Lord Strange's Men

Lord Strange's Men was an Elizabethan playing company, comprising retainers of the household of Ferdinando Stanley, Lord Strange (pronounced "strang"). They are best known in their final phase of activity in the late 1580s and early 1590s. After 25 September 1593, they were known as the Earl of Derby's Men, that being the date of Stanley's accession to his father's title.

Early iterations of the company were active in the 1560s and 1570s; Henry Stanley, 4th Earl of Derby, kept players both before and after his accession to the title in 1572. A later iteration was active throughout the 1580s, playing at Court in 1580-1, 1583, and 1585-6. And "active" was the key word: they were a troupe of acrobats, led by John Symons "the Tumbler." In 1588 the company went through a re-organization: Symons and the other tumblers left for a competing troupe, Queen Elizabeth's Men. Lord Strange's became a company more devoted to acting; William Kempe, Thomas Pope, and George Bryan, all future Lord Chamberlain's Men, may have joined the company at this time.

In November 1589, the Lord Mayor of London ordered the company not to stage any performances within the city. In response, Strange's Men immediately went to the Cross Keys Inn to mount a performance.

Lord Strange's Men were associated with the Lord Admiral's Men from 1590 to 1594; in the winter of 1591 Strange's Men gave six performances at Court. They were also performing at The Theatre, and perhaps at the Curtain as well. The "plot" of one of their plays, The Seven Deadly Sins, survives from this era, with a cast list that includes Richard Burbage, William Sly, Richard Cowley, and Augustine Phillips, more Lord Chamberlain's Men of the future.

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