I've not followed the WBNA except peripherally. I thought it was doing relatively well.
It may be time for a re-look.
Start here: behind a paywall but enough to get you started. Link here.
Then here: The Ringer. Link here.
Much could be said but I think I will wait, but a lot of this seems obvious. My hunch: the WBNA could learn more from the NFL than from the NBA. Unfortunately, the NBA owns 60% of the WBNA if I read that correctly.
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The Book Page
Two books today.
Shakespeare and the Countess: The Battle That Gave Birth to the Globe, Chris Laoutaris, c. 2014.
Gran Cocina Latina: The Food of Latin America, Maricel E. Presilla (Cuban heritage), c. 2012.
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Sir Henry Neville
Shakespeare and the Countess: The Battle That Gave Birth to the Globe, Chris Laoutaris, c. 2014.
The only reason I'm looking at this book: Sir Henry Neville, p. 74, 111, 112-113, 121, 278.
Chapter 4:
Queen Elizabeth I
1566: had just knighted Thomas Hoby as her ambassador to France; his wife: Elizabeth Russell.
Familiar names: Killegrew, Cecil.
Killigrew had married Elizabeth's sister, Katherine.
1566: Sir Thomas Hoby falls ills in Paris. Dies at the age of 36.
A story of the theater, but even more so, the story of the religious fights during Elizabeth I's reign. This might make it a book worth reading. Not sure yet. I don't care for the writing style.
Page 74: the funeral procession for Thomas Hoby:
Anthony Cooke, along with Thomas Hoby's male kinsmen and Sir Henry Neville.
A neighbour of Elizabeth's in the Blackfriars, Nevill would soon marry her niece, Elizabeth Bacon, and go on to play a significant role in the development of hte Blackfriars theatres just a stone's throw away from her own home.
Wow, the dots are starting to connect.
Page 111: The deat of Elizabeth Russell's father nearly frustrated the plans of one theatrical entrepreneur who had firmly set his sights on the Blackfriars. The Queen had been thinking of visiting her namesake at Bisham Abbey during her Progress that summer, and her itinerary was of particular interest to Sir Henry Neville.
Then a long three pages on Sir Henry Neville.
Ends with the first mention of William Shakespeare, p 114.
Page 121: "A few years later Sir Thomas would be involved with Elizabeth's close friend and kinsman Sir Henry Neville in the equipping of the 'trained shot' in Berkshire, the troops pressed into the service of the Crown during the attack of the Spanish Armada in 1588. His efforts in Elizabeth's home county at this time would be coordinated with those of Sir Thomas Lucy, of Shakespeare's native Warwickshire, who would soon play an instrumental role in the near-destruction of the playwright's Arden kinfolk."
Page 278: very convoluted paragraph on the relationship between several families, two theaters, and Sir Henry Neville. This may be an important chapter to parse / breakdown some day.
All's Well That Ends Well
A most important chapter -- although Sir Henry Neville is not mentioned, it appears this chapter, the penultimate chapter in the book (prior to the Epilogue) has some important holes to fill.
Elizabeth Russell was called the "Dowager Countess of Bedford" because
she was married to the son of the Earl of Bedford, but she was not a countess in her own right. She is also known for leading a successful uprising against Shakespeare's plan to build a playhouse in the Blackfriars district of London in 1596, which ultimately forced his company to build the Globe Theatre across the river instead.
Countess of Bedford
She was the widow of Sir John Russell, the son of the Earl of Bedford.
Although her husband died before he could inherit the title, she insisted on calling herself "Dowager Countess of Bedford."
Her claim to the title was legally questionable, as she was a widow and not married to an earl.
Battle with Shakespeare
In 1596, she led a NIMBY ("Not In My Backyard") campaign against the construction of Shakespeare's new indoor playhouse in the Blackfriars area.
She successfully convinced many of her neighbors to join her cause, citing concerns about noise, traffic, and the general "lewd persons" who would gather there.
Her efforts prevented the theater from opening in Blackfriars, and the company was forced to build the Globe Theatre in Southwark.
Some historians suggest that Shakespeare may have included a sympathetic female character named the "Dowager Countess of Roussillon" in his play All's Well That Ends Well as a way of acknowledging her influence.
