Shakespeare of Stratford
135
but in all towns recognized noblemen’s companies were entitled to the use of the town halls for their plays. James I’s patent to Shakespeare and his fellows definitely grants them the right to act ‘within any townhalls, or motehalls, or other convenient places . . . within our said realms and dominions.’[1] The country houses of gentlemen were frequently visited by traveling companies.[2]
- ↑ See ante, p. 46.
- ↑ For details of the various provincial towns known to have been visited by Shakespeare’s company see J. T. Murray, English Dramatic Companies, i. 107–9, 183–4, and E. K. Chambers, Elizabethan Stage, ii. 192–220.
