Queen Henrietta's Men
The company was formed in 1625, at the start of the reign of King Charles I of England, by theatrical impresario Christopher Beeston under royal patronage of the new queen, Henrietta Maria.Six cast lists survive from five of the company's plays: from The Renegado, The Wedding, Robert Davenport's King John and Matilda, Thomas Nabbes's Hannibal and Scipio, and from both parts of Heywood's two-part Fair Maid of the West.Beeston had a reputation for breaking up theatre companies when it was in his interest to do so, as a way of maintaining control over recalcitrant and unruly actors; Philip Henslowe was accused of similar tactics in the previous generation.According to his own testimony, Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, was actively involved in rebuilding the Queen Henrietta's company; he apparently had a financial interest in the Salisbury Court Theatre.Four other members disappear from the scanty records of the later 1630s: Allen, Bowyer, Clark, and Robbins may have travelled with James Shirley to Dublin, and worked at the Werburgh Street Theatre there.Some of its personnel (Anthony Turner, Michael Mohun, and Theophilus Bird are examples) resurfaced as members of the newly formed King's Company when the theatres re-opened in 1660.