Edward+Kynaston+pt.+2

__Biography__ Edward Kynaston (c. 1640-1712) was an 18th-century actor known for his unique ability to portray a female incredibly well. He was a performer during a time in the 18th-century when women were not allowed to participate in theater. Because of this, “boy players” were often used to fill for a woman’s role. Kynaston was one of the last boy players, but is considered to be one of the best.

__Early Career__ Kynaston began his career by serving as an apprentice at a bookshop owned by John Rhodes, a man who was a wardrobe keeper for the pre-Commonwealth King’s Company that entertained for the king before the civil wars. Rhodes opened his own theater about a year before the Restoration. Kynaston was supposedly to have started acting in this company, being selected for mainly female roles. It appears as if the audiences who witnessed Kynaston acting in female roles were amazed by the fact that he seemed to be able to portray female emotion and empathy more than an actual woman would be able to. John Downes, a prompter at the Duke’s Company, remarked that, “Being then very young made a Compleat Female Stage Beauty [...] performing his Parts so well, especially Arthiope and Aglaura, being Parts greatly moving Compassion and Pity; that it has since been disputable among the Judicious, whether any woman that succeeded him so Sensibly touched the audience such as he” ( A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London ).

__Repertoire__ The list of roles that Kynaston played as both men and women is extraordinarily extensive, The following is a list of some of his most prominent roles as a man: Fox (1665), Harcourt inthe ‘Country Wife 1673, Freeman in the ‘Plain Dealer,’ 1674, Morat in ‘Aurenge-Zebe,’ 1675, Scipio in ‘Sophonisba,’ 1676, Cassander in the ‘Rival Queens 1677, Cassio in ‘Othello,’ 1682. As he a female, he played in a number of plays including but not limited to, The Duke’s Sister in The Loyal Subject, Desdemona in Othello, Aglaura, The Princess in The Mad Lover, Ismena in The Maid of the Mill, and Arthiope in The Unfortunate Lovers.  Although he played many female roles, he acted very well as a man. (Biographical Dictionary) His talent for playing either role instilled him as one of the king’s most prominent figures in his company by 1664.

__Reviews__

Samuel Pepys, an administrator of the Navy of England and a member of Parliament, was known for the diary that he kept when he was a young man. He attended several of Kynaston’s performances and wrote about his amazing talent at portraying a woman. He said that Kynaston was, “the loveliest lady that I ever saw in my life” aftering seeing him in a production of John Fletcher’s The Loyal Subject at the Cockpit-in-Court (The Diary of Samuel Pepys). His only criticism after this production was that his voice wasn’t very good. Pepys saw him again as Epicoene in The Silent Woman and said, “Kinaston, the boy, had the good turn to appear in three shapes: first, as a poor woman in ordinary clothes, to please Morose; then in fine clothes as a gallant, and in them was clearly the prettiest woman in the whole house, and lastly as a man; and then likewise did appear as the handsomest in the house” (Biographical Dictionary). No matter what role that Kynaston played, he always seemed to execute it better than anyone else would have been able to.

__Personality and Appearance__ Part of Kynaston’s appeal seems to have come from his ambiguous sexuality. He was enormously popular, and the English actor and stage manager Colley Cibber was credited with saying that, “The Ladies of Quality Prided Themselves in taking him with them in their coaches to Hyde-Park in his Theatrical Habit, after the play (Diary). Although his femininity was emphasized when he was parading around with The Ladies of Quality in his full dress and makeup from the play, there was no doubt that Kynaston was still a man. Cibber also reported that during one particular instance where Kynaston was late to the production of a tragedy to be performed in front of royalty, the manager had to say that he was late because, “the Queen was not shav’d.” (Seccombe). Although he was very popular onstage, research would suggest that Kynaston had an arrogant attitude that stemmed from his enormous popularity. It was no secret that Kynaston was very vain and aware of how attractive he was, and he particularly cherished how closely he resembled one of the “chief wits and beauxs of the time” (Seccombe) Sir Charles Sedley. He decided at one point to mimic Sedley in appearance and mannerisms, but Sedley did not take this as a compliment. Instead, he sent several men out to stalk and assault Kynaston, forcing him to be bedridden. It is unclear what about this mimicry that Sedley found so offensive, but it is recorded that Sedley did not regret what he did to Kynaston.

