Bringing Down the Curtain on the Touring Theatre
For most of the late 16th and early 17th century, theatre companies touring England were welcomed in provincial towns. But as tastes changed, players found themselves take second billing to moral concerns.
Early in the summer months of 1587 John Towne, a performer in the renowned Queen’s Men acting company, was languishing in jail. At some point on the evening of 13 June, while his company was on tour in Thame in Oxfordshire, Towne had entered into a heated argument with his colleague William Knell. Whatever the cause, the quarrel quickly turned violent, with Knell drawing his sword. Retreating atop a mound in an area called White Hound Close, Towne found himself cornered. A report from the coroner’s inquest informs us what happened next:
Knell continuing his attack as before, so maliciously and furiously, and Towne … to save his life drew his sword of iron (price five shillings) and … thrust it into the neck of William Knell and made a mortal wound three inches deep and one inch wide.
Knell died slowly, not expiring until half an hour later; Towne found himself facing a murder charge.
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