The limits of my knowledge on the subject is contained in the following excerpt from Brazil, Robert, The True Story of the Shakespeare Publications Vol. 1: Edward de Vere & the Shakespeare Printers, New York, 2000, out-of-print, archived on the website:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/4260/book2.html]
The Evidence for Oxford Part 2
by Robert Brazil © 1999, 2000, 2007
Oxford & the Theater
Oxford's association with the theater was inherited from his family. The Earls of Oxford kept acting companies as far back as 1492. John Bale (1495-1563), was a Protestant reformer, a writer, and early English dramatist. John Bale was connected to both the 15th and 16th Earls of Oxford, and was even a familiar figure to young Edward de Vere, the future 17th Earl, born 1550.
In a 1536 account, Bale noted the titles, and the first lines, of fourteen plays which he had written on commission for John de Vere, the 15th Earl of Oxford. One of these plays is called King John! In 1561, Queen Elizabeth was entertained at Castle Hedingham by John, 16th Earl of Oxford, who supported a troupe of actors. Young Oxford was there and perhaps had his first opportunity to entertain his Queen.
Edward de Vere took the family fascination with drama a step further, by actually writing and producing plays and entertainments. As a student at Gray's Inn, he took part in its hallowed tradition of amateur theatrical productions. In Italy, Oxford learned the innovations of Renaissance drama, and brought them back to England. The idea that a character could have and describe inner conflicts and emotions was born. Oxford staged outdoor extravaganzas to amuse the Queen and Court. One time the pyrotechnics got out of control and a building caught fire.
Oxford supported, with money and lodgings, a series of dramatists who are normally considered "Shakespeare's predecessors". Anthony Munday, George Peele, John Lyly, and Robert Greene all benefited from de Vere's patronage and his themes can be seen in their early productions. When they were out of favor and employment with Oxford, their material suddenly becomes soggy and all wit disappears. The early works produced by Oxford and his University Wits contain many of the plots seen handled much more expertly in the mature Shakespeare plays.
Oxford and the Blackfriars Theater
In The Merry Wives of Windsor the Welshman Hugh Evans is a transparent representation of the Earl of Oxford's theater manager, Henry Evans, a Welshman who was the teacher and Master of the Children of Paule's troupe. In Merry Wives, Sir Hugh rehearses the children in the Fairy masque which ends the play.
The real man, Henry Evans, started out as a scrivener and theatrical hanger on. In the years 1584 - 1586 the Earl of Oxford arranged to lease a large hall in the Blackfriars building in London as a playhouse. Oxford also leased the downstairs to serve as a top flight fencing school. There is a complicated paper trail on this that still exists, and there are payments to connect Oxford as the patron, John Lyly as go-between and proprietor, and Henry Evans as theater manager.
Their troupe of young actors was created by combining the Children of Paul's with the Children of the Chapel. The combined group was often referred to as Oxford's Boys. They were not just making random entertainments; throughout the 1580's they were performing for the Queen and her Court and to private audiences.
Oxford and the Boars Head Theater
Near the end of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the theaters were getting themselves into trouble and were frequently shut down. In March of 1602, the Earl of Oxford and the Earl of Worcester were allowed to combine their acting companies and were granted special rights to continue to perform plays. Their venue was the Boars Head Inn, which had been converted into a theater.
The Boars Head Inn, on Hogs Lane in Whitechapel, was just outside the City Limits of London. This special dispensation allowed for the dramatic activities to continue, even though they had been banned in London. The name of the theater is significant, because of the frequent mentions of a Boars Head tavern in the Shakespeare plays, and also because the Boars Head, a Blue Boar, was Oxford's family badge.