Grocers, Goldsmiths, and Drapers: Freemen and Apprentices in the Elizabethan Theater

Abstract

Integrating much new information from livery-company archives and Chancery depositions with material from well-known primary and secondary sources, David Kathman documents the important role played by livery companies in the economic development of the Elizabethan professional theater. In the process, he presents data on more than fifty actors and playwrights who were also freemen of livery companies such as the Grocers, Goldsmiths, Drapers, Vintners, Bricklayers, Mercers, Apothecaries, and Barber-Surgeons. The careers of John Heminges, William Perry, and John Rhodes are discussed in detail in order to illustrate different aspects of the apprenticeship system and its links to the London stage from Shakespeare's time to the Restoration, when boy-actors ceased to play female roles.