r the
building of the Fortune, dated April 8, 1600, we read that "another
house is [to be] pulled down instead of it";[132] and when the
Puritans later made vigorous protests against the erection of the
Fortune, the Council defended itself by stating that "their Lordships
have been informed by Edmund Tilney, Esquire, Her Majesty's servant,
and Master of the Revels, that the house now in hand to be built by
the said Edward Alleyn is not intended to increase the number of the
playhouses, but to be instead of another, namely the Curtain, which is
either to be ruined and plucked down, or to be put to some other good
use."[133]

[Footnote 132: Greg, _Henslowe Papers_, p. 52.]

[Footnote 133: The Malone Society's _Collections_, I, 82.]

All this talk of the Curtain's being plucked down or devoted to other
uses suggests a contemplated change in the ownership or management of
the building. We do not know when Lanman died (in 1592 he described
himself as fifty-four years of age),[134] but we do know that at some
date prior to 1603 the Curtain had passed into the hands of a
syndicate. When this syndicate was organized, or who constituted its
members, we cannot say. Thomas Pope, in his will, dated July 22, 1603,
mentions his share "of, in, and to all that playhouse, with the
appurtenances, called the Curtain";[135] and John Underwood, in his
will, dated October 4, 1624, mentions his "part or share ... in the
said playhouses called the Blackfriars, the Globe on the Bankside, and
the Curtain."[136] It may be significant that both Pope and Underwood
were sharers also in the Globe. Since, however, further information
is wanting, it is useless to speculate. We can only say that at some
time after the period of Lanman's sole proprietorship, the Curtain
passed into the hands of a group of sharers; and that after a
discussion in 1600 of demolishing the building or devoting it to other
uses, it entered upon a long and successful career.

[Footnote 134: Wallace, _op. cit._, p. 148.]

[Footnote 135: J.P. Collier, _Lives of the Original Actors in
Shakespeare's Plays_, p. 127. In exactly the same words Pope disposed
of his share in the Globe.]

[Footnote 136: _Ibid._, p. 230.]

On May 10, 1601, "the actors at the Curtain"[137] gave serious offense
by representing on the stage persons "of good desert and quality, that
are yet alive, under obscure manner, but yet in such sort as all the
hearers may take notice both of the matter and the