The first appearance by a woman on an English stage was 21st May 1656 or was it?

(HRH Queen Henrietta Maria Stuart 1609-1669, wife of King Charles I)

Those of you who read my blog entries on the history of Theatre will already know that I use a certain book as my source for the 'This day in Theatrical History' posts. That book is 'Who's Who in the Theatre' the 1947 edition, you may also remember me referring to how this means that sometimes its information for said day is incorrect or since its publishing new historical evidence has come to light. It seems that this has happened again as I started my research about the first Female Actor to grace a stage in England and found evidence that I was nearly 30 years off in my information! I should start with what the book claims.

The book claims that on the 21st of May 1656 a Mrs Coleman played a part in Davenants Opera 'Siege of Rhodes' in front of a paying audience at Rutland House. This was in the 1940s believed to be the first performance by a female actor but it is incorrect. Mrs Coleman was one of the first and was without doubt the first in a resurgence of women on the English stage but she was not the first recorded professional performer. Mrs Coleman incidentally did continue her performing career for a while longer in productions of 'Siege of Rhodes' but she was soon replaced by a contemporary named Mary Betterton who was considered much better than her predecessor because unlike Mrs Coleman she was not a 'poor actress'. 

So now knowing that, we must ask ourselves, who were the first female performers on the stage? Now for that we have to thank HRH Queen Henrietta Maria of England, pictured above, who engaged a French company to perform in England in... 1629. Yes in 1629, less than 15 years after the death of Shakespeare, we have the first records of female actors. They were engaged by the Queen to perform at Blackfriars Playhouse and they caused a massive uproar and despite trying their luck at the Fortune Theatre and the Red Bull Theatre they were harried off the stage. At the time it was seen as unthinkable and scandalous to see a Woman on the stage, in a time of rising Puritanism it was in many ways a dangerous step. The Queen was already unpopular for being French and also a Catholic, a factor which helped the Puritans in their quest to execute her husband King Charles I, so her choice of entertainments probably suffered due to her lack of popularity and reputation.

We now know that it was a failure in 1629 but what changed in 25 years? Well people had seen the women at Blackfriars and whilst they had rallied against it before they knew it worked better than watching boys playing girls. By the time the 1650s came around the Puritans were ruling the UK but the backlash against the rules they imposed against entertainment, especially by those who had been part of the Royal Court before the Civil Wars, had begun. Within four years the Monarchy would be back on the throne and the private theatres would be closed as the public ones would soon be reopened. In fact in 1662 the 'Merry Monarch' Charles II would make a decree that all female parts in plays must be played by women. So finally women were allowed on the stage and they had a Royal endorsement. It wasn't over though for equal rights in the theatre as female actors would continue to fight for over 300 years to be treated as respectable members of society for choosing the stage as their trade... but thats a tale for another day.

February the 2nd in Theatrical History

(Nell Gwynn by Peter Lely)

On the 2nd of February 1651 Nell Gwyn was born. Due to her lowly background records which go into much depth about her family and early life are few and far between although rumour and accounts from the day suggest her mother may have run a brothel. What we can be certain of is that Nell was born in the parish St-Martin-In-The-Field in London in 1651 in what is now the heart of the West End or as many call it Theatre Land. Nell began her career in Drury Lane as an orange girl selling oranges and perhaps her own sexual favours. When she turned fourteen the theatres in England began to allow women to grace the stage and Nell trained as one of the first female actors. Despite being illiterate she by all accounts was a very smart and witty woman who learnt lines quickly by recitation. Nell would take London by storm as one of the originators of the Restoration Comedy scene, her performances spread the popularity of these works. Nell moved into the fashionable set in London mixing with the aristocracy and becoming great friends with the writer Aphra Behn. In 1668 Nell began her notorious affair with King Charles the II which led to her becoming an even bigger box office attraction and having playwrights writing special parts for her. Eventually Nell became pregnant and bore the King a son Charles who would become the Earl of Burford, a title still alive today, and a predecessor of the title the Duchy of St Albans. Despite having a child and being the Kings main mistress Nell still returned to the stage in 1670 for a Dryden play. However 1671 would be the last year she trod the boards. Nell retired to become a lady of the town but her influence on the theatre reaches out across the centuries, numerous productions have been created about her with at least 4 plays and two musicals centred around her life. Nell Gwyn has also had numerous books written about her life and is still a popular figure of scandal and intrigue even 300 years after her death. Nell still has a part to play in the theatre today especially for theatres along the Strand where if you turn off into the quiet and unassuming Bull Inn Court you will find the Nell Gwynne tavern a small pub which has been described as old worldly. Some people have blamed Nell for the idea that perpetuated the stage for years that women actors were prostitutes and adulteresses but I think her legacy has been more about breaking down doors and showing that women can provide more entertainment than men and in many circumstances are better actors than men.

In 1714 on the 2nd of February 'Jane Shore' by Nicholas Rowe was first produced at Drury Lane. Jane Shore was the mistress of King Edward the IV and had been referenced in Shakespeare's Richard the III and had a play written about her in 1600 by Thomas Heywood. The play by Heywood probably heavily influenced the work of Nicholas Rowe whose version was a Tragedy and ran for nineteen nights. Rowe is probably best known for being the editor of the first modern edition of the plays of William Shakespeare.