Robert Wilson (flourished 15721600), was an

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

who worked primarily in the 1580s and 1590s. He is also believed to have been an actor who specialized in clown roles. He was connected with sixteen plays intended for

Philip Henslowe Philip Henslowe (c. 1550 – 6 January 1616) was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur and impresario. Henslowe's modern reputation rests on the survival of his diary, a primary source for information about the theatrical world of Renaissance ...

's Rose Theatre, in partnership with other playwrights who also produced copy for Henslowe. While mentioned as a dramatist by

Francis Meres Francis Meres (1565/1566 – 29 January 1647) was an English churchman and author. His 1598 commonplace book includes the first critical account of poems and plays by Shakespeare. Career Francis Meres was born in 1565 at Kirton Meres in the par ...

in 1598, most existing information on his dramatic career is derived from Henslowe's papers. Since the name is common, it is not certain that the Robert Wilson who worked for Henslowe in 1598-1600 is the same man who was a prominent actor and occasional playwright in the 1580s; yet many scholars consider it more likely than not that the records refer to one Robert Wilson and not two. If this is correct, Wilson was acting with

Leicester's Men The Earl of Leicester's Men was a playing company or troupe of actors in English Renaissance theatre, active mainly in the 1570s and 1580s in the reign of Elizabeth I. In many respects, it was the major company in Elizabethan drama of its time, and ...

in the 1570s, and was praised along with

Richard Tarlton Richard Tarlton (died September 1588), was an English actor of the Elizabethan era. He was the most famous clown of his era, known for his extempore comic doggerel verse, which came to be known as "Tarltons". He helped to turn Elizabethan theatre ...

for his "wit." He is generally accepted as the author of '' The Three Ladies of London'' (published 1584), ''The Three Lords and Three Ladies of London'' (published 1590), and ''The Cobbler's Prophecy'' (published 1594). It has been speculated that he may also have written ''

Fair Em ''Fair Em, the Miller's Daughter of Manchester,'' is an Elizabethan-era stage play, a comedy written c. 1590. It was bound together with ''Mucedorus'' and ''The Merry Devil of Edmonton'' in a volume labelled "Shakespeare. Vol. I" in the library o ...

'' (c. 1590). In ''Palladis Tamia'' (1598),

mentions Wilson along with Tarlton, and specifically connects Wilson with the Swan Theatre, which was built c. 1595. In just over two years, from spring 1598 to summer 1600, Wilson worked with other members of Henslowe's stable of house playwrights on sixteen different plays, including three two-part projects. Several of these were never completed. # ''Earl Goodwin and his Three Sons, Parts 1 and 2'', with

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton (1563 – 23 December 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. He died on 23 December 1631 in London. Early life Drayton was born at Hartshill, near Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England. Almost nothin ...

Henry Chettle Henry Chettle (c. 1564 – c. 1606) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era, best known for his pamphleteering. Early life The son of Robert Chettle, a London dyer, he was apprenticed in 1577 and became a me ...

, and Thomas Dekker; March 1598. # ''Piers of Exton'', with Drayton, Chettle, and Dekker; March 1598. # ''Black Bateman of the North, Parts 1 and 2'', with Chettle; Part I with Dekker and Drayton also; May–June 1598. # ''The Funeral of Richard Cordelion'', with Chettle, Drayton, and

Anthony Munday Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?10 August 1633) was an English playwright and miscellaneous writer. He was baptized on 13 October 1560 in St Gregory by St Paul's, London, and was the son of Christopher Munday, a stationer, and Jane Munday. He ...

; June 1598. # ''The Madman's Morris'', with Dekker and Drayton, July 1598. # ''Hannibal and Hermes'', with Dekker and Drayton, July 1598. # ''Pierce of Winchester'', with Dekker and Drayton, July–August 1598. # ''Catiline's Conspiracy'', with Chettle; August 1598. Apparently never completed. # ''Chance Medley'', with Munday, Drayton, and Dekker or Chettle; August 1598. # ''

Sir John Oldcastle ''Sir John Oldcastle'' is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-/15th-century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Shakespeare's contemporaries as a proto-Protestant martyr. Publication The play was originally p ...

