ears later, on June 3, 1594, Henslowe sent the Admiral's and the
Chamberlain's Men to play temporarily at the half-deserted old
playhouse, probably in order to give opportunity for needed repairs at
the Rose.[207] The section of his _Diary_, under the heading, "In the
name of god Amen begininge at newington my Lord Admeralle men & my
Lord Chamberlen men As followethe 1594," constitutes the fullest and
clearest--and, one may add, the most illustrious--chapter in the
history of this obscure building; for although it extends over only
ten days, it tells us that Edward Alleyn, Richard Burbage, and William
Shakespeare then trod the Newington stage, and it records the
performance there of such plays as _The Jew of Malta_, _Andronicus_,
_The Taming of a Shrew_, and _Hamlet_.

[Footnote 207: There is no evidence that Henslowe owned the house at
Newington; he might very well have rented it for this particular
occasion.]

We next hear of the building near the end of the century: in 1599,
says Mr. Wallace, it was "only a memory, as shown by a contemporary
record to be published later."[208]

[Footnote 208: Wallace, _The First London Theatre_, p. 2.]

Two other references close the history. In _A Woman is a Weathercock_,
III, iii, printed in 1612, but written earlier, one of the actors
exclaims of an insufferable pun: "O Newington Conceit!" The fact that
this sneer is the only reference to the Newington Playhouse found in
contemporary literature is a commentary on the low esteem in which the
building was held by the Elizabethans, and its relative unimportance
for the history of the drama.

The last notice is in Howe's continuation of Stow's _Annals_
(1631).[209] After enumerating all the theatres built in London and
the suburbs "within the space of three-score years," he adds vaguely,
"besides one in former time at Newington Butts."

[Footnote 209: Page 1004.]

CHAPTER IX

THE ROSE

Doubtless one reason for the obscure role which the theatre at
Newington played in the history of the drama was "the tediousness of
the way" thither. The Rose, the second theatre to make its appearance
in Surrey, was much more conveniently situated with respect to the
city, for it was erected in the Liberty of the Clink and very near the
river's edge. As a result, it quickly attained popularity with London
playgoers, and before the end of the century had caused the centre of
dramatic activity to be shifted from Finsbury Field to the