When Queen Elizabeth I visited Cambridge University in the year of Shakespeare’s birth, 1564, Plautus’ Aulularia was produced for her entertainment. The presentation of a Latin play before the Queen should not be, ordinarily, of particular interest; but the manner of production, in this instance, bears examination. Roman comedy, or an adaptation of it, generally calls for the representation of the houses of the characters on the stage; one might, therefore, expect the authorities at King’s College, where Aulularia was given, to exert themselves in providing these houses for the actors. Such was common custom, if we are to judge from college account books and eyewitness reports of the period. The producers at King’s however, did not act in the conventional way; instead of presenting the play, as tradition dictated, in the Hall (which proved to be inadequate for the occasion) they set it in the Chapel. A stage was built “in the body of the Church containing the breadth of the church from one side to the other, that the Chappeles might serve as houses. In the length it ran two of the lower Chapels full, with pillars on a side.” It may be noted that the houses were not on the stage itself, as we might think necessary and proper; they were off the stage right and left, and facing it. Moreover, there was obviously no attempt at providing ‘Roman’ or separate structures for the characters in the comedy. Perhaps from reasons of economy the college authorities acted as they did; but it does not seem to have crossed anyone’s mind that the production was peculiar. The producers made use, after all, of whatever theatre and apparatus might be available. It is, therefore, perhaps likely that other producers of the period, especially the professional actors, may have been adaptable and flexible in a way that is difficult for us to understand.