Acting Companies In Elizabethan Theatre

Acting companies have been around almost as long as theatre itself. The first of the professional stage companies recorded were back in the 1560s. They were mostly used for their comedic trade. They can be seen as part of tribal rituals all the way to Broadway musicals making their way across countries. There are many forms of acting companies. There are companies that meet once a year or they can travel around countries for long periods of time. There are also many different skill sets needed to be a part of these companies. Stage companies are a large part of the theatre culture and community.

Acting companies became prominent during the Elizabethan Era in London. Families that were able to have a household players group in their homes

were considered lucky and privileged because they were such a commodity. Along with household players, there were established players. Established players, at the time usually had about six or seven plays memorized at a time that could be performed at a moment’s notice (Brown, 175-177). This tool was necessary for a good actor. One reason it was a necessary tool for an actor to have in Elizabethan times was because as more companies extended their show runs, actors needed to keep a more diverse supply of plays in order to attract new audience members (Lander, 11). Along with having all of these plays memorized, the actors needed to be versatile in their skill sets due to the small size of the companies (Brown, 175-177). Actors also needed to be able to adapt quickly to fit different situations. It is unknown when in the production process this change happened, however, during the production of Henry IV, the Chamberlain’s Men Company needed to change the name of the fat knight (Brown, 188). This may seem like a simple change, but it can potentially change the whole dynamic of lines. This can lead to mess-ups and difficulty while during a production. The ability to be flexible as an actor and ability to adapt quickly was necessary in this situation.
There were two well-known players troupes of this time period that have attracted much attention. These companies were called Lord Strange’s Men and the Lord Admiral’s Men (Schoone-Jongen, 2003). Since the player’s companies were so small in this time period, it is often speculated that companies merged together to have a larger company. The idea of the Lord Admiral’s Men and Lord Strange’s Men merging did not actively come alive until 1923 when E.K. Chambers developed the hypothesis that the two companies amalgamated.
Chambers figured that the two companies were joined while in London, either at court or one of the public theatres, but that they split into their component companies for purposes of touring, as indicated by the continuing provincial notices of both a Strange's and Admiral's company. Such splitting for touring was further evidenced by a complaint made by the company (listed as Strange's) in 1591or 92 which characterized touring as a large company as "intollerable" (ii.121 ). (Schoone-Jongen, 2003)
Chambers made sure to use the word “amalgamated” or “amalgamation” when further describing the two troupes to distinguish that they joined together to perform in London, but could break apart to tour in their respective separate troupes (Schoone-Jongen, 2003). There has been much speculation as to whether or not these two specific troupes took part in this form of union and there has been evidence to support both sides of the argument. Those who believe that there has been an amalgamation found payroll records of the Lord Admiral’s players under the name of someone from Lord Strange’s players. However, there are arguments that reject the idea of an amalgamation. Andrew Gurr brings in the argument that the companies may only take a few of their players on tour to be able to manage the troupe and the players more efficiently and that is why there was such a size difference between travelling and performing in London. He also points out that since these were two of the most known play troupes, it would have been an unwise move to violate licensing laws, which were illegal to do (Schoone-Jongen, 2003).
Another name well known during the Elizabethan era was the writer William Shakespeare. During his career, Shakespeare had the pleasure of working with many different actors and many different acting companies. Actors at the time of Shakespeare held stable memberships allowing them to claim over a role written by the playhouse scribe. This membership changed very little when Shakespeare began writing his scripts to be performed (Brown, 184). Even with this membership, there were still high tension and competition between different troupes surrounding Shakespeare. The competition began to heat up even more with the construction of the Globe Theatre. The two competing troupes were the Admiral’s Men and the Chamberlain’s Men. In the end, the Chamberlain’s Men took residency at the Globe (Brown, 184). The Admiral’s Men took residency at the competing theatre the Rose and Fortune. Shakespeare’s company was managed by the Londoner James Burbage (Gurr, 4).
Even though theatres were being built, companies still travelled giving tours. When theatres and playhouses were closed, the troupes would travel familiar and routine plan to go back to (Lander, 10). The Chamberlain troupe, however, hardly toured much because of London’s new licensing laws. They only went to a few towns and grandees at their country homes when they did go on tour. Other than those scarce tours, their feet were planted in London (Gurr, 5).
Acting troupes and companies can also be seen in Southern Asian Theatre.

There are many different forms of acting companies in this culture. Amateur acting companies come together annually. These companies perform different rituals, traditions, or sacrifices in the local temple. They also are used to celebrate national events and holidays (Brown, 460). Another type of company is called itinerant bands. These are troupes of professionals that travel, just like Elizabethan era troupes, throughout their linguistic region for a whole year only pausing their journey for monsoon season for safety reasons (Brown, 460). There also seems to be a custom expected if an itinerant band comes to a village. This village is expected to give them their evening meal, usually offered to them by the headman of the village. After they have eaten, they will nap and then unpack and begin preparing for their performance (Brown, 460-461). This itinerant band also needs to obtain skill sets that have been seen in Elizabethan actors. These actors needed to have a broad repertoire of performances and they needed to adapt quickly. The actors were only told about an hour before they performed the type of performance the village wanted to see. This rushed them to come up with a plot, memorize, and rehearse with whatever time was left before the performance (Brown, 461). They would then move onto the next village in India and do this all over

again.
Chinese theatre also held acting companies. These were called Anhui companies. These companies were entirely male. In 1930, there was an attempt for this to change. A mixed gender acting school opened and performed together on stage in Beijing (Brown, 469). Mixed troupes did not become normal until the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949 (Brown, 470).
In today’s society, traveling troupes and acting companies are still seen in many cultures.

There are many touring companies in the United States today. One traveling company is an educational company. The Bright Star Touring Theatre has a repertoire of around one thousand educational performances to young audience members over a variety of cities throughout the country. This group focuses mainly on bringing literature to life for their audiences (Wright, 2015). The Bright Star Touring Theatre’s actors must hold the same professional qualities that have been travelling through the centuries and continents. They must be able to perform multiple productions at a time due to the number of shows in their repertoire and they must be able to adapt quickly depending on the crowd, city, and situations that may arise, illness or recasting if need be. Another touring company is the National Players. This is the longest running tour group in the United States to date. It was created from a Catholic university and is now stationed in Maryland. Their mission is to “present classical plays in surprising accessible ways” (Wright, 2015). Their 2015 and 2016 season will be touring Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and A Tale of Two Cities (National Players). These are only a few of the many touring companies and acting companies in the United States this

year.
Acting troupes and acting companies have been recorded since the Fifteen hundreds. However, no matter the century or the continent, the qualities in a professional troupe remain the same. These qualities include the ability to have a large repertoire of scripts and productions ready at a moment’s notice and the ability to adapt to a situation, whether it is improvisation due to forgetting a line or a character name change. Without these acting troupes, the culture of theatre would be extremely different.