William Rowley - Wikipedia William Rowley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search 17th-century English actor and playwright For other people named William Rowley, see William Rowley (disambiguation). William Rowley (c.1585 – February 1626) was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626 in the graveyard of St James's, Clerkenwell in north London. (An unambiguous record of Rowley's death was discovered in 1928,[1] but some authorities persist in listing his death-date as 1642.) Contents 1 Life and work 2 Plays by Rowley 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links Life and work[edit] Rowley was an actor-playwright who specialized in playing clown characters (that is, characters whose function is to provide low comedy). He must also have been a large man, since his forte lay specifically in fat-clown roles. He played the Fat Bishop in Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess, and Plumporridge in the same author's Inner Temple Masque. He also wrote fat-clown parts for himself to play: Jaques in All's Lost by Lust (a role "personated by the Poet," the 1633 quarto states), and Bustopha in The Maid in the Mill, his collaboration with John Fletcher. He certainly played Simplicity in The World Tossed at Tennis, and probably Chough in A Fair Quarrel — and since these are Middleton/Rowley collaborations, they qualify as two more parts that Rowley wrote for himself. (Internal evidence shows that in collaborations, Rowley normally handled the comic subplot — though he was not restricted solely to comic material: in The Changeling, A Fair Quarrel, and The Maid in the Mill, he wrote substantial portions of the main plots as well.) The part of the otherwise-unnamed Clown in The Birth of Merlin shows signs of being another role that Rowley the playwright wrote with Rowley the actor in mind. As a writer, Rowley was almost exclusively a dramatist; the pamphlet A Search for Money (1609) is his only sustained work of non-dramatic prose. Two plays are generally accepted as Rowley's solo works: A Shoemaker a Gentleman (c. 1607-9) and All's Lost by Lust (1619). Three other works that might have been Rowley solo plays have not survived: Hymen's Holidays or Cupid's Vagaries (1612), A Knave in Print (1613), and The Fool Without Book (also 1613). Rowley appears to have begun his career working for Queen Anne's Men at the Red Bull Theatre. In 1609, he was part of a group of actors who set up a new playing company, the Duke of York's Men, which became known as Prince Charles's Men after 1612. Most of Rowley's career was spent writing and clowning for this company, which was based at a series of different playhouses, including the Curtain, the Hope, and the Red Bull. Rowley was the troupe's payee for their Court performances in the 1610–15 era.[2] In 1623, Rowley left his company and joined the highly successful King's Men at the Globe, until his death in 1626. Though relatively brief, his stay with the troupe was eventful: in 1624 he was embroiled in both the Game at Chess controversy in August and the Spanish Viceroy affair in December. The roles he took with the company likely included Cacafogo in Rule a Wife and Have a Wife, the Cook in Rollo Duke of Normandy, and Tony in A Wife for a Month.[3] Notably, Rowley did not necessarily restrict his playwriting efforts to the company to which he was committed as an actor. In 1624 he was a member of the King's Men, Shakespeare's famous company, and in August of that year played in their notorious production of A Game at Chess — yet in the same year he worked on the now-lost play Keep the Widow Waking with Dekker, Ford, and Webster, which was intended for the Red Bull Theatre. Plays by Rowley[edit] Rowley's canon is plagued by uncertainty and by the complexities of collaboration: the following is only an approximate guide. The Witch of Edmonton, 1658 All's Lost by Lust (performed 1618-19; printed 1633) The Birth of Merlin; or, The Child Hath Found its Father (performed 1622; printed 1662). The title page claims William Shakespeare as Rowley's co-writer, but this claim is disputed. The Changeling (performed 1622; printed 1653). Co-written with Thomas Middleton. A Cure for a Cuckold (performed 1624; printed 1661). Co-written with John Webster. A Fair Quarrel (performed 1614-17; printed 1617). Co-written with Thomas Middleton. Fortune by Land and Sea (performed c.1607; printed 1655). Co-written with Thomas Heywood. The Maid in the Mill (performed 1623; printed 1647). Co-written with John Fletcher. A Match at Midnight (performed c.1622; printed 1633). Attributed only to 'W. R.', and stylistic analysis suggests that it may not be by Rowley. A New Wonder, a Woman Never Vexed (performed 1610-14; printed 1632). Possibly a collaboration; George Wilkins and Thomas Heywood have been suggested as co-writers. The Old Law, or A New Way to Please You (performed 1618; printed 1656). Co-written with Thomas Middleton, and, possibly, a third collaborator who may have been Philip Massinger or Thomas Heywood. A Shoemaker a Gentleman (date of composition unknown; printed 1638) The Spanish Gypsy (performed 1623; printed 1653). Although