ABSTRACT
William Kemp was entrusted with a budget of letters home from Leicester, Essex, Sidney and probably other English noblemen currently resident in the Netherlands. This chapter suggests that Kemp was the first English actor to achieve a genuinely international reputation. Testimony to Kemp's reputation as a performer who could hold his own either among, or in comparison with, Continental entertainers, can be encountered both in non-dramatic texts and in plays. The Chamberlain's Men's plays, and especially those written by Shakespeare, incorporated excellent roles for Kemp — roles which were designed to showcase his distinctive gifts while minimizing his limitations. Kemp figures in two main ways in surviving records of the Netherlands expedition: as a performer immediately popular with strangers; and as a letter-bearer, skilled and speedy in travel, both at home and overseas. In combination with his performative gifts, these skills were to distinguish Kemp for the remainder of his career.
