128:, the theatres were formally closed. Actors performed clandestinely when they could, though they were repeatedly harassed, arrested, imprisoned, and generally persecuted by the authorities. Legal documents once again throw light upon the careers of Baxter and his fellow actors in these years. Baxter was one of several English actors who performed on the Continent, mainly in
144:. In the complainants' interpretation, the King's Company was a continuation of the 1648 group, and Conway's contract applied. The resulting suit has been called "the Baxter suit," since in some documents Baxter is listed first among the involved actors. Baxter himself gave a deposition in the case in 1665, in which he identified himself as being 72 years old at the time.
156:
Baxter was one of the thirteen actors who became sharers in the new King's
Company when it was organized at the start of the Restoration period. He continued with that organization for the remainder of his stage career. His 1665 deposition indicated that he received a "salary," apparently more like a
110:
With Baxter as with many other actors of his time, some of the best evidence on his career comes from legal documents. In March 1622, a feltmaker complained that Baxter had wounded him during a performance, while the feltmaker had been seated at the side of the stage. Apparently, nothing came of the
139:
He was also involved in a 1648 effort to restart the King's Men. In
December of that year, Baxter and nine other actors, most of them veterans of the company, signed a contract with an upholsterer named Robert Conway; Conway was to provide financial backing for the group in return for a portion of
64:
through most of that company's existence, from 1606 to 1623. He was paid 10 shillings a week as a hired man; he became a sharer (a partner in the company) in 1623, the year the company folded. Unfortunately, that company was in financial difficulties for much of its existence; its hired men were
147:
The documents in the case specify that during the years of the theatre closure the actors often could act only in private homes for relatively small sums; and even then they were sometimes arrested and jailed. The authorities used confiscation of the actors' costumes as an effective means of
140:
their income, and the ten would be the sharers or partners in the new version of the old company. This effort produced limited drama but enduring litigation: Conway's heirs sued the actors in 1661, claiming that the 1648 contract granted them a share in the profits of the newly formed
65:
sometimes paid half their wages, or less, or nothing. "Baxter kept a record of these deficits, which he considered as arrears, but could never recover them from the company." (Baxter may have received his share in 1623 as compensation for the arrearages.)
115:
or Worth/Baskerville suit, that involved most of the members of his acting troupe. (Baxter's signatures on legal documents, in 1623 and in 1665, prove that the pre-1642 and post-1660 actors are the same man.)
157:
pension, of 20 shillings per week since 1663. He likely died not long prior to 8 February 1668, "when his name is cancelled in a livery warrant."
280:
290:
285:
275:
178:
A Dictionary of Actors and of Other
Persons Associated with the Public Representation of Plays in England before 1642.
36:
of his era. His long career illustrates the conditions during the difficult years of transition from the period of
69:
17:
148:
suppression, since a troupe's stock of costumes constituted its main material wealth and financial investment.
160:
Baxter was probably the father of two actors of the next generation, John Baxter and another
Richard Baxter.
37:
99:
77:
237:
Judith
Milhous and Robert D. Hume, "New Light on English Acting Companies in 1646, 1648, and 1660,"
111:
man's complaint. In the following year, 1623, Baxter gave testimony in a legal suit, the so-called
300:
295:
73:
125:
8:
90:
61:
49:
45:
95:
82:
141:
41:
112:
86:
33:
269:
103:
241:, New Series, Vol. 42 No. 168 (November 1991), pp. 487-509; see pp. 488-91.
129:
72:
in the years from 1628 to 1637; he appeared in their productions of
32:, was a seventeenth-century actor, who worked in some of the leading
224:
C. J. Sisson, "The Red Bull
Company and the Importunate Widow,"
133:
124:
From 1642 to 1660, during the years of the Civil War and
189:
C. J. Sisson, "Notes on Early Stuart Stage
History,"
180:New Haven, Yale University Press, 1929; pp. 32-3.
267:
213:English Dramatic Companies, 1558–1642
16:For other people named Richard Baxter, see
193:, Vol. 37 No. 1 (January 1942), pp. 25-36.
215:, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1910; p. 197.
268:
250:Milhous and Hume, pp. 487, 491 and ff.
151:
13:
14:
312:
281:17th-century English male actors
18:Richard Baxter (disambiguation)
253:
244:
231:
218:
205:
196:
183:
170:
136:, in the years 1644 and 1645.
55:
28:(c. 1593 – c. 1667), or
1:
163:
119:
291:King's Men (playing company)
259:Milhous and Hume, pp. 505-6.
7:
286:17th-century English actors
228:, Vol. 7 (1954), pp. 57-66.
38:English Renaissance theatre
10:
317:
15:
276:English male stage actors
239:Review of English Studies
98:), and their revival of
191:Modern Language Review
78:The Lover's Melancholy
211:John Tucker Murray,
68:Baxter was with the
91:Believe as You List
60:Baxter worked with
226:Shakespeare Survey
152:In the Restoration
42:English Civil War
34:theatre companies
308:
260:
257:
251:
248:
242:
235:
229:
222:
216:
209:
203:
200:
194:
187:
181:
176:Edwin Nunzeger,
174:
62:Queen Anne's Men
316:
315:
311:
310:
309:
307:
306:
305:
266:
265:
264:
263:
258:
254:
249:
245:
236:
232:
223:
219:
210:
206:
201:
197:
188:
184:
175:
171:
166:
154:
122:
58:
48:, and into the
21:
12:
11:
5:
314:
304:
303:
298:
293:
288:
283:
278:
262:
261:
252:
243:
230:
217:
204:
202:Sisson, p. 35.
195:
182:
168:
167:
165:
162:
153:
150:
142:King's Company
121:
118:
57:
54:
40:, through the
26:Richard Baxter
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
313:
302:
299:
297:
294:
292:
289:
287:
284:
282:
279:
277:
274:
273:
271:
256:
247:
240:
234:
227:
221:
214:
208:
199:
192:
186:
179:
173:
169:
161:
158:
149:
145:
143:
137:
135:
131:
127:
117:
114:
108:
106:
105:
104:The Mad Lover
101:
97:
93:
92:
88:
84:
80:
79:
75:
71:
66:
63:
53:
51:
47:
43:
39:
35:
31:
27:
23:
19:
301:1660s deaths
296:1590s births
255:
246:
238:
233:
225:
220:
212:
207:
198:
190:
185:
177:
172:
159:
155:
146:
138:
126:Commonwealth
123:
109:
102:
89:
76:
67:
59:
29:
25:
24:
22:
107:, c. 1630.
87:Massinger's
56:Early years
50:Restoration
46:Interregnum
270:Categories
164:References
120:Dark years
113:Baskervile
100:Fletcher's
70:King's Men
130:The Hague
44:and the
30:Backster
85:) and
74:Ford's
134:Paris
52:era.
132:and
96:1631
83:1628
272::
94:(
81:(
20:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.