Cuthbert Burbage sues Giles Allen in Requests court over the Theatre playhouse property. Henry Johnson deposes 26 April 1600. Johnson affirms that James Burbage drew up a new lease but that Allen refused to sign it for the reasons enumerated in the interrogatories. He affirms there was a bond of £200 between James Burbage and Allen, and that Burbage owed £30 in rent at the time of his death. Johnson is not of the opinion that James Burbage spent at least £200 improving the properties during the first ten years of the lease. Johnson affirms that he was present during the negotiations between Cuthbert Burbage and Allen for the renewal of the lease and gives details of the negotiations and disagreements similar to those in the interrogatories and other depositions, including the agreement that the Theatre would remain a playhouse for only five more years. Johnson reports as hearsay that Ellen Burbage is poor and that John Brayne financed half the Theatre. Johnson reports that he was a tenant of James Burbage, who was a good landlord, but that Burbage was often behind in his rent to Allen. Johnson says he went to the Theatre while Burbage and the workmen were pulling down the building and ordered them to stop as they had no permission or agreement to do so. He noted that the persons involved were Cuthbert and Richard Burbage, Thomas Smyth, and Peter Street. They informed him that they were pulling the building down only to set it up on the same premises in another form and showed him the defects in the building as it presently stood.
| Name | Event Role(s) | Document Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Burbage, Ellen | administratrix | |
| Burbage, Richard | brother | |
| Street, Peter | carpenter, chief | |
| Allen, Giles | defendant | lessor |
| Johnson, Henry | deponent | silk-weaver |
| Brayne, John | playhouse financier | |
| Burbage, Cuthbert | playhouse owner | |
| Burbage, James | playhouse owner | father, leaseholder |
| Goburne, John | witness |