in order of appearance
Sampson ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Anthony Jeffes
Abram …………………………………………………………………………………………… Humphrey Jeffes
The actor(s) who only a few years ago played La Pucelle (1 Henry VI) and Queen Margaret (successively in 2, 3 and 1 Henry VI & Richard III) can be relied on for a star performance. And to bring the star(s) on stage as Tybalt would be in line with the previous experience. Their best deployment in a comedy, however, is as two servants who differ only in the colour of the feather on their bonnet : the very servants who start fighting in scene 1 ; 1.
These are closely related characters : Sampson is inclined to sleep with the enemy (Judges), and Abram fathered by means of a concubine the Ishmaelites (Genesis) who were in league with the enemy of Abrams legitimate offspring (Ps. 83) :
… Sampson: Tis all one, I will shew my selfe a tyrant, when I haue fought with the men, I will be ciuil with the maides, I will cut off their heads.
… Gregory : The heads of the maids.
… Sampson: I the heads of the maides, or their maiden heads, take it in what sense thou wilt.Gregory is, of course, related to pope Gregory XIII (d. 1585) who was in league with Philip of Spain to overthrow a certain virgin queen.
Those two servants are not the greatest of Shakespearean heroes perhaps, but they combine excellently with other small parts that offer a brief, yet star-like, command of the stage. These parts are :
- Servants (1 ; 5)
- Uncle Capulet ( (in 1 ; 5)
- 2nd or 3d Musician (4 ; 4)
- Friar John (5 ; 2)
- Officer of the town guard (5 ; 3)
Scene 5 ; 2 features two Franciscan monks, and it would be a tempting option for any director, or playwright, to have the company’s identical twins on stage as the identically dressed friars John and Lawrence. The more because the play opens with pulling the very trick on the Hunsdon livery. Against this logic pleads the notion that Lawrence is very similar to the apothecary. And that it is a matter of seconds to change from the apothecary’s tattered gown in 5 ; 1 to the Franciscan habit in 5 ; 2. And that both men let a visitor wait before entering the stage. Which in Lawrence’s case is a must if he indeed doubles as the apothecary.
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Benvolio
Being Romeo’s friend, he is about the same age. Only one of the company’s known actors may come close :…………………………………………………………………. John Holland (*unknown)
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Tybalt
‘A very tall man’ (2 ; 4), which rules Richard Burbage out. The remainder of the description may fit any of his younger fellow actors, but Tybalt’s psychology points in a certain direction :
All the Capulet family loves him, which suggests personal charm, but he is volatile, and the sole representer of the Capulet hatred against the house of Mountague. A hatred that seems to overrule a swordsman’s code of honour, when he kills Mercutio : a sneak attack, apparently, under Romeo’s arm. But Tybalt only draws against Mercutio when challenged, and inflicts a fatal wound when his thrust is unexpectedly deflected by Romeo : his actual target.
When he interferes, Romeo’s only aim is to beat down Tybalt’s blade, which leaves him a sitting duck in case Tybalt takes advantage of the opportunity. Instead, Tybalt withdraws as requested, and challenges Romeo properly in his own time. Respecting the medieval code of honour like a true knight, he is a worthy counterpart of Twelfth-Night’s Sir Andrew Aguecheek. And when his feelings for the Montagues must show in his face, the same actor will do fine, even if Sir Andrew seems a little bit underpowered for a fencing master. And there are some striking parallels to in support of this identification :
- Shortly before his untimely death, Tybalt adresses Romeo with a contemptuous ‘boy’. For its intended sneering effect it needs a Romeo of Condell’s age. And ‘they shall yet belie his happy years, who say that Sir
Andrew Aguecheek’s nemesis is a man.’ - Romeo is the nemesis of Paris, like Tybalt is Mercutio’s.
- Mercutio and Paris are both kinsmen of Verona’s prince.
- They both challenge a taller adversary.
- The difference in size between Condell’s Romeo and a clearly younger Paris, is equal to the difference between the original Mercutio and the original Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
…………………………………………………………………………………………… John Sincler (*unknown)
In the Induction of The Taming of the Shrew ‘ a certain Sincklo is recognized as the player who has acted ‘Soto’ : the ‘aptly fitted’ part of ‘a farmer’s eldest son, who wooed the gentlewoman so well’.
