Rebecca Marshall
Encyclopedia
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. She was the younger sister of Anne Marshall
, another prominent actress of the period.
The younger Marshall sister began acting with the King's Company
, under the management of Thomas Killigrew
, around 1663; she remained with that troupe for her full career, except for a final year with the rival Duke's Company
in 1677. She acted with her sister Anne at least once, in John Dryden
's The Maiden Queen
in 1664; Anne played Candiope, and Rebecca played the Queen. When her older sister retired from the stage (temporarily) in 1668, Rebecca inherited several of her roles, as Aurelia in Dryden's An Evening's Love
and Nourmahal in Aureng-zebe
; she may also have inherited the part of Evadne in Beaumont and Fletcher
's The Maid's Tragedy
. Rebecca Marshall's other roles were:
— among other parts, including spoken prologues and epilogues for various dramas. She participated in two of Killigrew's famous all-female productions, of his own The Parson's Wedding
and Beaumont and Fletcher's Philaster
, both in 1672.
Rebecca Marshall formed a "remarkable acting combination" with fellow performer Elizabeth Boutell
, first in William Joyner's The Roman Empress in 1670. Their success inspired a fashion for plays of "women in conflict," in which Marshall was usually the villainess (or at least the darker half of the pairing), and Boutell the virtuous heroine. They enacted this pattern in The Conquest of Granada, also in 1670: Marshall was Lyndaraxa to Boutell's Bezayda. And again, with Marshall as Poppea and Boutell as Cyara in Nathaniel Lee
's The Tragedy of Nero (1674); as Queen Berenice and Clarona in John Crowne
's The Destruction of Jerusalem (1677); and as Roxana and Statira in Lee's The Rival Queens (also 1677).
The "women in conflict" play reached beyond Marshall and Boutell: the rival Duke's Company competed with its own actress pairing, Mary Betterton
and Mary Lee; and Elizabeth Barry
and Anne Bracegirdle
repeated the pattern in the 1680s and '90s. In her one season with the Duke's Company, Rebecca Marshall was cast against Barry in a rare comic version of the pattern, in Thomas d'Urfey
's A Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters.
Samuel Pepys
repeatedly refers to both Marshall sisters in his Diary; he calls the younger "Beck Marshall." Rebecca had a reputation as a beauty, which apparently caused her difficulties: she twice petitioned King Charles II
for protection from obstreperous men in her audience. And she had a habit of feuding with Nell Gwyn
.
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
era, one of the first generation of women performers on the public stage in Britain. She was the younger sister of Anne Marshall
Anne Marshall
Anne Marshall , also Mrs. Anne Quin, was a leading English actress of the Restoration era, one of the first generation of women performers to appear on the public stage in England....
, another prominent actress of the period.
The younger Marshall sister began acting with the King's Company
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:...
, under the management of Thomas Killigrew
Thomas Killigrew
Thomas Killigrew was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England.-Life and work:...
, around 1663; she remained with that troupe for her full career, except for a final year with the rival Duke's Company
Duke's Company
The Duke's Company was one of the two theatre companies that were chartered by King Charles II at the start of the English Restoration era, when the London theatres re-opened after their eighteen-year closure during the English Civil War and the Interregnum.The Duke's Company had the patronage of...
in 1677. She acted with her sister Anne at least once, 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 Maiden Queen
The Maiden Queen
Secret Love, or The Maiden Queen is a 1667 tragicomedy written by John Dryden. The play, commonly known by its more distinctive subtitle, was acted by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . The premiere occurred on 2 March, and was a popular success...
in 1664; Anne played Candiope, and Rebecca played the Queen. When her older sister retired from the stage (temporarily) in 1668, Rebecca inherited several of her roles, as Aurelia in Dryden's An Evening's Love
An Evening's Love
An Evening's Love, or The Mock Astrologer is a comedy in prose by John Dryden. It was first performed before Charles II and Queen Catherine by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal on Bridges Street, London, on Friday, 12 June 1668...
and Nourmahal in Aureng-zebe
Aureng-zebe
Aureng-zebe is a Restoration drama by John Dryden, 1675 based loosely on the figures of Aurangzeb , the then-reigning Mughal Emperor of India; his brother, Murad Baksh ; and their father Shah Jahan . The piece was Dryden's last drama to be written in rhymed verse...
; she may also have inherited the part of Evadne in Beaumont and Fletcher
Beaumont and Fletcher
Beaumont and Fletcher were the English dramatists Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher, who collaborated in their writing during the reign of James I ....
's The Maid's Tragedy
The Maid's Tragedy
The Maid's Tragedy is a play by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. It was first published in 1619.The play was one of the earliest works in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators that was acted by the King's Men; Fletcher would spend most of his career as that company's regular playwright...
. Rebecca Marshall's other roles were:
- Calpurnia in Shakespeare'sWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
Julius CaesarJulius Caesar (play)The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, also known simply as Julius Caesar, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1599. It portrays the 44 BC conspiracy against... - Spaconia in Beaumont and Fletcher's A King and No KingA King and No KingA King and No King is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher and first published in 1619. It has traditionally been among the most highly-praised and popular works in the canon of Fletcher and his collaborators.The play's title became almost...
