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Playbills in the English Renaissance

1697 Troilus and Cressida playbill from the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London

Despite their importance to the popularity of theatre in the English Renaissance, early playbills have been largely ignored by scholars as no 16th century playbill has survived to modern times. However, as initial studies have been conducted analyzing existing 17th to 19th century playbills, scholars have started constructing theories about 16th century playbills. An expert on Shakespeare and early modern drama, Tiffany Stern’s “‘On each Wall and Corner Poast’: Playbills, Title-pages, and Advertising in Early Modern London” serves as the basis for modern understanding of early English playbills. Much of Stern’s argument draws on the characteristics of later playbills and posters (from the mid 1600s onwards) as the basis for how English Renaissance playbills must have looked.

Although the exact qualities of English Renaissance playbills cannot be known for sure, it is clear that paper playbills existed during the late 16th century. Based on the records of printing presses collected in the Stationers’ Register, it is an accepted fact that playbills were printed beginning in at least 1587 and posted around London as advertisement for upcoming performances.

Renaissance playbill theory

17th century posters and playbills

The first playbill discovered for an indoor professional production is from 1687. However, other types of posters dating earlier than that have survived, each advertising a different genre of performance. The earliest example (dating to the 1590s, slightly before the 17th century) is a “manuscript bear-baiting bill,” followed by a “rope-dancing advertisement” from 1630, and a “Bartholomew Fair puppet playbill” from 1655. Despite the subject matter being different from a traditional performance of a play in the Renaissance, their use as advertisements for a type of entertainment make them important in predicting the qualities of Renaissance playbills. Another useful type of bill to reference are foreign playbills. A 1619 manuscript Spanish playbill, a 1629 printed French playbill, and a 1628 printed German playbill exist.

Rope-dancing advertisement

This 1630 advertisement was printed by the Cotes brothers, one of the largest playbill printers of the Renaissance period. As such, it can serve as a basis for both the stylistic choices of a Cotes playbill (similar to other playbill printing presses at the time) and information included. The advertisement reads:

[ms: At 9 a Clok] At the [ms: Row in iw [sic] winestreef] this present day shall bee showne rare dancing on the Ropes, Acted by his Majesties servants, wherein an Irish Boy of eight yeares old doth vault on the high rope, the like was never seene: And one Mayd of fifteene yeares of age, and another Girle of foure yeares of age, doe dance on the lowe Rope; And the said Girle of foure yeares of age doth turne on the Stage, and put in fourescore threds into the eye of an Needle. And other rare Activityes of body, as vaulting and tumbling on the Stage, and Egges dancing upon a Staffe, with other rare varietyes of Dancing, the like hath not beene seene in the realnie of England. And the nierry conceites of Jacke Pudding. If God permit. Vivat Rex.

By only informing audiences that the rope-dancing takes place on “this present day,” the name of the town and place of performance is missing, leaving a spot where the “name of the site for the enactment can be slotted into the gap provided”. This practice, called a ‘blank,’ is the same in the 1629 French playbill (mentioned earlier), and therefore is theorized to be a staple of advertisements for plays frequently performed.

Stylistically, the bill includes “decorated edges, ornamental first letters, black-letter text” with elements of “English double pica”.

German Nuremberg playbill

The Nuremberg playbill is said to be from 1628, but certain information included on the playbill has caused scholars to debate over the date of origin. References to the date of performance as a Wednesday April 21st of the year indicated it could not have been from 1628, as April 21st did not fall on a Wednesday. Based on an extremely similar later Nuremberg playbill dated to 1652, scholar June Schlueter argues the original playbill is likely from 1652 as well.

Regardless of the date of origin, the content provides important details. In translation, the playbill reads:

Know all men, that a new Company of Comedians has arrived here, who have never been seen before in this country, with a right merry Clown, who will act every day fine Comedies, Tragedies, Pastorals, and Histories, intermixed with lovely and merry Interludes, and to-day Wednesday the 21st of April they will present a right merry Comedy, called

Love's Sweetness turned into Death's Bitterness.

After the Comedy will be presented a fine Ballet and laughable Droll.

The Lovers of such plays must make their appearance at the Fencing-house in the afternoon at 2 o'clock, where the play will begin at the appointed hour precisely.

The playbill introduces several important aspects of the types of information included on playbills, such as title and genre of the play, date, time, location, and other incentives to attend the show. Unlike the rope-dancing advertisement, it does not leave a gap for the date and time of the show, meaning it is a “one-day bill”.

Bear-baiting bill

Similar to the German playbill, the Dulwich College bear-baiting bill is a one-day bill dating from the 1590s. It reads:

Tomorrowe beinge Thursdaie in shalbe seen at the Beargard on the banckside a greate - - - Mach plaid by the gamstirs of Essex who hath chalenged all comers what soever to plaie v dogges at the single beare for v pounds and also to wearie a bull dead at the stake and for your better - - content shall have plasant spor with the horse and ape and whiping of the blind beare Vivat Rex.

Detailed information of the date (‘Tomorrowe beinge Thursdaie’) ensures that the bill cannot be used elsewhere for a bear-baiting entertainment. Words such as ‘greate’ and ‘plasant’ combined with the assurance of enjoyment with the phrase ‘for your better content’ represents an important aspect of playbills known as “advertising language,” drawing the audience in with key wording.

