ABSTRACT
One of the peculiarities of the evidence provided by contemporary stage representations of the professional player is the frequency with which they attack and condemn him. In the adults' own plays, such as Hamlet, Sir Thomas More, the Induction to The Malcontent, and the two Shrew plays, they represent themselves as might be expected as unassuming workaday professionals. 1 It is not until The Roman Actor in 1626 that we get an idealized self-portrait. Five of the representations of players in this selection, on the other hand, are frankly derogatory, and range from witty satire to straightforward abuse. One of their characteristics, not surprisingly, is that they appear to have been performed by other than adult professionals . Ben Jonson's The Poetaster was performed in 1601 at Blackfriars by the Children of the Chapel. The Pilgrimage to Parnassus (c. 1599) and The Second Part of the Return from Parnassus (c. 1603) were two of three plays performed by members ofSt John's College, Cambridge. The auspices, authorship, and date of Histriomastix are unknown, but P.J. Finkelpearl has made a strong case for its performance by members of the Inns of Court.2 A fifth play, Robert Tailor's The Hog Hath Lost his Pearl, was performed at Whitefriars in 1613 by London apprentices and its social attitudes can be seen as a throwback to the earlier group.