, Parts 1 and 2'', with Drayton, Munday, and

Richard Hathwaye Richard Hathwaye ( fl. 1597–1603), was an English dramatist. Life Little is known about Hathwaye's life. There is no evidence that he was related to his namesake Richard Hathaway, the father of Shakespeare's wife, Anne Hathaway, though Ri ...

; Oct.-Dec. 1599. # ''Henry Richmond, Part 2'', with others; never completed. # ''Owen Tudor'', with Drayton, Hathwaye, and Munday; Jan. 1600. Apparently never completed. # ''Fair Constance of Rome, Part 1'', with Dekker, Drayton, Hathwaye, and Munday; June 1600. Of Wilson's collaborations for Henslowe, only the first part of ''Sir John Oldcastle'' was published, in 1600 and 1619. None of the other plays has survived. ''Sir John Oldcastle'' was commissioned as a counterblast to the negative depiction of title character in the original versions of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's plays ''

Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the battle at ...

'' and '' Henry IV, Part 2''. Objections from descendants of the historical

John Oldcastle Sir John Oldcastle (died 14 December 1417) was an English Lollard leader. Being a friend of Henry V, he long escaped prosecution for heresy. When convicted, he escaped from the Tower of London and then led a rebellion against the King. Eventual ...

, a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

martyr, appears to have been responsible both for the writing of the corrective ''Oldcastle'' play and the alteration of Oldcastle to

Sir John Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', wh ...

in later versions of the ''Henry IV'' plays. Also, Wilson has been proposed as a possible author of several anonymous Elizabethan plays, including ''

'', '' The Pedlar's Prophecy'', ''

A Larum for London ''A Larum for London, or the Siedge of Antwerp'' is a play written by an anonymous author, published in London in 1602. It provides a graphic re-enactment of the sack of Antwerp by Spanish troops in 1576, sometimes called the Spanish Fury. Not wi ...

'', '' Look About You'', '' Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes'', and '' A Knack to Know a Knave''. On the basis of traditional literary-critical analysis and digital textual methods, Darren Freebury-Jones has proposed that the case for Wilson's authorship of '' A Knack to Know a Knave'' is compelling. As to why a writer would work the way the Henslowe collaborators did: the careers of dramatists who worked mostly on solo projects, like Shakespeare and

Ben Jonson Benjamin "Ben" Jonson (c. 11 June 1572 – c. 16 August 1637) was an English playwright and poet. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for t ...

, show that a dramatist working alone could produce one or two plays a year on a dependable basis. If one of those plays failed to sell, or flopped with the audience, the writer was severely affected. Collaborative writing spread the risk, and could provide a more certain income for a journeyman author. A "Robert Wilson, yeoman (player)" was buried at

St. Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

Cripplegate Cripplegate was a gate in the London Wall which once enclosed the City of London. The gate gave its name to the Cripplegate ward of the City which straddles the line of the former wall and gate, a line which continues to divide the ward into tw ...

on 20 November 1600. This is consistent with the view that the two Robert Wilsons, the player with Leicester's Men and Henslowe's dramatist, were one and the same person; it explains why Henslowe's Wilson stopped writing in 1600.H. S. D. Mithal, 'The Two Wilsons Controversy', Notes & Queries 204 (1959), 106-7.

Notes

References

* Hirsch, Brett D. "Jewish Questions in Robert Wilson’s The Three Ladies of London." ''Early Theatre'' 19.1 (2016): 37–56
online
* Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Robert Year of birth missing 1540s births 1600 deaths 16th-century births English male stage actors 16th-century English male actors English Renaissance dramatists Male actors from London 16th-century English dramatists and playwrights