The opening of III. THE COMPANIES
‘Has led the drum before the English tragedians.’
All’s Well that Ends Well.XII
INTRODUCTION. THE BOY COMPANIES
[Bibliographical Note.--The first systematic investigation into the history of the companies was that of F. G. Fleay, which, after tentative sketches in his Shakespeare Manual (1876) and Life and Work of Shakespeare (1886), took shape in his Chronicle History of the Stage (1890). Little is added by the compilations of A. Albrecht, Das Englische Kindertheater (1883), H. Maas, Die Kindertruppen (1901) and Äussere Geschichte der Englischen Theatertruppen (1907), and J. A. Nairn, Boy-Actors under the Tudors and Stewarts (Trans. of Royal Soc. of Lit. xxxii). W. W. Greg, Henslowe’s Diary (1904–8), made a careful study of all the companies which had relations with Philip Henslowe, and modified or corrected many of Fleay’s results. An account of the chief London companies is in A. H. Thorndike, Shakespeare’s Theater (1916), and utilizes some new material collected in recent years. W. Creizenach, Schauspiele der Englischen Komödianten (1889), and E. Herz, Englische Schauspieler und Englisches Schauspiel (1903), have summarized the records of the travels of English actors in Germany. C. W.