- Quisara in Fletcher'sJohn Fletcher (playwright)John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
The Island PrincessThe Island PrincessThe Island Princess is a late Jacobean tragicomedy by John Fletcher, initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-The play:... - Dorothea in MassingerPhilip MassingerPhilip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
and Dekker's The Virgin MartyrThe Virgin MartyrThe Virgin Martyr is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Thomas Dekker and Philip Massinger, and first published in 1622. It constitutes a rare instance in Masssinger's canon in which he collaborated with a member of the previous generation of English Renaissance dramatists —... - Berenice in Dryden's Tyrannick LoveTyrannick LoveTyrannick Love, or The Royal Martyr is a tragedy by John Dryden in rhymed couplets, first acted in June 1669, and published in 1670. It is a retelling of the story of Saint Catherine of Alexandria and her martyrdom by the Roman Emperor Maximinus, the "tyrant" of the title, who is enraged at...
- Lyndaraxa in The Conquest of GranadaThe Conquest of GranadaThe 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...
- Lucretia in The AssignationThe AssignationThe Assignation, or Love in a Nunnery is a Restoration comedy written by John Dryden. The play was first acted late in 1672, by the King's Company at their theatre at Lincoln's Inn Fields, but was not a success with its audience....
- Ysabinda in AmboynaAmboyna (play)Amboyna, or the Cruelties of the Dutch to the English Merchants is a tragedy by John Dryden written in 1673. Its subject is the Amboyna massacre that took place on Ambon Island in 1623....
- Doralice in Marriage A-la-ModeMarriage A-la-ModeMarriage 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...
- Plantagenet in Boyle'sRoger Boyle, 1st Earl of OrreryRoger Boyle redirects here. For others of this name, see Roger Boyle Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery was a British soldier, statesman and dramatist. He was the third surviving son of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork and Richard's second wife, Catherine Fenton. He was created Baron of Broghill on...
The Black PrinceThe Black Prince (play)The Black Prince is a Restoration era stage play, a historical tragedy written by Roger Boyle, 1st Earl of Orrery. It premiered on stage in 1667 and was first published in 1669... - Roxana in Lee'sNathaniel LeeNathaniel 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...
The Rival Queens - Olivia in Wycherly's The Plain Dealer
— among other parts, including spoken prologues and epilogues for various dramas. She participated in two of Killigrew's famous all-female productions, of his own The Parson's Wedding
The Parson's Wedding
The Parson's Wedding is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Thomas Killigrew. Often regarded as the author's best play, the drama has sometimes been considered an anticipation of Restoration comedy, written a generation before the Restoration; "its general tone foreshadows the comedy of...
and Beaumont and Fletcher's Philaster
Philaster (play)
Philaster, or Love Lies a-Bleeding is an early Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher. One of the duo's earliest successes, the play helped to establish the trend for tragicomedy that was a powerful influence in early Stuart era drama.-Date and...
, both in 1672.
Rebecca Marshall formed a "remarkable acting combination" with fellow performer Elizabeth Boutell
Elizabeth Boutell
Elizabeth Boutell, née Davenport , 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 , Melantha in Dryden's Marriage A-la-Mode Elizabeth Boutell, née Davenport (early...
, first in William Joyner's The Roman Empress in 1670. Their success inspired a fashion for plays of "women in conflict," in which Marshall was usually the villainess (or at least the darker half of the pairing), and Boutell the virtuous heroine. They enacted this pattern in The Conquest of Granada, also in 1670: Marshall was Lyndaraxa to Boutell's Bezayda. And again, with Marshall as Poppea and Boutell as Cyara 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 The Tragedy of Nero (1674); as Queen Berenice and Clarona in John Crowne
John Crowne
John Crowne was a British dramatist and a native of Nova Scotia.His father "Colonel" William Crowne, accompanied the earl of Arundel on a diplomatic mission to Vienna in 1637, and wrote an account of his journey...
's The Destruction of Jerusalem (1677); and as Roxana and Statira in Lee's The Rival Queens (also 1677).
The "women in conflict" play reached beyond Marshall and Boutell: the rival Duke's Company competed with its own actress pairing, Mary Betterton
Mary Saunderson
Mary Saunderson , later known as Mary Saunderson Betterton after her marriage to Thomas Betterton, was an actress and singer in England during the 1660s and 1690s. She is considered one of the first English actresses....
and Mary Lee; and Elizabeth Barry
Elizabeth Barry
Elizabeth Barry was an English actress of the Restoration period.She worked in big, prestigious London theatre companies throughout her successful career: from 1675 in the Duke's Company, 1682 – 1695 in the monopoly United Company, and from 1695 onwards as a member of the actors' cooperative...
and Anne Bracegirdle
Anne Bracegirdle
Anne Bracegirdle was an English actress.Little is known of Bracegirdle's early life. Her precise date of birth is a source of great dispute due to conflicting records of her life. She was baptised in Northampton on 15 November 1671, although her tombstone says that she died at the age of 85...
repeated the pattern in the 1680s and '90s. In her one season with the Duke's Company, Rebecca Marshall was cast against Barry in a rare comic version of the pattern, in Thomas d'Urfey
Thomas d'Urfey
Thomas D'Urfey was an English writer and wit. He composed plays, songs, and poetry, in addition to writing jokes. He was an important innovator and contributor in the evolution of the Ballad opera....
's A Fond Husband, or the Plotting Sisters.
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
repeatedly refers to both Marshall sisters in his Diary; he calls the younger "Beck Marshall." Rebecca had a reputation as a beauty, which apparently caused her difficulties: she twice petitioned King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
for protection from obstreperous men in her audience. And she had a habit of feuding with Nell Gwyn
Nell Gwyn
Eleanor "Nell" Gwyn was a long-time mistress of King Charles II of England. Called "pretty, witty Nell" by Samuel Pepys, she has been regarded as a living embodiment of the spirit of Restoration England and has come to be considered a folk heroine, with a story echoing the rags-to-royalty tale of...
.