James I., some years before he succeeded to the English throne, evinced a strong disposition to favour theatrical amusements. In the Society of Antiquaries is preserved a manuscript which shows the extent and amount of his dramatic establishment, and from it we find that the annual fee of the Master of the Revels had been raised to £100, besides diet in Court, although each of the players was only allowed--as they had been from the time of Henry VIII.--£3, 6s. 8d. per annum.
Prince Henry had a company of players, and after his death, and on the marriage of the Elector Palatine of the Rhine to the Princess Elizabeth, the players transferred their services to the Prince Palatine, and “it is a new feature in theatrical history,” writes Collier,[138] “that on this occasion they produced a patent under the Great Seal very similar to that which James I. had granted about ten years before to Laurence Fletcher, William Shakespeare, and the other servants of the Lord Chamberlain.”
But it seems that the plays acted at Court did not always give satisfaction, for in one of John Chamberlain’s letters to Sir Dudley Carlton occurs this paragraph: “They have plays at Court every night, both holidays and working days, wherein they show great patience, being for the most part such poor stuff that, instead of delight, they send the auditory away with discontent.” And he adds, “Indeed our poets’ brains and inventions are grown very dry, insomuch that of five new plays there is not one that pleases; and therefore they are driven to furbish over their old, which stand them in best stead, and bring them most profit.”
The fondness of James for theatricals is further evidenced by the fact that in 1617, during his journey to the north, he was attended by a regular company of players, and a warrant issued for their payment is thus recorded in the registers of the Privy Council: “11th July 1617.--A warrant to the L. Stanhope, Treasurer of his Majestie’s Chambers, to cause payment to be made to certain players for three Stage Playes, that were acted before his Majestie, in his journey to Scotland, such summes of money as is usual in the like kinde.”
Prince Charles retained a company of musicians in his pay, besides his dramatic performers; and after his accession to the throne we find entries of payment for plays performed at Court at Christmas, and Twelfth-tide. It would seem that, at a very early date, players who called themselves the servants of any particular nobleman, usually wore his badge or livery. Accordingly in 1629 we find the King’s players allowed, every second year, four yards of bastard scarlet for a cloak, and a quarter yard of crimson velvet for a cape to it.