Shakespeare's Opposites
The Admiral's Company 1594–1625

The Admiral's Men is the acting company that staged Christopher Marlowe's plays while its companion company was giving the first performances of Shakespeare. Unlike the Shakespeare company, there is plenty of evidence available telling us what the Admiral's company did and how it staged its plays. Not only do we know far more about the design of its two playhouses, the Rose and the Fortune, than we know of any other playhouse from the time, including the Globe, but we have Henslowe's Diary. This recorded everything the Admiral's company performed from 1594 to 1600 and after, what the company bought to stage its plays, who performed which parts, who wrote which plays and even how much they were paid. The first history to be written of the Admiral's Men, this book tells us not only a great deal about the company's own work, but also how the Shakespeare company operated.

1. The company's unique features; 2. Tricks of disguise and travel; 3. Henslowe's accounts and the play texts; 4. Staging at the Rose and the Fortune; 5. The company's repertory practices; Appendices: Appendix 1. The plays; Appendix 2. The players; Appendix 3. Travelling; Appendix 4. Performing at court.

Andrew Gurr is Emeritus Professor of English at the University of Reading. As chief academic advisor, he was a key figure in the project to rebuild Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. His many publications include The Shakespearean Stage 1574–1642 (Cambridge University Press, fourth edition 2009), Playgoing in Shakespeare's London (Cambridge University Press, third edition 2004) and The Shakespearian Playing Companies (1996). Professor Gurr regularly contributes articles on Shakespeare to publications ranging from Shakespeare Survey to the Times Literary Supplement.