of England|James I]].▼
{{More footnotes|date=May 2020}}
▲'''The Lord Chamberlain's Men''' was
It was founded during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England
==Playhouses==
[[Image:The Old Globe.jpg|thumb|right|Print, based on Hollar's 1644 Long View of London, of the 1614 second [[Globe Theatre]]]]
From 1594 the players performed at [[The Theatre]], in [[Shoreditch]]. Problems with the landlord caused the company to move to the nearby [[Curtain Theatre]] in 1597. On the night of 29 December 1598, The Theatre was dismantled by the Burbage brothers, along with William Smith, their financial backer, [[Peter Street (carpenter)|Peter Street]], a carpenter, and ten to twelve workmen. The beams were then carried south of the river to [[Southwark]] to form part of their new playhouse, the [[Globe Theatre]]. Built in 1599, this theatre was destroyed in a fire on 29 June 1613. The Globe was rebuilt by June 1614 and finally closed in 1642. The company also toured Britain, and visited France and Belgium.
A modern reconstruction of the original Globe, named "[[Shakespeare's Globe]]", was opened in 1997 near the site of the original theatre.
==Personnel==
{{main|King's Men personnel}}
The initial form of the Chamberlain's men arose largely from the departure of [[Edward Alleyn]] from [[Lord Strange's Men]] and the subsequent death of [[Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby|Lord Strange]] himself, in the spring of 1594. Yet the ultimate success of the company was largely determined by the Burbage family. [[James Burbage]] was the impresario who assembled the company and directed its activities until his death in 1597; his sons Richard and [[Cuthbert Burbage|Cuthbert]] were members of the company, though Cuthbert did not act.
The Chamberlain's Men comprised a core of
▲The initial form of the Chamberlain's men arose largely from the departure of [[Edward Alleyn]] from [[Lord Strange's Men]] and the subsequent death of [[Ferdinando Stanley, 5th Earl of Derby|Lord Strange]] himself, in the spring of 1594. Yet the ultimate success of the company was largely determined by the Burbage family. [[James Burbage]] was the impresario who assembled the company and directed its activities until his death in 1597; his sons Richard and [[Cuthbert Burbage|Cuthbert]] were members of the company, though Cuthbert did not act. This connection with the Burbages makes the Chamberlain's Men the central link in a chain that extends from the beginning of professional theater (in [[1574]], James Burbage led the first group of actors to be protected under the [[1572]] statute against rogues and vagabonds) in Renaissance London to its end. (In [[1642]], the King's Men were among the acting companies whose lives were ended by Parliament's prohibition of the stage.)
[[Augustine Phillips]] also came from Strange's Men. He remained with the troupe until his death in
[[Image:St Leonards Memorial.JPG|thumb|right|Memorial to Tudor actors buried in [[St Leonard's, Shoreditch|Shoreditch church]] – including [[James Burbage]] and his sons, [[Richard Burbage]] and [[Cuthbert Burbage]], among others]]
Two younger actors who came from Strange's, [[Henry Condell]] and [[John Heminges]], are most famous now for collecting and editing the plays of Shakespeare's [[First Folio]] (
(Some scholars have
▲The Chamberlain's Men comprised a core of between six and eight "sharers," who split profits and debts; perhaps an equal number of hired men who acted minor and doubled parts; and a slightly smaller number of [[boy player]]s, who were sometimes bound apprentices to an adult actor. The original sharers in the Chamberlain's were eight. Probably the most famous in the mid-1590s was [[William Kempe]], who had been in the company of the [[Robert Sidney, 1st Earl of Leicester|Earl of Leicester]] in the 1580s, and had later joined Strange's Men. As the company's clown, he presumably took the broadest comic role in every play; he is identified with Peter in the [[book size|quarto]] of ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', and probably also originated Dogberry in ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' and Bottom in ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream]]''. Kempe has traditionally been viewed as the object of Hamlet's complaint about extemporizing clowns; whether this association is right or wrong, Kempe had left the company by [[1601]]. Another two sharers from Strange's Men had a long-standing association with Kempe. George Bryan had been in Leicester's Men in the 1580s, and at [[Elsinore]] with Kempe in 1586; because he is not mentioned in later Chamberlain's or King's Men documents, it is assumed that Bryan retired from the stage in [[1597]] or [[1598]]. (Bryan lived on for some years; in the reign of [[King James I of England|James]], he is listed as a Groom of the Chamber, with household duties, as late as [[1613]].) [[Thomas Pope (16th-century actor)|Thomas Pope]], another Leicester's veteran, retired in 1600 and died in 1603. Both Bryan and Pope came to the company from Lord Strange's Men.
▲[[Augustine Phillips]] also came from Strange's Men. He remained with the troupe until his death in [[1605]].
