from the said way called Water Lane" to "a
certain void ground" before the building. Here "upon part of the said
void ground" they found a "great stairs, which said great stairs do
serve and lead into" the upper rooms--or, as we may now say,
Blackfriars Playhouse.[155]

[Footnote 155: There must have been two stairways leading to the upper
rooms; I have assumed that playgoers used Neville's stairs to reach
the theatre.]

Having thus provided a playhouse, Farrant next provided an adequate
company of boy actors. To do this, he combined the Children of Windsor
with the Children of the Chapel Royal, of which William Hunnis was
master. What arrangement he made with Hunnis we do not know, but the
Court records show that Farrant was regarded as the manager of the new
organization; he is actually referred to in the payments as "Master of
the Children of Her Majesty's Chapel," and Hunnis's official
connection with the Children is ignored.

Farrant may have been able to open his playhouse before the close of
the year; or he may have first begun performances there in the early
months of 1577. He would certainly be anxious to make use of the new
play he was preparing for presentation at Court on Twelfth Day,
January 6, 1577.

For four years, 1576-1580, the playhouse was operated without trouble.
Sir William More, however, was not pleased at the success with which
the actors were meeting. He asserted that when he made the lease he
was given to understand that the building was to be used "only for the
teaching of the Children of the Chapel"--with, no doubt, a few
rehearsals to which certain persons would be _privately_ invited. But,
now, to his grief, he discovered that Farrant had "made it a continual
house for plays." He asserted that the playhouse had become offensive
to the precinct; and doubtless some complaints had been made to him,
as landlord, by the more aristocratic inhabitants.[156] At any rate,
he became anxious to regain possession of the building.

[Footnote 156: I suspect that the theatre gave greater offense to More
himself than it did to any one else, for it adjoined his home, and the
audience made use of the private passage which led from Water Lane to
his mansion. Unquestionably he suffered worse than any one else both
from the noise and the crowds.]

In the autumn of 1580 he saw an opportunity to break the lease and
close the playhouse. Farrant made the mistake of letting "two parcels
thereof to two severa