Text mining

An 18th century playbill for a production of Merchant of Venice at the Drury Lane theatre in London

Scholars Mattie Burkert and Mark Vareschi used text mining, a form of statistical data collection, to categorize the information included on 18th century playbills. With a much larger amount of surviving playbills from Drury Lane and Covent Garden (compared to the 16th and 17th centuries), the data was more accurate. Using categories of year, date, title, genre, and author (among others), these scholars were able to theorize about the importance of each type of information on a Renaissance playbill as well as the likelihood it would be printed.

Based on their findings, they concluded that genre was more often printed as a standalone method of attracting the public to a performance, because tragedies, comedies, and others tended to “pull more cultural weight”. The names of authors were printed on some of the playbills, but in the presence of an author’s name, the printing of genre increased significantly. This study supports the idea of genre as a crucial piece of information included on a playbill, with the author as an added, but not necessary, component. However, similarly to the “advertising language” mentioned above, printers would include an author’s name if it would sell more tickets.

False advertisement

A jest book written in 1679 makes reference to a man “‘seeing a play-bill upon a post,’” and being “‘gull’d,’” he says that the playbill is “‘as true a thing as ever was writ’”. His gullibility in believing the information on the playbill serves as evidence that during the 17th century (and most likely the 16th as well), false advertisement on playbills was common.

England’s Joy

England’s Joy is one of the most prominent examples of a surviving ‘playbill’ that represents blatant false advertisement. On a printed sheet of paper, the title states “The Plot of the Play, called Englands Joy. To be Playd at the Swan this 6 of November. 1602”. Vennar was the man leading the hoax of England’s Joy, and put up bills around London advertising his production, only to abandon the audience after only speaking a few lines of the prologue. He attracted patrons by advertising both gentlemen and gentlewomen acting in the show, which many Londoners were excited to see, as evidenced by writings in a letter by Chamberlain and a diary by Manningham. Vennar is stated to have “‘gulled many under couller of a play to be of gent. and reverens’”.

18th and 19th century Shakespeare playbills

18th century playbill announcing the performance of Shakespeare's Macbeth at Covent Garden

Later Shakespeare playbills are not only helpful in informing scholars of the look of a Renaissance Shakespeare playbill, but also serve as an example of false advertisement and use of an author’s name to attract patrons. An advertising trick commonly used in regard to Shakespeare plays was printing “emblematic clues” such as “daggers for Macbeth” and “skulls for Hamlet” to indicate to audiences which play was being performed. In the 18th and 19th century, Shakespeare’s plays were altered as a way of representing the political issues of the time, particularly the Exclusion Crisis. Shakespeare’s plays were often presented as new during this time period, as patrons didn’t have enough knowledge of the plays to recognize they had been performed in centuries before. Part of the false advertisement consisted of “emphasizing a plays novelty in playbills,” despite the fact that these performances were simply revivals. In fact, the information included on a playbill (particularly its origins and novelty) were correlated with the prologue of the performance, with changes being made in the actor’s speech to attract attention to how new the play was.

Printing of Renaissance playbills

Between the years 1587 and 1642, only one printer at a time was allowed to produce playbills. There were four printers who held the position during this time: John Charlewood, James Roberts, William and Isaac Jaggard, and Thomas and Richard Cotes. Various printers were in charge of different genres of bills, as Charlewood's title was "printer for 'all manner of Billes for players'". Working until 1593 (the time of his death), Roberts took over after marrying Charlewood's widow, printing both playbills and Shakespeare quartos. During 1606 to 1615, Roberts passed the business to William Jaggard and his son, who printed various plays, both Shakespeare and non-Shakespeare, eventually printing the First Folio of Shakespeare in 1623. When Isaac Jaggard died in 1627, the Cotes brothers bought the business.

Printing-houses had a close connection with each other, as evidenced by the passing on of the business to various established printers in London. This continuation implies that "all bills will have looked similar not just to each other but also over time," with some way for playhouses to "differentiate [themselves] from another on the bill". Because there are no physical playbills, it is impossible to determine what markings were used, but scholars have suggested the sign of the flag of the theater - such as a rose for The Rose, or Hercules carrying the globe for The Globe - as a possibility.

Playbills for theaters were "drawn up by the prompter on the night preceding the performance," giving printers limited time to complete the order. Playbills would often advertise plays being performed the next day, often frequently changed, leaving printers the difficult task of printing fresh bills explaining the change in performance at the bottom.

Distribution of Playbills

During the Renaissance, patrons would walk around the streets and observe bills on the posts of London, including tethering posts for horses. Although these had another use, there were certain areas of the city where playbills were usually posted. These include the theater itself, the “internal columns of St. Paul’s Cathedral,” outside St. Paul’s by the booksellers, and the “Old and New Exchanges and Cheapside,” as these were major areas for shopping. However, the main place to hang playbills were the doorposts of houses in the city. This is evidenced by a 1581 precept from the Lord Mayor of London attempting to stop people from “fixing anye papers or breifes upon anye postes, houses, or other places...for the shewe...of anye playes”.

There were two main types of playbills used for advertisement throughout the city: the “great” bill, and the smaller handbill form. Great bills were larger and stuck on walls, doorways, and shop windows, using big black and red letters to attract patrons. Handbills were sold both outside and inside the playhouse, and served to inform the audience of what they would see being performed.

Playbills were widespread and relatively cheap, selling for a penny at the theater, and viewed for free on walls and doorposts around London. Joseph Skipsey, a laboring class poet, even “taught himself to read and write from discarded playbills and advertisements,” demonstrating their use as extremely open to the public.