Commentary on the manuscript Plot of
The Battell of Alcazar


1. The Manuscript Plot

The Battle of Alcazar is the only one of the seven surviving playhouse Plots for which a playtext (printed in 1594) also survives.

The manuscript original of this Plot is one of five that have been bound up together in one volume, now housed in the British Library Manuscript Collection, and classified as Additional Manuscripts 10,449. The five folio pages of the volume are as follows:
folio 1, The Dead Man's Fortune;
folio 2, Frederick and Basilea;
folio 3, The Battle of Alcazar (this text);
folio 4, 2 Fortune's Tennis (fragmentary); and
folio 5, Troilus and Cressida (also fragmentary).
A sixth Plot, 2 Seven Deadly Sins, is at Dulwich College;
and for a seventh, 1 Tamar Cam, the manuscript is lost and its contents are known only in a nineteenth century printed version.

Facsimiles of all these Plots are available in the second volume of W.W. Greg's two-volume Dramatic Documents from the Elizabethan Playhouses (Oxford: Clarendon, 1931).

Greg believed that the Plots of Troilus and Cressida and The Battle of Alcazar were written in the same hand. An examination of the facsimiles will allow one to assess his claim, which seems a reasonable one.

The facsimile of this Plot in Greg's vol 2 is clear in parts, bad in other parts, reflecting the imperfect condition of the original. Not quite as damaged as the Plots of 2 Fortune's Tennis or Troilus and Cressida, this Plot is none the less sadly mutilated. The restoration and preservation of this Plot has resulted in some misplacings of fragments. Consequently, for this Plot, uniquely among the Plots reproduced, Greg provided a “conjectural restoration”, supplying readings for the many gaps in the original based upon evidence from the printed playtext of 1594. I have included his conjectures here, clearly indicated. The curly braces in the text are Greg's, and indicate places where the playtext furnished no guidance.

2. The Play

The quarto of 1594 is titled The Battell of Alcazar, fought in Barbarie, betweene Sebastian king of Portugall, and Abdelmelec king of Marocco. With the death of Captaine Stukeley. As it was sundrie times plaid by the Lord high Admirall his seruants. The author, though unstated, is generally supposed to have been George Peele. Greg said the playtext printed in 1594 was “evidently” an abridged version of the play, whose first performances are conjectured to have been perhaps in 1589. There is no mention of the play in Henslowe's Diary, implying (if the title page attribution is true) that it belonged to an Admiral's company that pre-dated the reorganization of 1594. Greg (DDEP i.146) believed the manuscript Plot itself, presumably connected with a revival of the play, could probably be dated between December 1598 and February 1599. See his argument in DDEP, and also his other study of these issues, Two Elizabethan Stage Abridgements: Alcazar and Orlando (Oxford, 1923). 

3. The Players

•   No player's name is assigned to the role of Sebastian (lines 45, 62, 68, 78, 93, 108). Greg (DDEP i.150) conjectured that the part would have been played by either William Bird or John Singer; he inclined to the former.

•   Nor is any player's name assigned to the role of Calipolis, clearly a boy's part (lines 18, 40, 84). Greg DDEP i.150) conjectured cautiously that the part might well have been played by Will Barne.

•   All the other roles have players' names assigned to them, as follows:

  1. Edward Alleyn (“Mr Ed: Allen”) as Muly Mahamet (lines 5, 17, 40, 43, 65, 84, 93, 112).
  2. “mr Allens boy” (presumably John Pig) as one of Muly Mahamet's pages (lines 7-8).
  3. Richard Alleyn (“Rich: Allen”) as the Portingall Presenter (lines 3, 23, 54, 89) and as Diego Lopis, the governor of Lisbon (lines 35-6).
  4. One “Jeames”, presumably James Bristow, as Ruben (lines 15-16, 33), Sebastian's page (lines 45-6), and a page (line 69).
  5. William Cartwright (“w. Cartwright”) as one of Muly Mahamet's attendants (lines 6, 20), a Moor (line 41), and an attendant (lines 72, 87, 92).
  6. One “Dab” as one of Muly Mahamet's young brothers (line 9), a ghost (lines 26, 61), Ruben's young son (line 34), and an attendant (line 67).
  7. Thomas Downton (“mr Doughton”) as Abdelmelec (lines 11, 31, 103).
  8. Thomas Drom (“Tho: Drom”) as Nemesis (line 25, 56).
  9. One “Harry” as one of Muly Mahamet's young brothers (line 9), a ghost (lines 26, 61), and an attendant (line 67).
  10. Thomas Hunt (“mr Hunt”) as one of Muly Mahamet's attendants (lines 6, 19), another attendant (lines 33, 92), a Moor (line 42), a Moorish ambassador (lines 50-1), and an attendant (line 105).
  11. Anthony Jeffes (“Anthony Jeffes”) as Muly Mahamet's son (lines 6, 20, 41, 86), and a devil (lines 59-61).
  12. Humfrey Jeffes (“H Jeffes”) as Muly Mahamet Xeque (lines 14-15, 31, 104), a devil (lines 59-61), and a captain (lines 76, 82).
  13. Richard Jones (“mr Jones”) as Luis de Silva (lines 47-8), a Spanish ambassador (line 71), Lodovico Caesar (line 80), and an attendant (line 106).
  14. Edward Juby (“mr Jubie”) as Calcepius Bassa (lines 12, 32), and as Avero (lines 47, 68-9, 79, 94, 108).
  15. Richard Juby (“Dick Jubie”) as Abdula Rais (a female part; lines 15, 32), Cristoforo de Tavora (lines 49-50, 78, 110), and an unclear role at line 100.
  16. William Kendall (“w. Kendall”) as Abdelmenen (line 10), one of Calcepius Bassa's attendants (line 13), a ghost (lines 26, 61), Hercules (lines 37-8, 53, 70, 80), an attendant (line 67), and an unclear role at lines 100 and 111.
  17. One “mr Charles”, presumably Charles Massey, as Zareo (lines 12, 31, 104), the duke of Barcelis (line 46), a Spanish ambassador (lines 71-2), and an attendant (line 105).
  18. One “Parsons”, presumably Thomas Parsons, as a fury (lines 28, 57-8, 96).
  19. “mr Sam”, presumably Samuel Rowley, as one of Muly Mahamet's attendants (line 6), one of his ambassadors (line 51), a devil (lines 59-60), a captain (line 83), Death (lines 95-6), and as Pisano (lines 21-2; see Greg's rationale for this assignment, DDEP i.158.
  20. Robert Shaa (“mr Shaa”) as an Irish bishop (lines 37-8, 53), the governor of Tangier (lines 75, 81-2, 111), and an attendant (line 105).
  21. George Somerset (“George”, “Georg Somersett”) as one of Calcepius Bassa's attendants (line 14), a fury (lines 28, 57-8, 96), an attendant (lines 33, 72-3, 88), and count Vinioso (lines 48-9).
  22. Robert Taylor (“Ro: Tailor”, “Robin Tailor”) as one of Calcepius Bassa's attendants (line 13), a fury (lines 28, 57-9, 96), and Jonas (lines 36-8, 53, 70, 79, 108).
  23. Thomas Towne (“mr Towne”) as Stukeley (lines 36, 52, 64, 69, 79, 94, 108).
  24. “mr Townes boy” as one of Muly Mahamet's pages (lines 7-8).