ABSTRACT
At his reappearance in Act V, Philostrate seems to be the very model of a Jacobethan revels master: coming up with four contrasting entertainments—sung-heroic, spoken-satiric, danced-Dionysiac and acted-tragic—but deferring to Theseus as to the order in which they should be given. In this chapter, the author sketches a broad European view of the responsibilities of a Philostrate in regard to a particular play, and provides him with a checklist or two of things to do when he gets home. Clearly the first thing Philostrate should have done for Theseus's wedding feast was to find an appropriate show. In antiquity, Plutarch had pointed this out in his Convivial Questions; and there is a relevant memorandum of around 1600 from William Shakespeare's own London. Philostrate's next task with Peter Quince's troupe should have been to ensure that they had all learned to act a bit.
