Edward+Kynaston



__ Early Life __ Edward Kynaston was born in London around 1640; although, some believe it may have been closer to 1643. Additionally, some speculate that he was related to the Kynastons of Oteley in Shropshire (Seccombe). The Kynastons were a prolific family located in northwestern Shropshire (Healy), descended from the princes of Powy’s (Bindoff). At the age of seventeen, Kynaston was Thomas Betterton’s under-apprentice at a bookshop in Charing Cross, in the 1650’s, which was owned by John Rhodes (Seccombe). This is where Kynaston found his theatrical connections (Danby). Rhodes was a wardrobe-keeper to the King’s company of comedians before the civil wars; Rhodes set up his own company in the year before the Restoration in the Cockpit in Drury Lane (Seccombe). This is where Kynaston first appeared in women roles, in 1659 (Seccombe). Kynaston left the company shortly after, around 1660, and was then acting with more distinguished company, known as ‘Old Actors’ (Seccombe). Kynaston became known for his sexual ambiguity, and so it is no wonder that he was one of the last, and most famous, Restoration boy players, which were young male actors who would play female roles.

__ Female Career Roles __ Kynaston female roles included: a female part in Fletcher’s //Loyal Subject//; Arthipoe in //Unfortunate Lover//; the princess in //Mad Lover//; Aglaura in John Suckling’s play of the same name; Ismenia in //Maid of the Mill//; Desdemona in //Othello//; Epicoene in //Silent Woman//, and Evadne in //The Maid’s Tragedy// (Seccombe). On one occasion, when Kynaston was playing the part of the Queen in a play, King Charles II was impatient at the delay of the play to begin, and inquired at what was the cause. The actors decided that the truth would be best, and told the king that “the Queen [Kynaston] was not yet shav’d,” to which the king thought was humorous and accepted the excuse (Haggerty). Kynaston was twenty years old when the theatres reopened after the Restoration and King Charles II ruled that women were allowed to perform on the stage (1706-1709). After the King enacted this new law, men playing women roles was strongly discouraged. Thus, Kynaston last female role was in 1661, as Evadne in Beaumont and Fletcher’s //The Maid’s Tragedy// (“Edward Kynaston”).

__ Male Career Roles __ Kynaston’s career did not end with female roles; in fact, he went on to have a very successful career in playing men’s roles, too. Some of his most notable male performances include: Peregrine in //Fox//; Harcourt in //The Country Wife//; Freeman in //Plain Dealer//; Morat in //Aurenge-Zebe//; Scipio in //Sophoniaba//, Cassander in //The Rival Queens//; Cassio in //Othello//; Otto in //Rollo Duke of Normandy//; The King of France in //Duke of Guise//; Belmour in //Lucky Chance//; Mark Anthony in //Julius Caesar//; Sir Phillip Luckless in //Northern Lass//; the King of Tidore in //Island Princess//, Sir Thomas Delamore in //Edward III//; and he was most praised for his portrayal of Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Seccombe).

