Queen Henrietta's Men

Queen Henrietta's Men was an important playing company or troupe of actors in Caroline era in London. At their peak of popularity, Queen Henrietta's Men were the second leading troupe of the day, after only the King's Men.

The company was formed in 1625, at the start of the reign of King Charles I, by theatrical impresario Christopher Beeston under royal patronage of the new queen, Henrietta Maria of France. They were sometimes called the Queen's Majesty's Comedians or other variations on their name. The company was founded after an eight-month closure of the London theatres due to bubonic plague (March to October, 1625). The Lady Elizabeth's Men, then called the Queen of Bohemia's Men, had been resident at Beeston's Cockpit Theatre up to the plague closing, and provided the foundation of the new organization.

Theatre manager Beeston had had several different companies acting in his Cockpit Theatre since he started it in 1617; it was with Queen Henrietta's Men that he achieved the level of success he desired. James Shirley became something like the house dramatist of the group; plays by Philip Massinger, John Ford, and Thomas Heywood were also important in their repertory. The company staged revivals along with new plays; their 1633 production of Marlowe's The Jew of Malta was a major success. They played The Witch of Edmonton early in 1636.

In their 1625–36 heyday, the company gave 66 performances at Court, for which they were paid £900.

At its start, the actors of the new company came from several different troupes then active. Richard Perkins had been with Queen Anne's Men at the Red Bull Theatre and briefly (1623–25) with the King's Men. His success as Barabas in The Jew of Malta cemented his reputation as a great tragic actor. William Robbins also came from what had been Queen Anne's Men (it was generally called the Revels company, or simply the Red Bull company, after the 1619 death of Anne of Denmark). Robbins was the company's leading comic actor through the first phase of its existence.

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