Chapter 3 links the company’s touring destinations in their second decade to Dudley’s attempts to influence the parliaments of 1571 and 1572 and to expand his landholdings. I argue that this should also make us rethink the players’ letter of 1572 and their receipt of a royal patent in 1574. Rather than a knee-jerk reaction to the Vagabond Act of 1572, the players’ letter leveraged their patron’s ambitions to expand their touring activity and to curry favour with the crown. Where the players did face renewed hostility was from within London. I argue that the patent of 1574, the company’s move out of the Red Lion, and the shift of their base of operations to the Theatre in Shoreditch by 1576, all respond to attempts by London’s mayors and aldermen to shut down their activities in or near the city. The second half of Chapter 3 focuses on making sense of the design of the Theatre and describes the company’s adoption of the repertory playing system as a logical extension of the goals that had not been fully accomplished with the Red Lion, along with the continued accumulation of theatrical capital during the 1570s.

The Earl of Leicester’s Men were the dominant adult playing company of the early Elizabethan stage before the Queen’s Men. In addition to being the leading court revels company for nearly two decades, Leicester’s Men were also responsible for mapping out the touring circuits used by later companies and for establishing the first major playhouses near London. This book details the history of this company, building on decades of established scholarship, while also offering a raft of new discoveries from primary sources. Parish records help to unlock the origins of the company within London, and this background is shown to inform the company’s responses to the circumstances that having one of the most powerful nobles of the era as a patron presented. Their stable familial and parochial networks enabled them to tour extensively while also expanding their theatrical capital closer to London. This capital allowed them to thrive as court performers and as innovators of the playhouse business.

The Earl of Leicester’s Men were the dominant adult playing company of the early Elizabethan stage before the Queen’s Men. In addition to being the leading court revels company for nearly two decades, Leicester’s Men were also responsible for mapping out the touring circuits used by later companies and for establishing the first major playhouses near London. This book details the history of this company, building on decades of established scholarship, while also offering a raft of new discoveries from primary sources. Parish records help to unlock the origins of the company within London, and this background is shown to inform the company’s responses to the circumstances that having one of the most powerful nobles of the era as a patron presented. Their stable familial and parochial networks enabled them to tour extensively while also expanding their theatrical capital closer to London. This capital allowed them to thrive as court performers and as innovators of the playhouse business.