REED: Newington Butts Playhouse

The Records of Early English Drama is delighted to announce the open access publication of the ninth digital edition in the REED series. The dramatic records for the Newington Butts Playhouse, edited by Sally-Beth MacLean, are now available on REED Online (https://ereed.org).

Newington Butts Playhouse was one of the earliest Elizabethan theatres on record, with a couple of decades in operation. There are several acting companies known to have used its space, including the Chamberlain’s and Admiral’s companies in June 1594 during the early days after their formation. Located on a main road leading into London from the south coast, the playhouse was first managed by Jerome Savage, an actor in the Earl of Warwick’s men. Recent research suggests that this was an inn playhouse, likely with a rectangular rather than a polygonal performance space. Ownership, management and control by authorities are traced through leases, local regulations, an important Court of Request case, and privy council orders and letters, among others.

The edition includes introductory essays on the history of the property and the playhouse; a select bibliography; the Records with descriptive headnotes, endnotes and translations; and an appendix inventory of plays performed there. A special timeline feature links key dates with relevant records and GIS mapping of the area. Newington Butts Playhouse is the third playhouse edition published for the entertainment district south of the River Thames in the historic county of Surrey.

Sally-Beth MacLean, Professor Emerita, University of Toronto, is REED’s Director of Research and General Editor. She is also editor of REED: Rose Playhouse and co-editor with Stephanie Hovland of the Bear Gardens/Hope Playhouse edition. She is co-author of The Queen’s Men and Their Plays (with Scott McMillin), Cambridge UP, 1998, and Lord Strange’s Men and Their Plays (with Lawrence Manley), Yale UP, 2014.