Giles Allen files a suit against Cuthbert Burbage in the court of Star Chamber over the lease on the Theatre. In his bill of complaint Allen recites the details of his twenty-one year lease to James Burbage, including that permission to build the Theatre and to extend the lease were contingent upon the expenditure of £200 for other improvements to the property. Allen argues he was not bound to extend the lease because the Theatre was financed by John Brayne, the lease assigned to John Hyde, and Burbage still owed him £30 in rent. Allen charges that Cuthbert Burbage and his confederates assembled around 28 December 1598, armed with various weapons, and attempted to pull down the Theatre building. They resisted the attempts of Allen's servants and tenants to stop them. Once they had torn down the building, they carried the remains over the Bankside and erected a new theatre there. Allen then summarizes the various suits that have passed between Cuthbert and himself and explains his arrest for contempt of court as the result of a conspiracy by Cuthbert, Cuthbert's attorney, and Richard Lane, registrar for the court of Requests. He claims that Cuthbert and Richard Burbage so threatened and intimidated his witnesses (threatening to stab them) that they were afraid to tell the truth on Allen's behalf. Richard Hudson and Thomas Osborne, carpenters, perjured themselves in testifying that James Burbage had spent £240 in repairs and building on the Theatre property. Allen says evidence from the chancery court proceedings will attest that Richard Hudson did not survey the property in 1586, nor had James Burbage spent anywhere near £240 on the property by 18 July 1586. Cuthbert won his suit by means of such dishonesties, according to Allen.
| Name | Event Role(s) | Document Role(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Burbage, Ellen | administratrix | widow |
| Jeffreys, J. | attorney | |
| Maddox, John | counsel for the defense | |
| Mill, William | court officer | |
| Burbage, Cuthbert | defendant | leaseholder, playhouse owner |
| Street, Peter | defendant | carpenter, chief |
| Smythe, William | defendant | carpenter |
| Burbage, Richard | defendant | |
| Hudson, Richard | defendant | carpenter |
| Osborne, Thomas | defendant | carpenter |
| Lane, Richard | defendant | registrar, court of Requests |
| Burbage, James | leaseholder | deceased, playhouse owner |
| Hyde, John | mortgage holder | |
| Allen, Giles | plaintiff | gentleman, lessor |
| Brayne, John | playhouse sharer | |
| Allen, Sara | wife |