tor of the time.

The most formidable rivals to this company were the Admiral's men and
the children's companies. The former company was managed by Richard
Henslowe; had, after 1600, a permanent home in the Fortune theater; and
included among its number Edward Alleyn, next to Burbage the most
famous Elizabethan actor. The two great children's companies were
those made up of the choir boys of the Chapel Royal and of St. Paul's.
The former had begun to give dramatic performances as early as 1506.
They were well trained, had the advantage of royal patronage, and were
{49} extraordinarily popular, becoming very serious rivals of the men's
companies. The performances of the Children of the Chapel Royal at the
Blackfriars between 1596 and 1608 were the most fashionable in London.
The children's companies were finally suppressed about 1609.

The members of the men's companies were divided into four classes:
those who had shares in the house and in the company, those who had
shares only in the company, hired actors, and apprentices. The third
of these classes received a fixed salary, the last were cared for by
the individual actors to whom they were apprenticed. The profits of
the theaters were derived from entrance money and the additional fees
received for the better seats. All of the first and half of the second
was divided between the members of the first and second classes of
shareholders. The members of the first received in addition shares in
the other half of the additional fees.[5]

Because female parts were always taken by men or boys, it is sometimes
assumed that Elizabethan acting must have been crude. On the contrary,
we have every reason to believe that most parts, particularly the less
important ones, were acted better than they are usually acted to-day.
Some of the actors, such as Burbage and Alleyn, were undoubtedly men of
great genius. All of them had the advantage of regular and consistent
training--a thing only too often lacking in these days when an actor of
ability is almost immediately made a 'star,' although he frequently
knows pitifully little of the art of acting. One of the most
interesting testimonies to the ability of Elizabethan actors is Ben
{50} Jonson's tribute to the memory of the boy actor, Salathiel Pavy:--

"Weep with me, all you that read
This little story;
And know, for whom a tear you shed
Death's self is sorry.
'Twas a child that so did th