4. Performance and Beyond

The manuscript of Henry IV tells us almost everything that we can know about the performance planned for Surrenden House. Fortunately, the manuscript contains a list written in Dering’s hand of performers for another play. This offers an intriguing glimpse into the kind of production Dering had in mind for Henry IV as well. We can now consider the manuscript as not simply a document expressing private obsession, but as a document expressing social interconnectedness. Through it, we can place Dering within the community of Kentish gentry and their households. The manuscript is significant within the life of Dering as a prominent local politician, and as a man who lived life as best he could in conflictual and troubled times.