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Edward Alleyn, the Actor
After the portrait at Dulwich College
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“Not Roscius nor Aesope, those admired tragedians that have lived ever since before Christ was born, could ever perform more in action than famous Ned Allen.”
Thomas Nashe, Pierce Penilesse, 1592.
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Edward Alleyn was the most famous actor in Elizabethan England, rivalled only by Richard Burbage. He was with Worcester's Men in 1583, and joined the Admiral's Men at the Rose around 1587. He was first to play such towering characters as Marlowe's Tamburlaine, Doctor Faustus, and The Jew of Malta, and Greene's Orlando Furioso. His performances brought him universal admiration and praise from contemporary authors such as Thomas Nashe and Ben Jonson.
In 1592, Alleyn married Joan Woodward, the step-daughter of his friend and employer Philip Henslowe, owner and manager of the Rose Theatre. Alleyn retired from acting in 1597, and entered into a partnership with Henslowe. They ran the Bear Garden, a site for bear-baiting, possibly from as early as 1594.
In 1600, Alleyn and Henslowe constructed the Fortune Theatre north of the city to compete with the Globe. When this new home for the Admiral's Men opened, Alleyn returned to the stage. Alleyn retired finally in 1604, when he and Henslowe received a joint patent as Master of the Royal Game of Bears, Bulls and Mastiff Dogs. The business of entertainment was so lucrative, that in 1605, Alleyn was able to purchase the Manor of Dulwich for £35,000 from the financially troubled Sir Francis Calton. Alleyn began building The College of God's Gift on the estate in 1613, at cost of £10,000. Dulwich College, as it is now known, was formally constituted in 1619.
In 1614, Henslowe and Alleyn built the Hope Theatre on the Bankside, on the site of the Bear Garden. It had an adaptable arena that would function as both a theatre and, with its removable stage, as an animal-baiting ring. Thus, the space had very little 'dark time' and profits were maximized. At Henslowe's death in 1616, Alleyn inherited most of Henslowe's assets, so now he was a rich man indeed. He also gained possession of all of Henslowe's papers, including Henslowe's Diary, which now resides in the library at Dulwich College. It is an invaluable source for scholars of Renaissance theatre.
After his wife's death in 1623, Alleyn married Constance, one of the daughters of poet John Donne. Alleyn's social and financial status at his death three years later, on Christmas Day, 1623, demonstrates the upward mobility an actor could have in Renaissance England.
Other Local Resources:
Books for further study:
Alleyn, Edward. The Alleyn papers, a collection of original documents illustrative of
the life and times of Edward Alleyn, and of the early English stage and drama.
Intr. by J. Payne Collier. London: Printed for the Shakespeare Society, 1843.
New York: AMS Press, [1970].
Blanch, W. Dulwich College and Edward Alleyn. A Short History.
London: E.W. Allen, 1877.
Chambers, E.K. The Elizabethan Stage. 4 vols.
Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1923.
Collier, J. Payne. Memoirs of Edward Alleyn, Founder of Dulwich College. Including
Some New Particulars respecting Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Massinger,
Marston, Dekker, &c. London: Printed for the Shakespeare Society, 1841.
Foakes, R.A. and R.T. Rickert. Henslowe's Diary.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961.
Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespearean Stage, 1574-1642. 3rd Ed.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Hall, Edwin T. Dulwich History & Romance 967-1922.
London: Bickers & Sons Ltd, 1922.
Henslowe, Philip. The Henslowe papers. R.A. Foakes, Ed.
London: Scolar Press, 1977.
Hosking, George L. Life and Times of Edward Alleyn.
New York: AMS Press, 1978.
Nungezer, Edwin. Dictionary of Actors & of Other Persons Associated with
the Public Representation of Plays in England Before 1642.
New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.
Wraight, A. D. Christopher Marlowe and Edward Alleyn.
Chichester: Adam Hart Ltd., 1993.
Alleyn on the Web:
Article Citation:
Jokinen, Anniina. “Edward Alleyn.” Luminarium.
14 Nov. 2001. [Date when you accessed the page].
<http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/alleyn.htm>
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to Renaissance English Literature
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Site copyright ©1996-2007 Anniina Jokinen. All Rights Reserved.
Created by Anniina Jokinen on November 14, 2001. Last updated January 28, 2007.
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Images:
Chart of the English Succession from William I through Henry VII
Medieval English Drama
Ptolemaic Universe - Andrew Borde's
The First Book of the Introduction of Knowledge, 1542.
Zodiac and Planets Circling Earth - Sacrobosco,
Sphaera Mundi, early 15th-c.
Planisphere with Constellations - Aratus, Phaenomena, 1469.
London in the time of Henry VII. MS. Roy. 16 F. ii.
London, 1510, the earliest view in print
Map of England from Saxton's Descriptio Angliae, 1579
Location Map of Elizabethan London
Plan of the Bankside, Southwark, in Shakespeare's time
Detail of Norden's Map of the Bankside, 1593
Bull and Bear Baiting Rings from the Agas Map (1569-1590, pub. 1631)
Sketch of the Swan Theatre, c. 1596
Westminster in the Seventeenth Century, by Hollar
Visscher's Panoramic View of London, 1616. COLOR
c. 1690. View of London Churches, after the Great Fire
The Yard of the Tabard Inn from Thornbury, Old and New London
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