[The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth] - Anonymous
[A Knack to Know an Honest Man] - Anonymous
Two popular plays from London stage of 1594 both of which have connections to Shakespeare, so much so that there has been much critical study to see if he had a hand in either of them. Neither of them claim much evidence of his genius, but both would seem precursors of plays that have safely been attributed to him.

The famous Victories of Henry the Fifth seems to be a template of Shakespeares Henry V and follows the same broad pattern. The first part describes the young prince Henry as a roustabout in London associating with criminals and committing robberies, with the character of Sir John Oldcastle being an earlier version of Shakespeares Falstaff. The play turns at the death of Henry IV when prince Henry becomes king and accepts his new responsibilities and brings to the kingship his prodigious energies in leading England to its famous victory at Agincourt. The play is fairly pedestrian, but might have owed its success to the part of the clown Derick, which tradition has it, was played by the famous comedian Tarlton. There is some conjecture that Tarlton may have written parts of the play himself, anyway he was such a personality on the Elizabethan stage that he only had to make an appearance and he would cause the audience to laugh. Tarlton died in 1588 and so while the play was entered in the Stationer's Registers in 1594 it is clear that it was written some years earlier: the version I read was in prose rather than blank verse which also points clearly to a play that was probably being staged some ten years earlier.

A Knack to know an Honest Man was also entered in the Stationers Registers in 1594, but the version that has come down to us was probably cobbled together from an actual stage performance. It is not divided into acts and scenes and there are no stage directions, the text is apparently not in a good state with some parts missing. It has a complicated plot, but there is evidence that it may well have been at one time a well produced play that was more popular than most. It is written in blank verse, but is fairly uneven and points to being a collaboration of sorts. The action takes place mostly in Venice where nobles and merchants strive to appease the iron rule of Corrodino the Duke of Venice. The play starts with two members of the nobility Sempronto and Lelio fighting after Lelio accuses Sempronto of seducing his wife. Lelio appears to kill Sempronto and flees the city fearing retribution from the Duke. However Sempronto is nursed back to health by the hermit Philip and takes on a disguise as Penitent Experience. Servio the uncle to Sempronto takes advantage of Leilo's absence to sequester his property while Fortunato the Dukes son, has plans to seduce his daughter Lucida and his friend the senatot Marchetto has eyes on his wife Annetta. Brisheo father to Annetta organises a guard on Leilo's house and Fortunato and Marchetto are beaten off, but Brisheo must now also flee the city. It is the task of Sempronto as Penitent Experience to heal all the wounds and make honest men of the various combatants. It is only the merchant and money lender Servio who is beyond being an honest man. Venice, and a recalcitrant money lender like Servio could have been an inspiration for Shakespeares Merchant of Venice.

Neither of these plays would warrant serious consideration today, but are interesting because both were popular in their time and so 3 star reads. ( )