William Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist and playwright. Not much is known about Rowley's early life. He was an actor-playwright, and by all accounts a very large man. Rowley was known for his portrayals of clowns, corpulent fools, and other characters meant to provide plays with comic relief. He played the Fat Bishop in Thomas Middleton's A Game at Chess, and even wrote "fat clown" parts for himself in his own plays, such as the role of Jacques in the performance All's Lost by Lust.
Rowley was not necessarily a popular playwright on his own. Instead, he is best known for his dramatic collaborations with other, more established playwrights. These include Thomas Middleton, John Webster, John Fletcher, Thomas Heywood, and likely Philip Massinger. In 1623, Rowley joined what was formerly Shakespeare's company, the King's Men, at the Globe Theater. He remained an actor with this troupe until his death in 1626.
The Changeling is a Jacobean tragedy co-written by playwrights Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. It was originally performed in May of 1622 and first published in 1652 by bookseller Humphrey Moseley.
Critics have long speculated as to which...
