Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks, a comedy, was published in 1611 and was, the title page tells us, “diuers times here-to-fore acted by the Children of the Kings Reuels” who played at the Whitefriars theatre between 1607 and 1608. It was probably written no later than mid-1607 before the theatre opened: its author, Lording Barry, was one of the original sharers in the first Whitefriars theatre and it seems reasonable to assume that he would have seen the new company as a vehicle for a play he had ready to put into the repertoire. A reference in the third act to the 1606 Statute against Drunkenness (4 James I, c.5) would make mid-1606 the earliest possible date of composition. It is the only play with Barry’s name on the title …
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Citation: Fraser, Duncan. "Ram Alley, or Merry Tricks". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 26 September 2014 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=35516, accessed 20 April 2024.]