the title page attributes this play to Rowley and Thomas Middleton, stylistic analysis favours a different playwriting team: John Ford and Thomas Dekker. The Thracian Wonder (date of composition unknown; printed 1661). The title page attributes this play to Rowley and John Webster although few readers accept Webster's presence. The Travels of the Three English Brothers (performed and printed 1607). Co-written with George Wilkins and John Day. Wit at Several Weapons (performed c.1615; printed 1647). Although it was first printed as part of the Beaumont and Fletcher folio, stylistic analysis suggests that this play was heavily revised by Rowley and Thomas Middleton. The Witch of Edmonton (performed 1621; published 1658). Co-written with John Ford and Thomas Dekker. The World Tossed at Tennis (performed and printed 1620). Co-written with Thomas Middleton. Notes[edit] ^ M. J. Dickson, "William Rowley," Times Literary Supplement, 28 March 1929, p. 260. Five days after his death, on 16 February 1626, his widow petitioned for relief in administering his estate. ^ Chambers, Vol. 3, p. 473. ^ Gurr, p. 239. References[edit] Bentley, G. E. The Jacobean and Caroline Stage. 7 vols. (Oxford University Press, 1941–68). Chambers, E. K. The Elizabethan Stage. (Oxford University Press, 1923). Gurr, Andrew. The Shakespeare Company, 1594–1642. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004. Lake, David J. The Canon of Thomas Middleton's Plays. (Cambridge University Press, 1975). External links[edit] David Gunby, ‘Rowley, William (1585?–1626)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 5 June 2007 Seccombe, Thomas (1897). "Rowley, William (1585?-1642?)" . Dictionary of National Biography. 49. "Rowley, William" . New International Encyclopedia. 1905. Works by or about William Rowley at Internet Archive Works by William Rowley at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks) v t e The "Beaumont and Fletcher" Canon Francis Beaumont John Fletcher Philip Massinger Nathan Field William Shakespeare James Shirley Thomas Middleton William Rowley John Ford Ben Jonson George Chapman John Webster Plays (some attributions conjectural) Beaumont The Knight of the Burning Pestle The Masque of the Inner Temple and Gray's Inn Beaumont and Fletcher The Woman Hater Cupid's Revenge The Coxcomb Philaster The Captain The Maid's Tragedy A King and No King Love's Pilgrimage The Scornful Lady The Noble Gentleman Fletcher The Faithful Shepherdess The Woman's Prize Valentinian Bonduca Monsieur Thomas The Mad Lover The Chances The Loyal Subject Women Pleased The Humorous Lieutenant The Island Princess The Pilgrim The Wild Goose Chase A Wife for a Month Rule a Wife and Have a Wife Fletcher and Massinger †Barnavelt The Little French Lawyer The False One The Double Marriage The Custom of the Country The Lovers' Progress The Spanish Curate The Prophetess The Sea Voyage The Elder Brother †A Very Woman Fletcher and others with Beaumont & Massinger Thierry and Theodoret Beggars' Bush Love's Cure with Massinger & Field The Honest Man's Fortune The Queen of Corinth The Knight of Malta with Field Four Plays, or Moral Representations, in One with Shakespeare †Henry VIII The Two Noble Kinsmen with Shirley The Night Walker Wit Without Money with Rowley The Maid in the Mill with Massinger, Chapman & Jonson Rollo, Duke of Normandy with Massinger, Ford & Webster The Fair Maid of the Inn Others The Nice Valour (Middleton) Wit at Several Weapons (Middleton & Rowley) The Laws of Candy (Ford) The Coronation (Shirley) Performance and publication English Renaissance theatre King's Men Beaumont and Fletcher folios Humphrey Moseley Humphrey Robinson Related †The History of Cardenio (Shakespeare & Fletcher?) †Double Falsehood (possibly based on Cardenio) † = Not published in the Beaumont and Fletcher folios Authority control BIBSYS: 90169003 BNF: cb12081349h (data) GND: 118791427 ISNI: 0000 0001 0857 5579 LCCN: n79119404 NDL: 00474135 NKC: kv2009496936 NLP: A12811075 NTA: 072334541 PLWABN: 9810550920105606 SELIBR: 313013 SNAC: w69w1dg6 SUDOC: 029121221 Trove: 963041 VIAF: 54172973 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n79119404 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Rowley&oldid=997680439" Categories: English male stage actors English Renaissance dramatists 17th-century English male actors 17th-century English dramatists and playwrights 17th-century English male writers 1580s births 1626 deaths Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Use dmy dates from May 2012 Use British English from May 2012 Articles incorporating Cite DNB template Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the New International Encyclopedia Articles with Internet Archive links Articles with LibriVox links Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NDL identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLP identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikisource Languages Català Cymraeg Deutsch Español Esperanto Français Italiano Nederlands Polski Português Edit links This page was last edited on 1 January 2021, at 18:40 (UTC). 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