The Earl of Worcester's Men was a company of actors in Renaissance England.
A first lineup of William Somerset livery, Third Earl of Worcester, is among the companies that toured the country in the mid-16th century. A second version of this company existed in the 1580s and 1590s; little is known about his activities, although in 1583 he included a 16-year-old Edward Alleyn at the beginning of his illustrious career.
In the early 17th century, Edward Somerset, the Fourth Earl of Worcester, an ascendant courtier, wanted to bring his actors to London as a sign of social prestige. In the 1590s only two companies were allowed to operate in London: the Lord Chamberlain's Men and the Lord's Admiral's Men. Worcester was able to obtain a license from the Privy Council for his to be the third company on March 31, 1602. In August of that year they negotiated with Philip Henslowe and soon they were acting in their La Rosa Theater, that the men of Lord Admiral had left empty when moving to the Fortune in 1600.
During that first year with Henslowe, he was bought a dozen works by Henslowe's regular playwrights: Thomas Dekker, Wentworth Smith, John Day, Henry Chettle, Richard Hathwaye, and even a young John Webster. Among its actors were the famous comedian Will Kempe, John Lowin, and Thomas Heywood. Christopher Beeston joined them in August 1602, after leaving the company of Lord Chamberlain's men. At the end of 1602, the company absorbed to the Oxford's Men, another company until then active mainly in tours. In February of 1603 they interpreted the work Sweetly assassinated woman, considered the best one of Heywood.
Early in the reign of James I, the company received royal patronage and became the Queen Anne's Men. Notes
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