The Rose Playhouse
@roseplayhouse.bsky.social
4.1K followers 300 following 68 posts
Bankside's first theatre Built by Philip Henslowe 1587, rediscovered 1989 Original home of plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe, Kyd & many others Scheduled Monument & Registered Charity www.roseplayhouse.org.uk Rose Theatre Trust 56 Park St, London SE1 9AR
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Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
literatureworks.bsky.social
This coming Monday 👇🏻

Book your tickets for this first online talk and learn all about the lost play 'Page of Plymouth' and the exciting city-wide project ahead of us.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Mon 13 Oct @ 6.30pm online

PAGE OF PLYMOUTH
Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play

An introduction to the lost 1599 domestic tragedy about the murder of goldsmith George Page by his young wife, & the new project centred on it looking at Plymouth lives then & now.

www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, reading: Researching The Rose, Monday evening online talks. Helen Chaloner & David Prescott – Page of Plymouth: Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play. 6.30-7.30pm, 13 October 2025. Presented in conjunction with Literature Works. On right are headshot photographs of the two speakers side by side.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Mon 13 Oct @ 6.30pm online

PAGE OF PLYMOUTH
Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play

An introduction to the lost 1599 domestic tragedy about the murder of goldsmith George Page by his young wife, & the new project centred on it looking at Plymouth lives then & now.

www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, reading: Researching The Rose, Monday evening online talks. Helen Chaloner & David Prescott – Page of Plymouth: Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play. 6.30-7.30pm, 13 October 2025. Presented in conjunction with Literature Works. On right are headshot photographs of the two speakers side by side.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This is the first of five Rose talks on Page of Plymouth, and will be presented by David Prescott, Producer & Dramaturg, alongside Helen Chaloner, CEO of @literatureworks.bsky.social

The talk will include readings from contemporary pamphlets about the murder, and extracts of Jonson's poetry.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This is the first of five Rose talks on Page of Plymouth, and will be presented by David Prescott, Producer & Dramaturg, alongside Helen Chaloner, CEO of @literatureworks.bsky.social

The talk will include readings from contemporary pamphlets about the murder, and extracts of Jonson's poetry.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Mon 13 Oct @ 6.30pm online

PAGE OF PLYMOUTH
Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play

An introduction to the lost 1599 domestic tragedy about the murder of goldsmith George Page by his young wife, & the new project centred on it looking at Plymouth lives then & now.

www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, reading: Researching The Rose, Monday evening online talks. Helen Chaloner & David Prescott – Page of Plymouth: Ben Jonson & Thomas Dekker's Lost Play. 6.30-7.30pm, 13 October 2025. Presented in conjunction with Literature Works. On right are headshot photographs of the two speakers side by side.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This Saturday...

This is your chance to perform on the site of the theatre for which Marlowe wrote his mighty lines and where Shakespeare himself trod the boards.

Or you can just watch the fun!

Pick one play or as many as you like, but whatever you do, please join us and help support The Rose.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 20 Sept, 12noon-8.30pm
THE 8th ROSE READATHON

Our hugely popular fund-raiser returns!

Choose to watch or take part, as we gallop through 1hr versions of six plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe & Jonson.

Roles drawn from a hat & scripts provided.

More info & book: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, with date, times & ticket prices (per play: £10 to take part, £5 to watch) in modern red type, together with a jumble of the titles in old fashioned black type taken from the original printings of the six plays in the Readathon: Twelfth Night, The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Massacre at Paris, and The Comedy of Errors.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This Saturday...

This is your chance to perform on the site of the theatre for which Marlowe wrote his mighty lines and where Shakespeare himself trod the boards.

Or you can just watch the fun!

Pick one play or as many as you like, but whatever you do, please join us and help support The Rose.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 20 Sept, 12noon-8.30pm
THE 8th ROSE READATHON

Our hugely popular fund-raiser returns!

Choose to watch or take part, as we gallop through 1hr versions of six plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe & Jonson.

Roles drawn from a hat & scripts provided.

More info & book: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, with date, times & ticket prices (per play: £10 to take part, £5 to watch) in modern red type, together with a jumble of the titles in old fashioned black type taken from the original printings of the six plays in the Readathon: Twelfth Night, The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Massacre at Paris, and The Comedy of Errors.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 20 Sept, 12noon-8.30pm
THE 8th ROSE READATHON

Our hugely popular fund-raiser returns!

Choose to watch or take part, as we gallop through 1hr versions of six plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe & Jonson.

Roles drawn from a hat & scripts provided.

More info & book: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, with date, times & ticket prices (per play: £10 to take part, £5 to watch) in modern red type, together with a jumble of the titles in old fashioned black type taken from the original printings of the six plays in the Readathon: Twelfth Night, The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Massacre at Paris, and The Comedy of Errors.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 20 Sept, 12noon-8.30pm
THE 8th ROSE READATHON

Our hugely popular fund-raiser returns!

Choose to watch or take part, as we gallop through 1hr versions of six plays by Shakespeare, Marlowe & Jonson.

Roles drawn from a hat & scripts provided.

