Chapter XII: Section VII: Early English Plays in Germany

THE importance of the performance of English plays in Germany and its bearings on our own stage history has never been duly estimated. This is owing to the fact that the groups of such plays have not been treated as wholes, only isolated references to single dramas having been occasionally made by our critics. I must here confine myself to such groups as have reference to the productions of Shakespeare. In 1626-7 a company of Englishmen acted at Dresden, and a list of their performances has fortunately been preserved (Cohn, _Shakespeare in Germany_, p. 115). This company appears from their Christian names to have been the Company of the Revels, which broke up in 1625 in the plague-time. In the _Runaway's Answer_, 1625, to Dekker's _Rod for Runaways_, which was directed against those who left London for fear of the plague, the players say, "We can be bankrupts on this side and gentlemen of a company beyond the sea: we burst at London and are pieced up at Rotterdam." The 1626 Dresden company were Robert Pickleherring [R. Lee] and two boys; Jacob der Hesse, and Johan Eydtwardtt (two Germans); Aaron the dancer (probably a German Jew); Thomas die Jungfrau [T. Basse], John [Cumber], William the wardrobe-keeper (probably a German), the Englishman, the Redhaired, and four boys. The other members of the Revels' company can be traced in England; and although Robert, Thomas, and John are common christian names, they are not to be found in conjunction in any other list of English players of the date. The plays acted by these men were the following:--

1. _Duke of Mantua and Duke of Verona._ Comedy.

2. _Christabella._ C.

3. _Amphitryon._ C.

4. _Romeo and Julietta._ Tragedy. [Founded on Shakespeare's play of
1591; extant in German MS., and printed by Cohn.]

5. _Duke of Florence._ Tragi-Comedy. [Not Massinger's play, which
is of ten years' later date.]

6. _King of Spain and ViceRoy of Portugal._ C. [Kyd's _Jeronymo_,
c. 1588.]

7. _Julius Cæsar._ T. [Query, the old play mentioned by Gosson in
1580, or the Admiral's play of 1594, or Shakespeare's, or the
Admiral's of 1602, or the Oxford of 1606, or Chapman's, or the
old play on which Chapman's is founded? The last most likely.]

8. _Crysella._ C.

9. _Duke of Ferrara._ C.

10. _Somebody and Nobody._ T.C. [Printed in German, 1620; extant in
an altered form, by Heywood in my judgment, as played by Queen
Anne's men in English; published c. 1609. In its original form
acted c. 1591.]

11. _King of Denmark and King of Sweden._ T. C. [_Clyomon and
Clamydes_. ? by R. Wilson, c. 1585.]

12. _Hamlet, Prince of Denmark._ T. [From Kyd's old play, c.
1589; extant in modernised MS. in Germany; printed in Cohn. The
Induction with Night and the Furies is quite in Kyd's manner.]

13. _Orlando Furioso._ C. [Greene's play, c. 1587.]

14. _King of England and King of Scotland._ C. [Greene (and
Lodge)'s _James IV._, 1591.]

15. _Hieronymo, Marshal of Spain._ T. [Kyd's _Spanish Tragedy_, c.
1588.]

16. _Haman and Queen Esther._ T. C. [Printed in German, 1620, from
an English play acted in 1594 by the Chamberlain's men, but an
_old_ play then; originally not later than 1591. Compare the
interlude in Kirkman's _Wits_, which was probably founded on it.
The German play ought to be made accessible to English readers.]

17. _The Martyr Dorothea._ T. [Perhaps from a play by Dekker and
Massinger, revived for the Revels' company between 1619 and
1622. This is the only play in this list to which I can assign a
definite date later than 1592. But were both taken from an older
play?]

18. _Dr. Faust._ T. [Marlowe's play, 1588.]

19. _King of Arragon._ T. C. [Greene's _Alphonsus_, c. 1588.]

20. _Fortunatus._ T. [Printed in German, 1620, as _Comedy of
Fortunatus and his Purse and Wishing Cap_, in which appear first
three dead souls as spirits, and afterwards the Virtues and
Shame. Evidently from the first part of _Fortunatus_ by Dekker,
as acted, 3d February 1596, as an _old_ play. It was probably
written c. 1591. This play like (16.) ought to be made accessible
to English readers.]

21. _Joseph, the Jew of Venice._ C. [From another early play
of Dekker's, c. 1591. The German version is extant in MS. in
the Imperial Library at Vienna, and ought to be edited and
translated. The Jew, however, is therein called Barabbas, and
there are three suitors, as in Shakespeare's play, but no
caskets. Dekker's play was entered 9th September 1653 on S. R.]

22. _The Dextrous Thief._ T.C.

23. _Duke of Venice._ T.C.

24. _Barrabas, the Jew of Malta._ T. [Marlowe's play, 1589.]

25. _Old Proculus._ C.

26. _Lear, King of England._ T. [From the old Queen's play, c.
1589. Yet it is strange that it should be called a tragedy. It
would hardly be Shakespeare's play, as no other of so late date
occurs in the list.]

27. _The Godfather._ T.C.

28. _The Prodigal Son._ C. [Printed in German, 1620. Translated
in Simpson's _School of Shakespeare_. Probably from an old play
revived by Heywood for Derby's men c. 1599, but originally
founded on Greene's _Mourning Garment_, 1590, and written (for
what company?) c. 1591. So I conjecture.]