The two sharers who would contribute the most to the Chamberlain's Men did not come from Strange's Men. Shakespeare's activities before 1594 have been a matter of considerable inquiry; he may have been with [[Pembroke's Men]] and [[Derby's Men]] in the early 1590s. As a sharer, he was at first equally important as actor and playwright. At an uncertain but probably early date, his writing became more important, although he continued to act at least until
▲Two younger actors who came from Strange's, [[Henry Condell]] and [[John Heminges]], are most famous now for collecting and editing the plays of Shakespeare's [[First Folio]] ([[1623]]). Both were relatively young in 1594, and both remained with the company until after the death of King James; their presence provided an element of continuity across decades of changing taste and commercial uncertainty.
No less important was [[Richard Burbage]]. He was the lead actor of the Chamberlain's Men, who played [[Prince Hamlet|Hamlet]] and [[Othello (character)|Othello]], and would go on to play [[King Lear]] and [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]] in the new reign of King James, among many other roles. Though relatively little-known in 1594, he would become one of the most famous of Renaissance actors, achieving a fame and wealth exceeded only by Alleyn's.▼
▲(Some scholars have theorized that the company maintained its original eight-sharer structure, and that as any man left, through retirement or death, his place as sharer was filled by someone else. So, Bryan was replaced by [[William Sly]], ca. 1597; Kempe was replaced by [[Robert Armin]], ca. 1599; Pope was replaced by Condell, ca. 1600.<ref>Halliday, ''Shakespeare Companion,'' pp. 90-1.</ref> But this schema, while possible, is not proven by the available evidence.)
Among the hired men were some who eventually became sharers. [[William Sly]], who performed occasionally with the [[Admiral's Men]] during the 1590s, acted for the Chamberlain's by 1598, and perhaps before; he became a sharer after Phillips's death in 1605. [[Richard Cowley]], identified as Verges by the [[book size|quarto]] of ''Much Ado About Nothing'', became a sharer in the King's Men. [[Nicholas Tooley]], at one point apprenticed to Burbage, stayed with the company until his death in 1623. [[John Sincler]] (or Sincklo) may have
▲The two sharers who would contribute the most to the Chamberlain's Men did not come from Strange's Men. Shakespeare's activities before 1594 have been a matter of considerable inquiry; he may have been with [[Pembroke's Men]] in the early 1590s. As a sharer, he was at first equally important as actor and playwright. At an uncertain but probably early date, his writing became more important, although he continued to act at least until [[1603]], when he performed in [[Ben Jonson]]'s ''[[Sejanus (play)|Sejanus]]''.
▲No less important was [[Richard Burbage]]. He was the lead actor of the Chamberlain's Men, who played [[Hamlet]] and [[Othello]], and would go on to play [[King Lear]] and [[Macbeth]] in the new reign of King James, among many other roles. Though relatively little-known in 1594, he would become one of the most famous of Renaissance actors, achieving a fame and wealth exceeded only by Alleyn's.
▲Among the hired men were some who eventually became sharers. [[William Sly]], who performed occasionally with the [[Admiral's Men]] during the 1590s, acted for the Chamberlain's by 1598, and perhaps before; he became a sharer after Phillips's death in 1605. [[Richard Cowley]], identified as Verges by the [[book size|quarto]] of ''Much Ado About Nothing'', became a sharer in the King's Men. [[Nicholas Tooley]], at one point apprenticed to Burbage, stayed with the company until his death in 1623. John Sincler (or Sincklo) may have specialized in playing thin characters; he seems to have remained a hired man. John Duke was a hired man who went to [[Worcester's Men]] early in James's reign.
At least two of the boys had distinguished careers. [[Alexander Cooke]] is associated with a number of Shakespeare's female characters, while [[Christopher Beeston]] went on to become a wealthy impresario in the seventeenth century.
===Later sharers===
The core members of the company changed in both major and minor ways before James's accession. The most famous change is that of Will
Whatever the reason for his departure, Kempe was replaced by [[Robert Armin]], formerly of [[Chandos's Men]] and an author in his own right. Small and fanciful, Armin offered significantly different options for Shakespeare, and the change is seen in the last Elizabethan and first Jacobean plays. Armin is generally credited with originating such characters as Feste in ''[[Twelfth Night]]'', Touchstone in ''[[As You Like It]]'', and the fool in ''
Thus, by 1603 the core of the troupe was in some respects younger than it had been in 1594. Bryan, Pope, and Kempe, veterans of the 1580s, had left, and the remaining sharers (with the
▲Thus, by 1603 the core of the troupe was in some respects younger than it had been in 1594. Bryan, Pope, and Kempe, veterans of the 1580s, had left, and the remaining sharers (with the probably exception of Phillips), were roughly within a decade of 40.
