The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 16.1794 Tuesday, 25 October 2005
[1] From: Bill Lloyd <
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Date: Friday, 21 Oct 2005 08:18:46 EDT
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
[2] From: Stuart Hampton-Reeves <
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Date: Monday, 24 Oct 2005 12:14:41 +0100
Subj: Re: SHK 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Bill Lloyd <
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Date: Friday, 21 Oct 2005 08:18:46 EDT
Subject: 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
In Re: SHK 16.1771 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
Are we counting non-speaking roles, or only roles with lines? I suspect
Harbage's list counts two for whenever "soldiers" etc enter and those
are often mutes.
Thomas Heywood's The Silver Age, just looking at the Dramatis Personae
in the Shakespere Society edition, comes to 56 roles, if we count the
Six Centaurs, the Seven Planets and two each for Captains, Servingmen,
Swains, Theban Ladies, and Furies [though the actual performances may
have used more than two each of these].
Then there's the lost play Tamar Cham performed by Edward Alleyn and the
Lord Admiral's players probably in 1602. All that survives is the
"platt" [which can be seen in Greg's Dramatic Documents Vol 2] and so
it's hard-to-impossible to tell which are speaking roles and which
aren't -- you can assume the named characters speak but what about
Tarmia's two little sons? and do both Nymphs speak or only one, or do
they just gesture or dance? etc etc. But counting all roles, speaking
or non speaking, I get an astounding total of 75! Of course this
includes the 24 'roles' provided by the procession of captives at the
end-- two each of Tartars, Geates, Amozins, Nagars, ollive cullord
moores, Canniballs, Hermaphrodites, people of Bohare, Pigmies, Crymms,
Cattaians and Bactrians. Apparently anyone standing around was called
into service for this procession-- Old Browne, The Red-faced Fellow, and
others known only from this procession;-- and some processioners must
have doffed costumes once they went out and donned new ones to proceed
back in, as Little Will Barne, for example, plays both an Amozin and a
Pigmie. Still, without the procession, there's 51 roles.
Bill Lloyd
[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: Stuart Hampton-Reeves <
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Date: Monday, 24 Oct 2005 12:14:41 +0100
Subject: 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
Comment: Re: SHK 16.1782 Largest Number of Roles/Characters
2 Henry VI also has that great stage direction 'Enter Cade with infinite
numbers' ...
Stuart Hampton-Reeves
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