Henry Porter
Henry Porter was a playwright active in late 16th-century London, primarily associated with Philip Henslowe's theater. His career, though brief, is noted for the play "The Two Angry Women of Abington," a comedy believed to have influenced Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor." Porter was involved in theater during a vibrant period of English drama, collaborating with notable contemporaries like Henry Chettle and Ben Jonson. His association with Henslowe is documented through various loans and production expenses, suggesting that he was valued for his contributions, despite limited surviving records of his work. Porter died in June 1599 from injuries sustained in a duel, leaving behind a legacy that has intrigued scholars, though much about his life remains speculative. His plays reflect an intimate knowledge of the Oxford area and indicate he was considered one of the best comic writers of his time. Despite the scant information available, Porter's impact on the theatrical landscape of his era continues to be a subject of interest.
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Henry Porter
Playwright
- Born: c. sixteenth century
- Died: June 7, 1599
Biography
What information is available on Henry Porter is based upon scant records and considerable speculation. He was associated with Philip Henslowe’s theater in London during the last five years of the sixteenth century. Henslowe’s Diary mentions three plays that Porter wrote or collaborated on before he died of injuries sustained on June 6, 1599, in a duel with John Day, who was also associated with Henslowe. Porter died the following day. Day apparently received a royal pardon because there is a record of his being released on bail but no record of his being imprisoned. He was back working with Henslowe by November.
The only extant Porter play is The Two Angry Women of Abington, which was apparently written around 1588 and revised extensively for a later performance by Henslowe’s company. The play, a comedy involving two feuding families whose rancor is somewhat cooled when their children fall in love, is thought by many to have provided a model for William Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, produced shortly after Porter’s play was staged. Entries in Henslowe’s diary for 1598 and 1599 record several loans to Porter and expenditures for costumes and other costs relating to the production of Two Angry Women. In one instance, Porter signed a note for a loan in which he promised to write plays for no one but Henslowe, probably indicating that Henslowe valued his work.
Porter was associated with playwrights Henry Chettle and Ben Jonson. He is known to have worked with Chettle in March, 1599, on a play entitled The Spencers, for which Chettle received an advance and for which Porter was paid five pounds, a goodly sum at that time. The play apparently was produced because in April, 1599, Henslowe recorded expenditures for costumes. However, there is no record of this play, or of any plays by Porter, in the Stationer’s Register.
As early as June 28, 1598, Henslowe lent Chettle twenty shillings for part two of a play entitled Black Bateman of the North, with which Porter also seemed to have some connection because Henslowe notes that Porter promised that the play would be performed. On December 22, 1598, he let Porter have five pounds as partial payment for the second part of Two Angry Women, which was staged in February, with Porter being paid in full on February 12, when he received an additional two pounds.
Little is known about Henry Porter’s life. An examination of the university rolls of his era reveals a number of students by that name at Cambridge and Oxford Universities. References in Porter’s plays suggest that he was well acquainted with the Oxford area. There is also a preponderance of Henry Porters in Abington, where Two Angry Women is set. Scholars have searched for clues in his work that might reveal his identity, but few have surfaced. Records indicate that he was viewed in his day as one of the best comic writers in London.