More info & book: www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Infographic, with date, times & ticket prices (per play: £10 to take part, £5 to watch) in modern red type, together with a jumble of the titles in old fashioned black type taken from the original printings of the six plays in the Readathon: Twelfth Night, The Alchemist, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, The Massacre at Paris, and The Comedy of Errors.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This Saturday is our last August Open day!

Our new free digital guide also has a 75 min Sonic Trail that you can download to your phone – an immersive audio walking tour starting and ending at The Rose, allowing you to explore the local area while listening to the sounds of Elizabethan London.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
This Saturday is our last August Open day!

Our new free digital guide also has a 75 min Sonic Trail that you can download to your phone – an immersive audio walking tour starting and ending at The Rose, allowing you to explore the local area while listening to the sounds of Elizabethan London.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're opening our doors again this Friday, with a new free digital guide you can download and use.

You can also use it to walk along our new Sonic Trail – a 75 min immersive audio tour that lets you explore the surrounding area while learning about the soundscapes of Elizabethan London!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're opening our doors again this Friday, with a new free digital guide you can download and use.

You can also use it to walk along our new Sonic Trail – a 75 min immersive audio tour that lets you explore the surrounding area while learning about the soundscapes of Elizabethan London!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
tracelarkhall.bsky.social
Go visit the Rose!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're opening our doors again this Friday & Saturday, with a new free digital guide you can download and use.

You can also use it to walk along our new Sonic Trail – a 75 min immersive audio tour that lets you explore the surrounding area while learning about the soundscapes of Elizabethan London!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're opening our doors again this Friday & Saturday, with a new free digital guide you can download and use.

You can also use it to walk along our new Sonic Trail – a 75 min immersive audio tour that lets you explore the surrounding area while learning about the soundscapes of Elizabethan London!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're opening our doors again this Friday & Saturday, with a new free digital guide you can download and use.

You can also use it to walk along our new Sonic Trail – a 75 min immersive audio tour that lets you explore the surrounding area while learning about the soundscapes of Elizabethan London!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We're open on selected days this August, so why not see the archaeological remains of Bankside's first theatre?

£6 / £20 family of 4
Kids 12yrs & under go FREE

No need to book – just pay on the door

+ we have a new free digital guide you can use!

Find out more www.roseplayhouse.org.uk/whats-on
An infographic with details of our August Summer Holiday Openings, between 12 noon and 4pm on Fri 8th & 9th, Fri 15th & 16th, Fri 22nd, and Sat 30th. Ticket prices are £6 for adults and teenagers, with a £20 ticket for a family of four. Accompanied kids 12 years and under go FREE. In the top left corner the usual round red Rose logo is in the middle of a seventeenth century engraving of the sun, with black wavey sun rays surrounding it. The words 'August Summer Holiday Openings' are in different style Elizabethan print fonts, with the letters all at slightly different angles to each other and not laid out in straight lines – it looks a little like the letters have been strung on holiday bunting and are waving in the summer breeze...
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We hope to see you here!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 2 Aug @ 1pm & 3pm onsite
DISCOVERY DAY: COSTUME

Discover how a fashionable middle-class lady dressed in mid-1590s London.

You'll be shown a replica of the clothing that Joan Alleyn, step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, wears in her famous portrait.

£7 / £5 - Book: bit.ly/407BAJS
Infographic with the event's title, date, time and ticket prices in large modern white text, superimposed on the top-half of the famous 1596 portrait of Joan Alleyn, the step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, and the wife of its leading actor Edward Alleyn, that hangs in Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. In the painting, she wears a tall broad-brimmed black hat with a black hatband, that is tied onto her head with black ribbon over the white linen coif that covers most of her hair. She wears a very large cream-coloured ruff trimmed with lace. She wears a black gown, with very large shoulders that point upwards, which is open to show a cream stomacher underneath, with delicate floral blackwork embroidery. She stands against a plain background, has fair hair, pale skin and red lips, and looks serious as she displays her status through the fashionable and expensive clothing that she wears.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Come and join us!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 2 Aug @ 1pm & 3pm onsite
DISCOVERY DAY: COSTUME

Discover how a fashionable middle-class lady dressed in mid-1590s London.

You'll be shown a replica of the clothing that Joan Alleyn, step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, wears in her famous portrait.

£7 / £5 - Book: bit.ly/407BAJS
Infographic with the event's title, date, time and ticket prices in large modern white text, superimposed on the top-half of the famous 1596 portrait of Joan Alleyn, the step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, and the wife of its leading actor Edward Alleyn, that hangs in Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. In the painting, she wears a tall broad-brimmed black hat with a black hatband, that is tied onto her head with black ribbon over the white linen coif that covers most of her hair. She wears a very large cream-coloured ruff trimmed with lace. She wears a black gown, with very large shoulders that point upwards, which is open to show a cream stomacher underneath, with delicate floral blackwork embroidery. She stands against a plain background, has fair hair, pale skin and red lips, and looks serious as she displays her status through the fashionable and expensive clothing that she wears.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Come and join us!
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 2 Aug @ 1pm & 3pm onsite
DISCOVERY DAY: COSTUME

Discover how a fashionable middle-class lady dressed in mid-1590s London.

