The Caroline Hall Companies: Queen Henrietta’s Men, 1626–1642, King’s Revels, 1629–1637, and Beeston’s Boys, 1637–1642

AbstractThe division of Caroline audiences between hall and amphitheatre playhouses is a stronger and more consistent way of distinguishing the Caroline companies than the division of the playing companies themselves. Companies switched between hall and amphitheatre, and between amphitheatre and amphitheatre, almost at three-yearly intervals. Hence, calling any of them a hall company or an amphitheatre company is rather misleading. Moreover, there is rarely sufficient evidence even about their repertories to identify any one company as principally hall-fixated or open-air-playhouse-orientated. But the process which appears to make all the companies interchangeable does not apply to the playhouses. Buildings are more resistant to change than the companies, and so were the playgoers who went to each playhouse. This chapter looks at the history of the Caroline hall companies: Queen Henrietta’s Men, King’s Revels, and Beeston’s Boys. It focuses on their performances, the plays they performed, the playhouses where they performed, their playing sharers, and their travelling records.