Touring

The tendency to think of Renaissance theatre as strictly London-based is misguided. Though the capital produced the first purpose-built playhouses, touring had long been an inherent part of the theatrical business.

However, London became the epicentre of professional theatre, where the most ambitious actors and writers, such as Shakespeare, came to work. It was therefore the London-based theatre companies who proved popular on tour.

The schedule of playing in the capital was demanding: a company performed six days a week, never playing the same play two days running and producing a new play every fortnight. On tour, however, they could manage with on or two plays for months.

During playhouse closures in London, touring was an ideal way to continue to earn money, especially if a company was asked to perform at the country house of a nobleman, such as the performance of Titus Andronicus at Burley on the Hill, in the home of Sir John Harington of Exton, in January 1596.

Companies could be asked to perform in the town hall in front of the local mayor, collecting an entrance fee from their audience. Inns, churches and schools were also used as performance venues. They travelled with horses and wagons, but also by boat around the coast, visiting ports such as Dover, Bristol and Rye.

Professional theatre companies also travelled locally, performing at venues in and around London – at court, or for private performances such as the performance of Twelfth Night, at Middle Temple Hall on 7 February 1602.

Professional companies were banned from playing within five miles of Oxford and Cambridge, to allow for university dramas, but this seems not to have stopped them. Local authorities sometimes paid players not to perform, although it seems the actors did not always obey these requests, as records show their continued presence.

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