__Introduction of Actresses__ The introduction of actresses in 18th-century drama affected Kynaston in the sense that he was no longer the first choice for female roles, but that did not stop him from being casted for male roles in which he was enormously popular. As mentioned before, he was an extremely versatile character. After actresses were allowed to take the stage under Charles II, a female starred in Othello (1660), in Killigrew’s theater company, this was a play that once featured Kynaston as a female character (The Appearance of Women on the English Stage). It allegedly took awhile for people to grow accustomed to the idea of having woman actors on stage, but once the shock value wore off, it had become scandalous to continue the tradition of having ‘boy actors’ take the stage as women. It was because of this change in society that Kynaston would no longer perform as a woman, and he gave his last performance as as Evadne in [|Beaumont] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> and [|Fletcher's] [|The Maid's Tragedy] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> with [|Thomas Killigrew] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">'s [|King's Company] <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> in 1661 ( <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Diary ).

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Retirement__ <span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Kynaston continued to act even into his later years. When he was fifty years old he apparently had no problems with keeping up with the quality of work that he used to produce. When he got older, he took less important parts, but still remained active in the theater. Colley Cibber remarked that, “ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">even at past sixty,’ says Cibber, ‘his teeth were all sound, white, and even as one could wish to see in a reigning toast of twenty. (Seccomb). It is not clear when Kynaston stopped acting, but there is evidence to suggest that he had to stop because of a failing memory. Cibber mentions that Kynaston may have overstayed his welcome on the stage, and that even though his talent never diminished, it was evident that Kynaston had naturally deteriorated after a lifetime of working.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Acting Style__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Although we unfortunately do not have any images of how Kynaston might have looked when he was acting, it is fairly easy to imagine what his style might have been. Because of all of the evidence that suggests that he was very sure of himself, and very proud of his beautiful appearance, it is easy to infer that he was probably very outlandish and calculated in his roles as both men and women. He started acting at a very young age and did not stop until he was in his sixties, so he would have had plenty of time to perfect every technique needed to play a variety of roles.



<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Modern Renditions of Kynaston__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Stage Beauty (2004) is a movie directed by Richard Eyre that is about the first female actor to replace Kynaston in one of his most popular roles, Desdemona in Othello. It portrays Kynaston is an overdramatized version of what he would have been like, he is very foppish and is supposedly very openly bisexual. Despite the historical inaccuracies, Stage Beauty did a well enough job of making sure that this great actor does not fade into irrelevance.

<span style="font-family: &#39;Times New Roman&#39;; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Works Cited__ A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. Volume 9: Kickill to Machin <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">. Pages 80- <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">84:Available through: Adam Matthew, Marlborough, Eighteenth Century Drama

"Edward Kynaston." The Diary of Samuel Pepys. N.p., n.d. Web.

Seccomb, Thomas. “Kynaston, Edward (DNB00).” Kynaston, Edward (DNB00), Wikisource, the Free Online Library

“THE APPEARANCE OF WOMEN ON THE ENGLISH STAGE.” Theatre Database.

An Apology For The Life Of Colley Cibber by Colley Cibber (cited within Theatre Database)

Hatcher, Jeffrey. “Stage Beauty.” Stage Beauty (2004) - Rotten Tomatoes, 12 Apr. 2018 Images:

R.B. Parkes (Engraver), R. Cooper (Artist) <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;"> - Mezzotint reproduced on Plate V in the first volume of the book "An Apology for the Life of Mr Colley Cibber, Written by Himself", a new edition with notes & supplement by Robert W. Lowe, published by John C. Nimmo, London, 1889.

Cooper, Robert. “Edward Kynaston.” National Portrait Gallery, 1818, National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

“Stage Beauty Movie Poster.” 2004 Movie Poster Gallery, IMP Awards.