Thomas Killigrew

Thomas Killigrew, Charles II's unofficial court jester, was given the patent for the King's Company. Killigrew set up his company at Gibbon's Tennis Court in Vere Street, where he took on the older and more experienced actors to form the nucleus of the King's Company. They were sworn in as His Majesties Comedians on 6 October 1660, and he began to present plays in November 1660. He was also given permission to use most of the current plays including at least one by Davenant, leaving Davenant with younger actors who had been acting at the Cockpit, Drury Lane, and a lesser selection of plays. although he did finally gain possession of his own work. Once the companies were established, the two managers were given separate patents in 1662, which included the instruction that both companies should use women for the women's parts, and, according to Pepys, Killigrew was the first to cast women (Lewcock 112-113).

Gibbon's Tennis Court

Othello was one of the plays kept by Killigrew when he and Davenant received their licenses in 1660. Killigrew was clearly favored when Charles II granted rights to plays (McHugh 127-128). When Killigrew’s company was in a terrible state in the 1670s, due largely to mismanagement, the profits were so negligible that Killigrew was in danger of losing his principal actors; several of them gave notice in January 1676/7 that they were going to desist from acting. In February 1675/6, Charles ordered the company to begin performing again. But the King’s Company still failed even with support and an order to perform and closes its doors in April of 1682, with a proposition that the patents be merged. Understandably, many scholars of adaptations of Shakespeare have made the important point that, given this environment, being commercially successful was crucial for both the King’s Company and the Duke’s Company during the 1660s and throughout the late seventeenth century; some have suggested that particular playwrights made changes to pre-1642 plays for entertainment value only (McHugh 9-10).

Killigrew and a Portrait of Charles I

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