Thomas Belte, Elizabethan Boy Actor
Citations Over Time
Abstract
THE platt of The Secound parte of the Seuen Deadlie Sinns (Dulwich College MS XIX) is a crucial document of Elizabethan theatre history. One of four manuscript ‘plots’ from the period 1590–1602 which survive in their entirety (another three survive as fragments or in later transcript), the plot of 2 Seven Deadly Sins (as I will henceforth call it) assigns roles, entrances, and exits for twenty named actors performing in three consecutive playlets treating the sins of Envy, Sloth, and Lechery (as exemplified through the cautionary tales of Gorboduc, Sardanapalus, and Tereus).1 An additional seven unnamed actors play the Seven Deadly Sins in the Prologue, and two more are assigned the important parts of Lydgate and Henry VI, who remain onstage throughout and frame the action of the three playlets. Among the actors named are three with the prefix ‘Mr.’ (‘Mr Pope’, ‘Mr Phillips’, and ‘Mr Bryan’) and several with full names given (‘Richard Burbadge’, ‘Richard Cowley’, ‘John Duke’, ‘Robert Pallant’, ‘John Sincler’, ‘Thomas Goodale’, ‘William Sly’, and ‘J. Holland’). Three designated by first name (‘Harry’, ‘Kitt’, and ‘Vincent’) were probably hired men, and six, presumably boys, appear mainly in female roles (‘Saunder’, ‘Nick’, ‘Robert’, ‘Ned’, ‘Will’, and ‘T. Belt’).
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