Elizabeth Boutell
Encyclopedia
Elizabeth Boutell, née Davenport (early 1650s?—1715), was a British actress. She joined the King's Company
about 1670 and played many important roles in the 1670s, including Benzayda in John Dryden
's The Conquest of Granada
(December 1670 and January 1671), Melantha in Dryden's Marriage A-la-Mode
(c. April 1672), Margery Pinchwife in William Wycherley
's The Country Wife
(12 January 1675), and probably Rosalinda in Nathaniel Lee
's Sophonisba
(3 April 1675). Her most famous role was the loving and trustful Queen Statira in Dryden's The Rival Queens (17 March 1677). She formed a notable acting partnership with Rebecca Marshall
in a series of fashionable "women in conflict" plays, in which Boutell played the virtuous heroine to Marshall's darker antagonist.
Boutell specialized in breeches role
s, such as Fidelia in Wycherley's The Plain Dealer
(11 December 1676).
No roles are recorded for her between March 1678 and April 1688. Her husband Barnaby Boutell had a lieutenant's commission from 1681, and the Biographical Dictionary of Actors speculates that she may have followed him to the Continent in the 1680s.
Edmund Curll described Boutell in The History of the English Stage (1741), a work supposedly based on the notes of the famous actor Thomas Betterton
, who was the King's Company's de facto manager in the 1670s:
A very considerable Actress; she was low of Stature, had very agreeable Features, a good Complexion, but a Childish Look. Her Voice was weak, tho' very mellow; she generally acted the young, innocent Lady whom all the Heroes are mad in Love with; she was a Favourite of the Town.
During her active and busy career in the 1670s, she was according to the Biographical Dictionary of Actors generally considered a "very talented, popular, beautiful, and promiscuous young woman". Her last recorded role was with Thomas Betterton's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1696. In 1697 she left for Holland with her husband, after which no more is known of her other than that she made a will in 1714, and that the will was proved the following year.
King's Company
The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682.-History:...
about 1670 and played many important roles in the 1670s, including Benzayda in John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
's The Conquest of Granada
The Conquest of Granada
The Conquest of Granada is a Restoration era stage play, a two-part tragedy written by John Dryden that was first acted in 1670 and 1671 and published in 1672...
(December 1670 and January 1671), Melantha in Dryden's Marriage A-la-Mode
Marriage A-la-Mode
Marriage à la Mode is a Restoration comedy by John Dryden, first performed in London in 1673 by the King's Company. It is written in a combination of prose, blank verse and heroic couplets...
(c. April 1672), Margery Pinchwife in William Wycherley
William Wycherley
William Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.-Biography:...
's The Country Wife
The Country Wife
The Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun...
(12 January 1675), and probably Rosalinda in Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee
Nathaniel Lee was an English dramatist.He was the son of Dr Richard Lee, a Presbyterian clergyman who was rector of Hatfield and held many preferments under the Commonwealth...
's Sophonisba
Sophonisba
Sophonisba was a Carthaginian noblewoman who lived during the Second Punic War, and the daughter of Hasdrubal Gisco Gisgonis...
(3 April 1675). Her most famous role was the loving and trustful Queen Statira in Dryden's The Rival Queens (17 March 1677). She formed a notable acting partnership with Rebecca Marshall
Rebecca Marshall
Rebecca Marshall was a noted English actress of the Restoration era, one of the first generation of women performers on the public stage in Britain...
in a series of fashionable "women in conflict" plays, in which Boutell played the virtuous heroine to Marshall's darker antagonist.
Boutell specialized in breeches role
Breeches role
A breeches role is a role in which an actress appears in male clothing .In opera it also refers to any male character that is sung and acted by a female singer...
s, such as Fidelia in Wycherley's The Plain Dealer
The Plain Dealer (play)
The Plain Dealer is a Restoration comedy by William Wycherley, first performed on 11 December 1676. The play is based on Molière's Le Misanthrope, and is generally considered Wycherley's finest work along with The Country Wife....
(11 December 1676).
No roles are recorded for her between March 1678 and April 1688. Her husband Barnaby Boutell had a lieutenant's commission from 1681, and the Biographical Dictionary of Actors speculates that she may have followed him to the Continent in the 1680s.
Edmund Curll described Boutell in The History of the English Stage (1741), a work supposedly based on the notes of the famous actor Thomas Betterton
Thomas Betterton
Thomas Patrick Betterton , English actor, son of an under-cook to King Charles I, was born in London.-Apprentice and actor:...
, who was the King's Company's de facto manager in the 1670s:
A very considerable Actress; she was low of Stature, had very agreeable Features, a good Complexion, but a Childish Look. Her Voice was weak, tho' very mellow; she generally acted the young, innocent Lady whom all the Heroes are mad in Love with; she was a Favourite of the Town.
During her active and busy career in the 1670s, she was according to the Biographical Dictionary of Actors generally considered a "very talented, popular, beautiful, and promiscuous young woman". Her last recorded role was with Thomas Betterton's company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1696. In 1697 she left for Holland with her husband, after which no more is known of her other than that she made a will in 1714, and that the will was proved the following year.
Sources
- Highfill, Philip Jr, Burnim, Kalman A., and Langhans, Edward (1973–93). Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800. 16 volumes. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press.
- Howe, Elizabeth (1992). The First English Actresses: Women and Drama, 1660–1700. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Milhous, Judith (1985). "Elizabeth Bowtell and Elizabeth Davenport: some puzzles solved" in Theatre Notebook, 39. London: The Society for Theatre Research pp. 124–34