Oct 6, 2008

Shakespeare A to Z | Blackfriars

In 1576 Richard Farrant, deputy master of a prominent troupe of boy actors called the Children of the Chapel, rented several rooms in an old convent for use as a theater. The Blackfriars, named for the Dominican* friars who formerly inhabited it, was the first indoor playhouse in London. Farrant died in 1580, however, and the Blackfriars returned to private use until 1600. In that year the actor Richard Burbage reopened the theater, having inherited it from his father, who bought the property in 1596. The Children of the Chapel returned to the Blackfriars and remained there until 1608, when...