Viewing Event Record: 'The Young Gallant's Whirligig' provides contextual information on private theatres

Abstract

Francis Lenton's satirical poem 'The Young Gallant's Whirligig' provides information concerning the private theatres of the late 1620s and their audiences. He writes of a gallant who 'aspireth now to sit vpon the stage, / Lookes round about, then views his glorious selfe[.]' The gallant moves up from the Cockpit to the Blackfriars: 'The Cockpit heretofore would serue his wit, / But now vpon the Fryers stage hee'll sit, / It must be so, though this expensiue foole / Should pay an angell for a paltry stoole.' The gallant must eventually pawn 'His silken garments, and his sattin robe / That hath so often visited the Globe, / And all his spangled rare perrum'd attires, / Which once so glistred in the Torchy Fryers[.]'

Date Event Recorded

Date
From: 1629 (Source of claim: original)

Date Event Happened

Date
From: 1629 (Source of claim: original)

Event Type

  • anti-theatrical comment
  • audience context
  • performance context
  • playhouse context