Mary Betterton ('Ianthe')

Pauline on 3 Apr 2005   Link to this

from L&M Companion entry for
Betterton, Thomas and Mary
[Thomas's] wife Mary (b. Saunderson, ?1637-1712, m. 1662) was also a member of the Duke

Pauline on 3 Apr 2005   Link to this

Here is the link to her husband (I don't know how to copy more than one thing forward):
http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/2307/

And a chance to comment:

I like the birthdate preceded by a question mark. Coy, isn't it? And, heavens, what etymology for a name like Bracegirdle!

JWB on 3 Apr 2005   Link to this

Mary's pic, see Nigina Sawez's essay "Women on Stage"(scroll half way down)-
http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eklarsen/theatre.html

Pauline on 3 Apr 2005   Link to this

from JWB's link above:
An exception to these petty women was Mary Saunderson, one of the most famous actresses of the time. Following Mrs. Coleman's dismal production of The Siege of Rhodes, Saunderson took over the role of Ianthe, and reportedly performed it so well that she was referred to as Ianthe for much of her life. Her unblemished reputation is often attributed to her early marriage to Thomas Betterton, himself a famous actor of the period. She is said to have loved and admired her husband inordinately, and the two even shared a professional partnership for the remainder of their lives.

Saunderson was the first woman to play a female role in Shakespeare's The Tempest, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, King Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet. While she made a name for herself with Shakespeare's tragedies, she proved herself as an actress by showing she could perform, with equal brilliancy, in Aphra Behn's comedies, and sing her way through D'Avenant's operatic versions of Shakespeare. When D'Avenant died, Thomas Betterton took over his place in the theater, and he and Mary moved into it, working and living under the same roof. Once London's two theaters united, Mary was forced into minor roles by a slew of younger, fresher actresses, and then disappeared from the stage for a while. She returned in 1690 and performed leading roles for three years, until her final appearance on stage in Dryden's last play, Love Triumphant. Mary's career outlasted that of the actresses with whom she had begun it, and even some of the generations after her.

Cheryl on 16 Nov 2007   Link to this

Just a word about the source http://www.gwu.edu/%7Eklarsen/theatre.html. It seems to be a page put together by a class; thus, it does not use the most recent, comprehensive, or reliable sources for its information. Some of its sections accept anecdote as fact, and it uses terms like "director" (neither the term nor the position existed, in a theatrical sense, in the 17c).