nauguration of the Rose Theatre Shakespeare's company was temporarily
allied with another company, the Admiral's men, who numbered the great
actor Edward Alleyn among them. Alleyn for a few months undertook the
direction of the amalgamated companies, but they quickly parted, and no
further opportunity was offered Shakespeare of enjoying professional
relations with Alleyn. The Rose Theatre was doubtless the earliest scene
of Shakespeare's pronounced successes alike as actor and dramatist.
Subsequently for a short time in 1594 he frequented the stage of another
new theatre at Newington Butts, and between 1595 and 1599 the older
stages of the Curtain and of The Theatre in Shoreditch. The Curtain
remained open till the Civil Wars, although its vogue after 1600 was
eclipsed by that of younger rivals. In 1599 Richard Burbage and his
brother Cuthbert demolished the old building of The Theatre and built,
mainly out of the materials of the dismantled fabric, the famous theatre
called the Globe on the Bankside. It was octagonal in shape, and built
of wood, and doubtless Shakespeare described it (rather than the Curtain)
as 'this wooden O' in the opening chorus of 'Henry V' (1. 13). After
1599 the Globe was mainly occupied by Shakespeare's company, and in its
profits he acquired an important share. From the date of its
inauguration until the poet's retirement, the Globe--which quickly won
the first place among London theatres--seems to have been the sole
playhouse with which Shakespeare was professionally associated. The
equally familiar Blackfriars Theatre, which was created out of a
dwelling-house by James Burbage, the actor's father, at the end of 1596,
was for many years afterwards leased out to the company of boy-actors
known as 'the Queen's Children of the Chapel;' it was not occupied by
Shakespeare's company until December 1609 or January 1610, when his
acting days were nearing their end. {38a}

Place of residence in London.

In London Shakespeare resided near the theatres. According to a
memorandum by Alleyn (which Malone quoted), he lodged in 1596 near 'the
Bear Garden in Southwark.' In 1598 one William Shakespeare, who was
assessed by the collectors of a subsidy in the sum of 13s. 4d. upon goods
valued at 5 pounds, was a resident in St. Helen's parish, Bishopsgate,
but it is not certain that this taxpayer was the dramatist. {38b}

Shakespeare's alleged travels. In Scotland.

The chief difference