Why is the public so interested in rivalries? Child companies versus adult companies. Movie star versus movie star. Software company versus software company. I suppose it is inherently dramatic and where there is no drama, the public will create it.
I read this post today and it does seem that there was some legitimate rivalry happening in Shakespeare’s theatre community but this line suggests that the public wasn’t helping. Perhaps people became more interested in the drama of the controversy than the dramas being staged. You’d think, though, a company that conscripted children without their parents’ permission might suffer in the public eye.
That wouldn’t play today, that’s for sure. But today, parents would likely be the pushers, trying to get their little Johnnys on stage and before the adoring public.
The Hamlet Project 