[1] The quarto's title page states that the play was acted by the King's Men at the Blackfriars Theatre.
The date of that first production is uncertain; but Brome is known to have written for the King's Men in the earliest phase of his career, in the late 1620s and early 1630s.
Brome is universally recognised as more derivative than original in his plays (as is true of Caroline drama generally).
In tragicomedy, his influences are different: "The Queen's Exchange is much more reminiscent of Shakespeare than any other of Brome's plays," with links to King Lear and Macbeth.
[7] In Act II, scene i of The Queen's Exchange, the character Theodrick states that "I have known women oft marry one another."
It is a surprising line in the context of the prevailing morality of the seventeenth century – though other Brome plays, notably A Mad Couple Well-Match'd and The Antipodes, contain similar allusions to lesbianism.
The play is set in the early Medieval period, when Britain was divided into a number of small kingdoms.
The opening scene shows Bertha, queen of the West Saxons, with her council, discussing her impending marriage to Osrick, king of Northumbria.
Her sycophantic courtiers are in favour of the match; but one old and highly principled nobleman, Segebert, opposes the arranged marriage.
The king and his ambassador compare their miniature portraits of the two women; and Osrick is overwhelmed with a sudden infatuation for Mildred.
Anthynus has to leave his father for a time to seek help; in a soliloquy, Segebert admits that he has recognised the abandoned sword as one that he once gave to Offa.
After three days, Anthynus has also wandered into the area; weak from exhaustion, he has a vision in which he joins the line of West Saxon kings.
The Carpenter complains that this "cannibal" has come close to castrating him: The workmen rescue the outlaws and give them crusts of bread; they are surprised by Mildred and Edith, who are trying to escape from Offa's clutches.
[8] Brome's handling of the subject of mental illness, a recurring aspect of his drama, has also received comment.