The Rose Theater

Cross-Section of The Rose Theater

The Rose Theatre was built in 1587, and was the fourth public theater built in London. It was built by Phillip Henslowe, who would later become one of Shakespeare’s rivals. It was also the first theater to publicly show one of William Shakespeare’s plays. In 1592, The Rose was also home to Edward Alleyn and a company of men from both the “Admirals men” and “Lords Strange’s men” acting groups. From 1592-1594 the theater, along with many others, were continuously closed to the public due to an outbreak of the bubonic plague. After the plague had subsided in 1594 most of these men who were parts of the other acting groups moved into the “Lord Chamberlain’s Men”, which becomes Shakespeare’s acting group. This group stayed at The Rose until the Globe Theatre was built in 1599. From that point on the rose fell into a difficult state, being home to many groups in the years between 1599 and 1605. Ultimately, in 1605, the theater was abandoned and was torn down in 1606.

Source: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/theatre/therose.html

Image Source: http://www.britannia.com/history/londonhistory/histrose.html