Richard Burbage

Sir Richard Burbage (* 1567, † March 13, 1619 ) was an English actor or Burbadge and theater owners in the Elizabethan era.

Life

He came from a family of actors and was already at the age of 20 years, a well known actor. His father, James Burbage (1531-1597) belonged since 1572 to the acting troupe of Leicester 's Players and built in 1576 under the patronage of the Earl of Leicester, together with his brother John Brayne was the first public commercial theater The Theatre in England, on which the Leicester played 's Men, and formed from 1582 Lord Hunsdon Company ( Queen Elizabeth 's Men ), who worked from 1586 with the Admiral 's Men. About his early years little documents are available, much is speculative in the following and not consistently secured. He probably played about in 1590 with the " Admiral 's Men, 1592 at the Lord Strange 's Men and in 1593 the Earl of Pembroke 's Men roles.

Leader, he was a star of the theater group, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, who was also William Shakespeare, which were 1603 enthronement of James I (England) renamed the King's Men. Although the Admiral 's Men and the Strange 's Men 1590/91 at the court darboten joint events, it is presumed that they otherwise remained independent from each other, with the Admiral 's Men, the Theatre and the Strange 's Men had the Curtain Theatre available. But Burbage must have had, as he played independently for both companies affect both houses.

After the death of his father in 1598 he took over and his brother Cuthbert Burbage was moved the two theaters of the family, the Blackfriars Theatre and The Theatre, later to another location on the south side ( Bankside ) of the Thames and in 1599 as a new house, the Globe Theatre, arose. From 1608/ 09 rented and recorded it the more comfortable because covered Blackfriars Theatre, which gradually replaced the Globe Theatre as headquarters. The brothers Burbage, who lived near the Globe Theatres ( Halliwell Road in Shoreditch ), worked all his life closely.

He was the father of at least eight children and was a member until his death in 1619 to not to actively work as an actor. After his death his widow married Winifred Richard Robinson, a member of the King's Men, who controlled 3 1/2 of the sixteen of their inherited shares in the Globe Theatre. Some experts believe that the so-called Chandos portrait not William Shakespeare but Richard Burbage is, others that he was the creator of the image. Aside from acting, he also worked as a painter in appearance. Up to 1987, was a portrait of a woman in the picture gallery of London's Dulwich College as his work; however, it was later identified as the painting of an anonymous northern Italian artist. The painting collection of the Dulwich College also contains a portrait Burbage by an unknown hand.

He was not as " business-minded " such as the then famous Edward Alleyn and William Shakespeare. He should have left his widow about 300 pounds, much less than Alleyns acquis or Shakespeare's legacy at his death in 1616 .. He was buried in the church St.Leonard, Shoreditch, close to the Theatre. His grave no longer exists. It was later erected a memorial to him and his brother. An unknown poet wrote him an A Funerall Elegye on the Death of the famous actor Richard Burbedg who died on Saturday in Lent the 16 of March 1619th

Importance

Burbage was the leading actor of his time, he played the title role in the premiere of many of the famous Shakespearean dramas such as Hamlet, Othello, Richard III. and King Lear. Addition, however, he appeared in plays by other contemporary authors, such as those of Ben Jonson ( title role in Volpone and Subtle in The Alchemist ), John Marston (The Malcontent ), John Webster ( The Duchess of Malfi ), Beaumont & Fletcher ( The Maid 's Tragedy ) and Christopher Marlowe.

Burbage charisma and effect as an actor is reflected in the huge number of his roles in hundreds of pieces of his time from 1580 to 1610. His greatest actor's counterparty was the gigantic Edward Alleyn, who played the major roles in the successful performances of Marlowe's Tamburlaine and The Jew of Malta ( Barabas ) before Shakespeare.

Shakespeare's estate ( Testament and First Folio)

Probably written in January 1616 Testament of William Shakespeare, which was until March 1616 a part ( page 1) rewritten and provided in the other parts later with additions, considering also his colleague Richard Burbage, who with him the next actors Heminges and Condell money should buy a ring. Shakespeare and Burbage appear in the First Folio at the top of the list of the 26 "principal actors", of which at least 24 ( probably all 26) unitholders ( " sharers " ) were. The following five Heminges, Phillips, William Kempe, Thomas Pope and George Bryan belonged at that time to Alleyns theater group.

Swell

• Martin Holmes: Shakespeare and Burbage. The sound of Shakespeare as devised to suit the voice and talents of his principal player. Rowman and Littlefield, among other things, Totowa NJ, among others 1978, ISBN 0-85033-306-7.
• Ivor Brown: Shakespeare and the Actors. Coward - McCann, New York NY 1970.
• E. K. Chambers: The Elizabethan Stage. 4 volumes. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1923.
• Joseph Quincy Adams: The House Keepers of the Globe. In: Modern Philology. 17, 1, 1919, ISSN 0026-8232, pp. 1-8 ( also a reprint ).