You'll be shown a replica of the clothing that Joan Alleyn, step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, wears in her famous portrait.

£7 / £5 - Book: bit.ly/407BAJS
Infographic with the event's title, date, time and ticket prices in large modern white text, superimposed on the top-half of the famous 1596 portrait of Joan Alleyn, the step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, and the wife of its leading actor Edward Alleyn, that hangs in Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. In the painting, she wears a tall broad-brimmed black hat with a black hatband, that is tied onto her head with black ribbon over the white linen coif that covers most of her hair. She wears a very large cream-coloured ruff trimmed with lace. She wears a black gown, with very large shoulders that point upwards, which is open to show a cream stomacher underneath, with delicate floral blackwork embroidery. She stands against a plain background, has fair hair, pale skin and red lips, and looks serious as she displays her status through the fashionable and expensive clothing that she wears.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
The Rose was the first theatre on Bankside, but the very first south of the Thames was built a mile away in Elephant & Castle in the mid-1570s.

Henslowe records receipts for 10 performances there in 1594, just before it closed.

Find out about the Newington Butts Playhouse @reedproject.bsky.social
The Records of Early English Drama online entry for the record of Newington Butts Playhouse contained in Philip Henslowe's Diary in 1594, giving the dates and receipts for ten performances there between 3-13 June
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We've replaced the rope-lights outlining The Rose's archaeological remains, currently preserved underwater.

The red lights mark the inner & outer walls of the seating galleries.

The blue lights show the front of the stage in 1587, and then pushed back in 1592/3.

Looking south-north, & east-west.
A photograph of the archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse, currently preserved underwater in a very wide and tall basement underneath an office block, looking from the south to the north, with illuminated rope lights in red outlining the position of the inner and outer walls of the seating galleries that ring the yard, with two ropes of blue lights on the north side of the yard, marking the front of the stage in 1587, then pushed back a few feet when The Rose was expanded in 1592/3. The modern day raised viewing platform is just visible at the top right of the photograph. Light from the viewing platform is reflected on the surface of the water. A photograph of the archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse, currently preserved underwater in a very wide and tall basement underneath an office block, looking down from the modern day viewing platform across the flooded space east to west. Illuminated rope lights in red just underneath the surface of the water outline the position of the inner and outer walls of the seating galleries that ring the yard. Immediately in front of the viewer are two nearly-parallel ropes of blue lights marking the front of the trapezoid-shaped stage in 1587, when the playhouse was first built, and then pushed back a few feet when The Rose was expanded in 1592/3.
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
We've replaced the rope-lights outlining The Rose's archaeological remains, currently preserved underwater.

The red lights mark the inner & outer walls of the seating galleries.

The blue lights show the front of the stage in 1587, and then pushed back in 1592/3.

Looking south-north, & east-west.
A photograph of the archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse, currently preserved underwater in a very wide and tall basement underneath an office block, looking from the south to the north, with illuminated rope lights in red outlining the position of the inner and outer walls of the seating galleries that ring the yard, with two ropes of blue lights on the north side of the yard, marking the front of the stage in 1587, then pushed back a few feet when The Rose was expanded in 1592/3. The modern day raised viewing platform is just visible at the top right of the photograph. Light from the viewing platform is reflected on the surface of the water. A photograph of the archaeological remains of The Rose Playhouse, currently preserved underwater in a very wide and tall basement underneath an office block, looking down from the modern day viewing platform across the flooded space east to west. Illuminated rope lights in red just underneath the surface of the water outline the position of the inner and outer walls of the seating galleries that ring the yard. Immediately in front of the viewer are two nearly-parallel ropes of blue lights marking the front of the trapezoid-shaped stage in 1587, when the playhouse was first built, and then pushed back a few feet when The Rose was expanded in 1592/3.
Reposted by The Rose Playhouse
roseplayhouse.bsky.social
Sat 2 Aug @ 1pm & 3pm onsite
DISCOVERY DAY: COSTUME

Discover how a fashionable middle-class lady dressed in mid-1590s London.

You'll be shown a replica of the clothing that Joan Alleyn, step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, wears in her famous portrait.

£7 / £5 - Book: bit.ly/407BAJS
Infographic with the event's title, date, time and ticket prices in large modern white text, superimposed on the top-half of the famous 1596 portrait of Joan Alleyn, the step-daughter of The Rose's owner Philip Henslowe, and the wife of its leading actor Edward Alleyn, that hangs in Dulwich Picture Gallery in London. In the painting, she wears a tall broad-brimmed black hat with a black hatband, that is tied onto her head with black ribbon over the white linen coif that covers most of her hair. She wears a very large cream-coloured ruff trimmed with lace. She wears a black gown, with very large shoulders that point upwards, which is open to show a cream stomacher underneath, with delicate floral blackwork embroidery. She stands against a plain background, has fair hair, pale skin and red lips, and looks serious as she displays her status through the fashionable and expensive clothing that she wears.