Child Actors in the 1578 Norwich Civic Entertainment

This article examines the role of child actors as recounted in Thomas Churchyard's and Bernard Garter's accounts of the 1578 Norwich entertainments for Elizabeth I, arguing that child actors and their performances were central to the entertainment in a way that has not been previously acknowledged. Elizabeth's visit coincided with pronounced economic and religious disputes, which provided an opportunity to counsel the Queen on the city's desired outcome. Crucially, this counsel was primarily communicated by the children who took leading roles in the early pageants. These child actors were presented by the city as neutral arbitrators whose interpretation of the situation should be the course of action taken by the Queen, and analysing their roles provides insights into Elizabeth's own performance as part of the progress's political theatre.