Robin de la Condamine
Encyclopedia
Robert "Robin" de la Condamine (6 November 1877 – 11 January 1966) was an actor who used the stage name Robert Farquharson. Harold Acton
wrote that he was "our last great actor" in the tradition of Henry Irving
and that he was known for his "emphatic stammer
" and his dandy
ish ways.
Condamine was born in London and attended the Rugby School
. He studied under actor F.H. Macklin and made his stage debut in two plays by Henrik Ibsen
at the age of 21.
In 1905, he played Herod
in the English premiere of Oscar Wilde
's Salomé
, directed by Florence Farr
, impressing critics Max Beerbohm
and Robbie Ross. On the basis of this success, he was cast by Farr as Foragel in William Butler Yeats
' The Shadowy Waters. Yeats disliked his performance, complaining that Condamine was "over-emphatic and shoots his voice up and down the scale in a perfectly accidental way" and that "You cannot play Foragel without nobility or any of my verse without pride & he has neither." Yeats wrote "I long to get him by myself and make him speak on a note day after day till he had got rid of accidental variety" but since Condamine and the other actors were performing without pay as a favor to Farr, Yeats could not have him removed from the play.
Under the direction of Theodore Komisarjevsky
, Condamine played the title characters in Anton Chekhov
's Uncle Vanya
and Ivanov and played Vladimir Lenin
alongside John Gielgud
's Leon Trotsky
in Hubert Griffith's Red Sunday. Other roles include Duke Ferdinand in John Webster
's The Duchess of Malfi
(1919), Iachimo in Shakespeare's Cymbeline
(1923) and Czar Paul I of Russia
in Such Men Are Dangerous (1929) by Ashley Dukes
. His best known role was in 1922 as the Count alongside Sybil Thorndike
as the Count's daughter Beatrice in the first public performance of Percy Bysshe Shelley
's controversial verse drama The Cenci
, directed by Lewis Casson
Later in life he performed in radio dramas. He quipped to Donald Wolfit
"I have been doing a recording for the Third programme
but it has all come to an end now. The man who used to listen has bought a television set."
Harold Acton
Sir Harold Mario Mitchell Acton CBE was a British writer, scholar and dilettante perhaps most famous for being wrongly believed to have inspired the character of "Anthony Blanche" in Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
wrote that he was "our last great actor" in the tradition of Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
and that he was known for his "emphatic stammer
Stammer
A stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary repetition of a sound or sounds.Stammer, Stammers and Stammmering may also refer to:* Notker of St Gall "Notker the Stammerer" * Steven Stamkos A stammer, or stammering, is a speech disorder typified by the involuntary ...
" and his dandy
Dandy
A dandy is a man who places particular importance upon physical appearance, refined language, and leisurely hobbies, pursued with the appearance of nonchalance in a cult of Self...
ish ways.
Condamine was born in London and attended the Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
. He studied under actor F.H. Macklin and made his stage debut in two plays by Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen
Henrik Ibsen was a major 19th-century Norwegian playwright, theatre director, and poet. He is often referred to as "the father of prose drama" and is one of the founders of Modernism in the theatre...
at the age of 21.
In 1905, he played Herod
Herod
Herod is a name used of several kings belonging to the Herodian Dynasty of the Roman province of Judaea:...
in the English premiere of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
's Salomé
Salome (play)
Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published...
, directed by Florence Farr
Florence Farr
Florence Beatrice Emery Farr was a British West End leading actress, composer and director. She was also a women's rights activist, journalist, educator, singer, novelist, leader of the occult order, The Golden Dawn and one time mistress of playwright George Bernard Shaw...
, impressing critics Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
and Robbie Ross. On the basis of this success, he was cast by Farr as Foragel in William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats
William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
' The Shadowy Waters. Yeats disliked his performance, complaining that Condamine was "over-emphatic and shoots his voice up and down the scale in a perfectly accidental way" and that "You cannot play Foragel without nobility or any of my verse without pride & he has neither." Yeats wrote "I long to get him by myself and make him speak on a note day after day till he had got rid of accidental variety" but since Condamine and the other actors were performing without pay as a favor to Farr, Yeats could not have him removed from the play.
Under the direction of Theodore Komisarjevsky
Theodore Komisarjevsky
Fyodor Fyodorovich Komissarzhevsky or Theodore Komisarjevsky, as he is better known in the West, was a Russian theatrical director and designer. He began his career in Moscow, but had his greatest influence in London...
, Condamine played the title characters in Anton Chekhov
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian physician, dramatist and author who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short stories in history. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics...
's Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya
Uncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
and Ivanov and played Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
alongside John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
's Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky
Leon Trotsky , born Lev Davidovich Bronshtein, was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and theorist, Soviet politician, and the founder and first leader of the Red Army....
in Hubert Griffith's Red Sunday. Other roles include Duke Ferdinand in John Webster
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
's The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
(1919), Iachimo in Shakespeare's Cymbeline
Cymbeline
Cymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
(1923) and Czar Paul I of Russia
Paul I of Russia
Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...
in Such Men Are Dangerous (1929) by Ashley Dukes
Ashley Dukes
Ashley Dukes was an English playwright, critic, and theatre manager.In 1933, he founded the Mercury Theatre of London and wrote plays that appeared in the London West End and on Broadway...
. His best known role was in 1922 as the Count alongside Sybil Thorndike
Sybil Thorndike
Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike CH DBE was a British actress.-Early life:She was born in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire to Arthur Thorndike and Agnes Macdonald. Her father was a Canon of Rochester Cathedral...
as the Count's daughter Beatrice in the first public performance of Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
's controversial verse drama The Cenci
The Cenci
The Cenci, A Tragedy, in Five Acts is a verse drama in five acts by Percy Bysshe Shelley written in the summer of 1819, and inspired by a real Italian family, the Cencis . Shelley composed the play at Rome and at Villa Valsovano near Livorno, from May to August 5, 1819...
, directed by Lewis Casson
Lewis Casson
Sir Lewis Thomas Casson MC was a British actor and theatre director and the husband of Dame Sybil Thorndike.-Early life:...
Later in life he performed in radio dramas. He quipped to Donald Wolfit
Donald Wolfit
Sir Donald Wolfit, KBE was a well-known English actor-manager.-Biography:Wolfit, who was "Woolfitt" at birth was born at New Balderton, near Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire and attended the Magnus Grammar School and made his stage début in 1920...
"I have been doing a recording for the Third programme
BBC Third Programme
The BBC Third Programme was a national radio network broadcast by the BBC. The network first went on air on 29 September 1946 and became one of the leading cultural and intellectual forces in Britain, playing a crucial role in disseminating the arts...
but it has all come to an end now. The man who used to listen has bought a television set."