What happened when all the Queen’s Men came to Thame…

ACTING was a dangerous, even violent, profession back in the sixteenth century, according to Bruce Alexander, the well-known actor and patron of Thame Players’ Theatre Company, in a new video just released on YouTube.

In the video, The Death of Big Knell, Bruce tells the dramatic story of how William Knell, a leading actor with the Queen’s Men, met an untimely death in Thame. The Queen’s Men were formed in 1583 at the express command of Queen Elizabeth I and were responsible for providing entertainment at court. Among their leading actors was William Knell, dubbed directly an ‘Absolute Actor’ in the phrasing of the time – he would undoubtedly have been equivalent to a Hollywood star in today’s terms! 

Because the Plague was raging in London, the Queen’s Men decided to go on tour in 1587, with their first stop being the prosperous market town of Thame. They were performing The Famous Victories of Henry V (a precursor to Shakespeare’s play Henry V) at the White Hound Inn – thought to have been where the War Memorial Gardens now are in Thame. Following the afternoon performance, a fight broke out between William Knell and another actor, John Towne, as a result of which Towne was injured but Knell was sadly killed. It seems that violent occurrences were not that uncommon among actors at the time: the famous playwright Ben Jonson, initially working as an actor with the Admiral’s Men, was briefly imprisoned for killing a man in a duel in 1598, but subsequently freed using a legal ploy.

The Queen’s Men travelled on to Stratford-on-Avon after this episode and it’s rumoured that, being a man down, they went back to London taking the young William Shakespeare with them. Whether this was true we shall probably never know. When you watch the video, you will hear there was another connection between William Knell and Shakespeare – you’ll have to look to find out what it was! 

The Death of Big Knell can be viewed by going to the Thame Players’ website www.thameplayers.co.uk and clicking on the YouTube button. 

NB Bruce Alexander is probably best known for his portrayal of Superintendent Norman Mullett in the ITV series A Touch of Frost, where he plays the superior to David Jason’s Jack Frost. Other TV appearances include parts in Love & Marriage, Doc Martin, EastEnders, Midsomer Murders and Gentleman Jack, while on radio he has played in the BBC dramatisation of Le Carre’s novel The Honourable Schoolboy, among many others.  He has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for over a decade, playing parts in plays such as All’s Well That Ends Well, The Duchess of Malfi, The Merry Wives of Windsor and more. He has also worked many times at the National Theatre. He is one of two patrons of Thame Players Theatre, the other being Sir Tim Rice. Bruce is currently writing a history of Thame.