The Rose Theatre was built by Philip Henslowe on a leased rose garden on the South Bank of the Thames in 1587. The theatre was octagonal in shape, partly thatched, and made of plaster and timber on a brick foundation.

The early history of The Rose is unknown, but the Lord Strange’s Men, some of the Admiral’s Men and the actor Edward Alleyn took up residence there in 1592. There, they performed numerous plays including Marlowe’s The Jew of Malta and Shakespeare’s Henry the Sixth, Part One.

Between 1593-4 Sussex’s Men occupied The Rose, before Alleyn, (who had married Henslowe’s stepdaughter), brought The Admiral’s Men to the theatre. By 1600 The Rose was in bad repair and was suffering due to the popularity of the recently built Globe. Henslowe built a new theatre, The Fortune, in the north of London, and The Admiral’s Men moved there. The Rose was rarely used from that point, and was torn down shortly after Henslowe’s lease expired in 1605.

In 1989 the foundations of The Rose Theatre were rediscovered during a construction project. This enabled historians to discern that The Rose had a diameter of roughly seventy feet and a seating capacity of around two thousand two hundred. The foundations are now preserved as an unofficial historic site.