Shakespeare wrote his actors parts that fitted nicely, and Twelfth-Night’s Aguecheek is the very man to make true comedy of these lines on Sincklo. But more likely by his sad countenance than by his advanced age, because Tybalt is in scene 1 ; 5 still a boy to Old Capulet. Stanley Wells argues that Sincler ‘must have been an amiable, long-suffering man, well accustomed to tolerating jokes about his appearance’. His identification as Tybalt would give him an age well below thirty in 1594. The more obvious identification as the Apothecary, however, suggests a more advanced age. But the parts can certainly be doubled by a man of thirty, and leave plenty of time to change a vigorous youth into a feeble old man.
The part the apothecary has to play, however, is by contents closely related to the part of Friar Lawrence, and the company’s thin man would indeed make an excellent ‘ghostly confessor’ (2 ; 6). His identification as the original Tybalt is therefore less certain than the supportive evidence suggests. And depends mainly on the temptation to leave the stage in scene 5 ; 2 to the Jeffes brothers.
However, their interference may be unnecessary : a little later in the order of appearance we will have a close look at Samuel Crosse. A shadowy man, whose description may come even closer to a perfect match with Tybalt, than Sincler’s
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Old Mountague
The company’s nestors are Goodale, Heminges, and Pope. The age of Crosse can’t be determined. The part is excellently doubled with Capulet’s uncle in scene 1 ; 5. These parts being rather small for a sharer, suggests ……………………………. Thomas Goodale (* ca. 1557)
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Lady Mountague ………………………. scene 1 ; 1 (4 / 2 lines ; Q1) & 3 ; 1 (mute) = age ca. 11
………………………………………………………………………………………… Alexander Cooke (*1582-3)
Judged by his age, too small for the part, and not to be seen on stage next to son Romeo. But in his early teens on stage as Queen Videna (The Seven Deadly Sins) in the company of two adult sons, and he can’t be sized like a treble boy of his own age. Which destines this player for the 1599 part of Rosalind, who disguises herself as Ganymede because she is ‘more than common tall’. An observation that in turn bears some relevance for the traditional interpretation of this line from Twelfth-Night as to make fun of a small Maria: ‘Some mollification for your Giant, sweete Ladie’ (scene 1 ; 5).
David Grote arrived independently at the same conclusion :
‘…Cooke, who seems to have been both taller and stronger than the other boys at this time.’The Best Actors in the World
Shakespeare and His Acting Company
page 42
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Prince Eskales
The sort of part that Shakespeare seems to have preferred to play himself : that of a man in charge. The Prince may be a rather small part, but he rules the play with decisions of great impact on the star-crossed lovers. He also speaks their epitaph (the closing section of a skillfully obscured sonnet), which makes him the Prologue’s counterpart.
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Romeo …………………………………………… 13 scenes (497 lines /max. 23 uninterrupted lines)
According to Brooke, Romeo is a youth ‘Upon whose tender chin, as yet, no manlike beard there grew.’ Brooke has him ‘beautiful’ as well, where real adult masculine beauty is by traditional archetype attractive, handsome, or fair. A mere boy then, just as Tybalt names him at scene 3 ; 1’s fatal confrontation. Brooke defines Tybalt as a young man himself, and his sneering ‘boy’ has to be aimed at a teenager if it is supposed to make any impact. Which defines Romeo as being of the age for a woman’s part.
…………………………………………………………………………………………… Henry Condell (*ca. 1575)
By David Kathman identified as the Henry Condell who was baptized in Norwich on 5 September 1576. Which dates this debut as Romeo shortly before his eighteenth birthday : the age to leave woman’s parts behind. Like Juliet’s, the part of Romeo is very demanding for a boy, and obviously written for one of the company’s ‘leading ladies’. The size of the part combines with the required acting skills to this boy’s level of performance. Comparing parts thus allows to establish for each part the relative age of the boy for which it was written. Linking these relative ages to dates of birth enables an educated guess on which part Shakespeare wrote on which boy.