==Repertory and performances==
Shakespeare's work undoubtedly formed the great bulk of the company's repertory.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gurr |first1=Andrew |author1-link=Andrew Gurr |title=The Shakespeare Company, 1594–1642 |date=2004 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521807302 |page=xiii |quote=[…] the Lord Chamberlain's Men was the Shakespeare company.}}</ref> In their first year of performance, they may have staged such of Shakespeare's older plays as remained in the author's possession, including ''[[Henry VI,
On the strength of these plays, the company quickly rivalled Alleyn's troupe for preeminence in London;
In the last years of the century, the company continued to stage Shakespeare's new plays, including ''[[Julius Caesar (play)|
In 1601, in addition to their tangential involvement with the Essex rebellion, the company played a role in a less serious conflict, the so-called [[War of the Theatres]]. They produced [[Thomas Dekker (poet)|Thomas Dekker]]'s ''Satiromastix'', a satire on Ben Jonson
==Controversies==
The Lord Chamberlain's Men, and its individual members, largely avoided the scandals and turbulence in which other companies and actors sometimes involved themselves. Their most serious difficulty with the government came about as a result of their
The following year, 1602, saw [[Christopher Beeston]]'s rape charge. Probably some of the Lord Chamberlain's Men were among the actors who accompanied Beeston to his pretrial hearing at [[Bridewell Palace|Bridewell]] and caused a disturbance there; but little can be said for certain.<ref>Duncan Salkeld, "Literary Traces in Bridewell and Bethlem,
==
Theatre-going became an extremely popular activity for many in London in the late 16th and early 17th century because of the constant advertisement seen throughout London playbills. During these years London had a population of approximately 200,000. Within that group of 200,000 over 15,000 men and women attended plays on a weekly basis. The Londoners who attended the theatre also enjoyed cock-fighting, bull-baiting, and bear-baiting.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Höffle |first1=Andreas |editor1-last=Grabes |editor1-first=Herbert |title=Literary history – cultural history force fields and tensions |date=2001 |publisher=Gunter Narr |___location=Tübingen |isbn=978-3823341710 |page=165}}</ref> The theatres were in a rough part of London and were surrounded by the vices of drinking, gambling, and prostitution.<ref name="auto">Cain, William E. "Notes Toward a Supreme Fiction: Shakespeare at 400." Society, vol. 53, no. 1, Feb. 2016, pp. 76–87.</ref>
As Lord Chamberlain's Men popularity grew, they began to attract more and more theatre goers and became one of the most popular playing companies. But as their popularity grew so did the demand. The audience's lives were ever changing which led to Lord Chamberlain's Men having to cater to their audience resulting in the group having to perform six different plays every week. This was extremely strenuous on the actors as they had to memorize lines from many different plays and were given very little time if any for rehearsal.<ref name="auto"/>
As Lord Chamberlain's Men continued to prosper, they began to perform at larger venues. In 1599 they began playing at the outdoor Globe Theatre that had a capacity of 3,000 people and in 1609 they began performing at the indoor [[Blackfriars Theatre]] that had a capacity limit of 600. The minimum entry price at the Blackfriars was sixpence, six times that of the Globe, with better seats charged at eighteen and thirty pence.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dustagheer |first1=Sarah |title=Shakespeare's Two Playhouses: Repertory and Theatre Space at the Globe and the Blackfriars, 1599–1613 |date=2017 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1107190160 |page=20}}</ref> This allowed the company to make money year-round from being able to have productions at indoor and outdoor theatres.<ref name="auto"/>
==Notes==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
* Adams, J. Q. ''Shakespearean Playhouses: A History of English Playhouses from the Beginnings to the Restoration''. Boston, Mass.: Houghton-Mifflin, 1917.
* Baldwin, T.W. ''The Organization and Personnel of Shakespeare's Company''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1927.
* [[Edmund Kerchever Chambers|Chambers, E. K.]]
* Cook, Ann Jennalie. ''The Privileged Playgoers of Shakespeare's London,
* [[Walter Wilson Greg|Greg, W. W.]] ''Dramatic Documents from the Elizabethan Playhouses''. Two volumes. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1931.
* Gurr, Andrew. ''The Shakespearean Stage,
* Halliday, F. E. ''A Shakespeare Companion
* Nunzeger, Edwin. ''A Dictionary of Actors and of Other Persons Associated With the Public Presentation of Plays in England Before 1642''. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929.
{{Shakespeare}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
[[Category:
[[Category:16th-century English male actors| ]]
[[Category:English male stage actors| ]]
[[Category:1594 establishments in England]]
[[Category:William Shakespeare]]
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