29. _The Graf of Angiers._ C.

30. _The Rich Man._ T. [Acted on 17th September 1646 as _The Rich
Man and the Poor Lazarus_. Perhaps from a very old play by Ralph
Radcliffe before 1553; more likely from the Moral by the player
(? R. Wilson) in Greene's _Groatsworth of Wit_, 1592, who wrote
the Moral of _Man's Wit_ and the dialogue of _Dives_, and played
in _Delphrigus_, _The King of Fairies_, _The Twelve Labors of
Hercules_, and _The Highway to Heaven_.]

It appears from this list that while only one, if any, of these plays, _Dorothea_, which was probably taken with them by the Revels' company in 1625, can be assigned to a comparatively late date with certainty, the majority are early productions, anterior to 1592. Bearing in mind that there were a large number of plays published before 1626 which might have been used without fear of any opposition from companies in England, it is clear that in Germany the preference was given to older plays, which must have been imported at an early date, either by Leicester's players in 1586, by Pembroke's in 1599, or Worcester's [Admiral's] in 1590 and 1592. Leicester's returned to England in 1577 and Pembroke's c. 1601; but Worcester's, or rather a detachment from the Admiral's, were permanently established in Germany. E. Brown and R. Jones indeed came back to England; but Thomas Sackville and John Broadstreet are traceable in Germany, the latter to 1606 and the former to 1617. There is little doubt that the _Hamlet_ and _Romeo_, in their German versions, are from early plays, anterior to 1592. This conclusion is confirmed by the list of plays published in Germany in 1620, "acted by the English in Germany at Royal, Electoral, and Princely Courts:"--

1. _Queen Esther and Haughty Haman._ C. [16. in previous list.]

2. _The Prodigal Son_, "in which Despair and Hope are cleverly
introduced." C. [28. in previous list.]

3. _Fortunatus and his Purse and Wishing Cap_, "in which appear
first three dead souls as spirits, and afterwards the Virtues and
Shame." C. [20. in previous list.]

4. _A King's Son from England and a King's Daughter from Scotland._
C. [_Serule and Astræa_; probably the same as _Serule and
Hypolita_, acted 1631.]

5. _Sidonia and Theagine._ C.

6. _Somebody and Nobody._ C. [10. in previous list.]

7. _Julio and Hypolita._ T. [Query, _Philippo and Hypolita_, acted
as an _old_ play at the Rose, 9th July 1594; similar in plot to
_The Gentlemen of Verona_.]

8. _Titus Andronicus._ T. [Not our extant play, but the _Titus and
Vespasian_ acted by Lord Strange's men, April 1592.]

9. _The Beautiful Mary and the Old Cuckold._ A merry jest.

10. In which the clown makes merry pastime with a stone.

I am not acquainted with Ayres's plays; but it appears from Cohn (p. 64) that among them are _Mahomet the Turkish Emperor_ (from Peele's play, c. 1591), _The Greek Emperor at Constantinople and his daughter Pelimperia with the hanged Horatio_ (Kyd's _Spanish Tragedy_, 1588); _Valentine and Orson_ (from an old English play S. R. 23d May 1595); _Edward III., King of England, and Elisa Countess of Warwick_ (from Marlowe's play, 1590: Philip Waimer had already dramatised the same subject at Danzig in 1591); _The Beautiful Phenicia_ (on the same story as _Much Ado_, and strongly confirming the identity of that play with _Love's Labour's Won_, 1590: Cupid enters in person, and shoots Count Tymborus, the Benedick of the German version); _The Two Brothers of Syracuse_ (from the _Comedy of Errors_, c. 1590); _The Beautiful Sidea_ (containing some incidents showing that it came from some source in common with that of the _Tempest_, but certainly not from that play direct); and _King of Cyprus_ (founded on the same story as _The Dumb Knight_ by Machin and Markham, c. 1607). Cohn does not give exact dates of authorship, but is of opinion that we should not assign to any a year later than 1600; and in 1605 Ayres died. Here again we meet with the same phenomenon--acquaintance with many English plays of date anterior to 1592; but not with any one that can be shown to be later. No doubt Ayres's knowledge of English plays was obtained from the Worcester's (Admiral's) company, who went over in 1590-2.

Yet further, in the tragedy of _An Adulteress_ by Duke Henry Julius of Brunswick, printed 1594, we find the plot of _The Merry Wives_ almost identically reproduced (see Cohn, p. 45, &c.) I do not see, however, so much likeness between his _Vincentius Ladislaus_ and _Much Ado_.

As regards Shakespearian chronology, it results from this examination of English plays in Germany that there is no positive evidence of English plays of later date than 1592 having been acted there before 1625; that there is evidence that many (a score at least) of date not later than 1592 were acted between 1592 and 1626; that these plays were probably among those imported by Worcester's (Admiral's) players in 1592; and that in the list are contained _The Comedy of Errors_, _Romeo and Juliet_, _The Merry Wives_, _The Gentlemen of Verona_, and _Love's Labours Won_, _i.e._ every play by Shakespeare except _Love's Labour's Lost_, that is in this treatise placed at a date not later than 1592; besides Kyd's _Hamlet_, Marlowe's _Edward III_., and other plays with which Shakespeare was indirectly connected.

APPENDIX.

TABLES.