__ Critical Reviews __ Kynaston was a very good-looking young man, and made a convincing woman on stage. Samuel Pepys, who was a member of Parliament and well known diarist, said that Kynaston made “the loveliest lady that ever I saw in my life,” but that “only her [Kynaston’s] voice was not very good” (1706-1709), after seeing him in John Fletcher’s //The Loyal Subject//. Pepys also commented on his male roles saying that Kynaston was even the most handsomest man: “likewise did [Kynaston] appear the handsomest man in house” (“Edward Kynaston”), after seeing Kynaston perform in a play where he performed both a male and female part. Similarly, Colley Cibber, an English actor-manager, playwright, and poet, noted in his memoir, Apology for the life of Colley Cibber, that Kynaston was “so beautiful a Youth 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.” Cibber also said that Kynaston was particularly successful in the part of Evadne in the //Maid’s Tragedy// (Cibber 120). John Downes, a theatre prompter for most of the Restoration period, asserted that Kynaston acted women’s parts exceedingly well, stating “so well, especially…parts greatly moving compassion and pity, that it has since been disputable…whether any woman that succeeded him so sensibly touch’d the audience as he” (Levin 89). In other words, Downes believed that Kynaston played female roles so well that it would/was hard for an actual woman to surpass his performances. Downes asserted this after King Charles II ruled that women were allowed to take the stage. Although Kynaston was exceptional in his female roles, he was able to gain recognition for his male roles as well. In the role of Leon, in //Flecthcer’s Rule a Wife//, Cibber said Kynaston performance was “…executed with determin’d Manliness and honest Authority well worth the best Actor’s Imitation…his imperious Vivacity in his Tone of Voice that painted the Tyrant truly terrible” (Cibber 121). Thus, it seems Kynaston had no trouble in transitioning from playing female to male parts, and manly parts at that. Cibber also said Kynaston’s performances in two other plays, Morat in //Aurenge-Zebe// and Muley Moloch in //Don Sebastian//, “shone with uncommon Lustre,” and that in both of these parts Kynaston “…had a fierce, Lion-like Majesty in his Port and Utterance that gave the Spectator a kind of trembling Admiration!” (Cibber 121). Cibber’s comment again exemplifies Kynaston’s ability to play very masculine roles. Additionally, Cibber’s critique of Kynaston’s performance of Henry IV was nothing but praise. In order to play the king, Cibber said a person needed “thrice the Skill and Grace,” and that Kynaston succeed by completely embodying the king: “…every Sentiment came from him [Kynaston] as if it had been his own…as if he had lost the Player and were the real King he personated ! a Perfection so rarely found” (Cibber 125).

__ Public Feuds __ Although Kynaston was a popular actor, and considered the most beautiful boy actor, not everyone liked him. Kynaston was also very vain, especially in his resemblance to Sir Charles Sedley, an English noble, dramatist and politician. In one incident Kynaston paraded around London in an exact replica of Sedley’s outfit, and the incident was not taken as flattery by Sedley. Sedley went on to hire thugs to beat up Kynaston (Peschel). The thugs did end up locating Kynaston in St. James’ Park, where they “mistook” him as Sedley, and Kynaston went along saying he was Sedley, at this admission the thugs declared Sedley had slandered their names, and began to beat Kynaston with their canes (Peschel). Kynaston then protested that he was not in fact Sedley, but his protests only made his beating worse. Subsequently, the beating put the actor on bed rest for nearly a week. (Peschel). King Charles II was livid with Sedley for this act, but Sedley did not care, saying, “the fellow [Kynaston] has not suffered half so much in body as I have in reputation…” (Peschel). Afterward Kynaston was careful not to impersonate Sedley anymore.

__ How He Might Have Acted __ Unfortunately there are no images of Kynaston on the stage. However, it can be assumed that when Kynaston played his female roles, he was very convincing, as again, Samuel Pepys said that Kynaston was “the loveliest lady in the house,” upon seeing him in //The Loyal Subject//. Also, being that Kynaston was considerably vain, and that other people celebrated his beauty-which most likely did not damper but inflamed his ego-he perhaps played his female characters with some degree of vanity as well. In regards to his male roles, one might assume that he would play foppish, effeminate male characters. However, it seems he played very strong, manly characters. As Colley Cibber raved of his portrayal as Henry IV, saying that Kynaston had complete command of the majesty that it took to portray the king: “This true Majesty //Kynaston// had so entire a Command of…” (Cibber 125). Thus, it seems that Kynaston was a truly gifted performer, as he was able to portray women, arguably, better than an actual woman could, and also play a man, even a king, with ardent conviction and masculinity.

