‘A Chaste Maid in Cheapside’

Abstract

A Chaste Maid in Cheapside was probably written in 1613 (see New Mermaids edition, p. xiii), and performed the same year by the Lady Elizabeth’s Men. This company — formed in 1611 — was, until 1613, based at the Swan playhouse on the Bankside. A contemporary sketch of the playhouse (known as the De Witt drawing: Plate 2) shows a circular building, mainly open to the sky, with three tiers of galleries and a tiled roof. The drawing is dominated by the tiring-house (mimorum aedes = ‘house of the actors’) and the stage. The former has two sets of double doors, apparently hinged to open outwards. Above these is a gallery divided into six bays, in which figures can be seen. This gallery appears to have had three uses: it provided an ‘upper level’ for the actors when needed (there is no such need in A Chaste Maid); it provided a location for the musicians (referred to in the stage direction preceding V. iv); and it seems likely that this gallery also provided seating for audience. Since no other audience is drawn in, De Witt may have included them here to draw attention to this as a viewing point, though as it is not clear whether the whole drawing shows a performance, a rehearsal, or is merely a general recollection, the status of the figures remains conjectural. It has been calculated that the Swan had an audience capacity of between 2000 and 3000.