__ Later Life __ After 1695 Kynaston began to take on less important roles (Seccombe). Yet, even past the age of 60, Colley Cibber noted Kynaston’s “Handsomeness was very little abated….his teeth were all sound, white, and even as one would wish to in a reigning Toast of Twenty” (Cibber 121). Even in what was then considered old age, Kynaston retained his looks. However, it was around this time that his memory began to fail him (“Edward Kynaston”). Cibber noted “//Kynaston// staid too long upon the Stage, till his Memory and Spirit began to fail him. I shall not therefore say any thing of his Imperfections, which, at that time, were visibly not his own, but the Effects of decaying Nature” (Cibber 126-7). In other words, Kynaston continued to perform well beyond his prime, and should have retired well before he did. Kynaston finally did retire in 1699 (“Edward Kynaston”). He spent his later years with his son, visiting his son’s large shop in Bedford Street (Seccombe). Kynaston passed away between 1705-1712.

__ Legacy __ Kynaston has not been forgotten in the 21st century. His legacy lives on through the 2004 movie “Stage Beauty,” starring Billy Crudup as Kynaston and Clare Danes. Although it is not completely historically accurate because some parts have been exaggerated for “Hollywood” purposes. However, it succeeds in telling how Kynaston went from being a popular boy player actor to just a male actor, predominately because of the admittance of women being allowed on the stage by King Charles II. The film also plays up Kynaston’s sexual ambiguity. In the movie he had a male lover, George Villiers the Duke of Buckingham. However, an affair between the two was only rumored to have occurred, during their time. Also, in the film, Kynaston is intimate with Danes’ character, Maria, which again highlights Kynastons sexual ambiguity throughout the movie. The film does include when Kynaston was violently beat up by thugs, ordered by Sir Charles Sedley. Overall, the film was met with mixed responses, but was mostly positive. One critic went on to say, “”Stage Beauty” has the grace and charm of a great play. It has its acts, its drama, and its comedy” (“Stage Beauty”). This review sounds as if it could describe Kynaston; he certainly had his share of drama, but the acts of his life were full of grace and charm.

Works Cited Bindoff, S.T. "“The” House of Commons 1509 - 1558." //Google Books//. Boydell & Brewer, n.d. Web.

Cibber, Colley. "Chapter V." //An Apology for the Life of Mr. Colley Cibber//. Vol. I. London: J.C. Kimmo, n.d. 119-46. //Internet Archive//. Web.

Danby, Jennifer Renee. //PORTRAITS OF RESTORATION ACTORS MICHAEL MOHUN AND EDWARD KYNASTON: NEW EVIDENCE//. Vol. 59. London: Theatre London, 2005. //ProQuest Literature Online//. ProQuest. Web.

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

"Edward Kynaston." //Encyclopedia Britannica Online//. Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Web.

Haggerty, George E. ""The Queen Was Not Shav'd Yet": Edward Kynaston and the Regendering of the Restoration Stage." //Questia//. Questia: Trusted Online Research, n.d. Web.

Healy, Simon. "History of Parliament Online." //KYNASTON, Sir Francis (1587-c.1649), of Oteley, Ellesmere, Salop; Later of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Westminster and Covent Garden, Mdx. | History of Parliament Online//. Institute of Historical Research, n.d. Web.

"The History of the Stage. In Which Is Included, the Theatrical Characters of the Most Celebrated Actors Who Have Adorn'd the Theatre. Among Many ..." //Eighteenth Century Collections Online//. N.p., n.d. Web.

Levin, Richard Louis. "Unthinkable Thoughts in the New Historicizing of English Renaissance Drama." //Looking for an Argument: Critical Encounters with the New Approaches to the Criticism of Shakespeare and His Contemporaries//. London: Rosemont & Printing, 2003. 89. Web.

Peschel, Bill. "Edward Kynaston's Worst Role (1669)." //Peschel | Author, Editor, Anthologist, and Owner of Peschel Press, the Publisher of Histories Behind the Mysteries//. N.p., 30 Aug. 2014. Web.

Seccombe, Thomas. "Kynaston, Edward (DNB00)." //Kynaston, Edward//. Wikisource, Jan. 2013. Web.

// 1706-1709 // (n.d.): n. pag. //Over The Footlights//. Http://www.overthefootlights.co.uk/1706-09.pdf. Web.//

"Stage Beauty." //Stage Beauty (2004) - Rotten Tomatoes//. Rotten Tomatoes, 20 Nov. 2005. Web.