Janet Achurch
Encyclopedia
Janet Achurch was an English
stage actress and actor-manager
. She made her London debut in 1883. She played many Shakespearean roles, but is best known as a pioneer of major roles in the works of Ibsen. Perhaps her most notable role was as Nora in A Doll's House
. She also produced and starred in Little Eyolf
(1896).
, Manchester
, her mother died during childbirth and she was reared by her father William Prior Sharp, an insurance agent. Her maternal grandparents, James and Mary Achurch, managed the Theatre Royal in Manchester
. She became an actress after ending her education in 1881 and joining Sarah Thorne
's stock company in Margate
.
in London in the farcical Betsy Baker. From 1883 to her retirement in 1913, she appeared in a wide range of roles, in London, touring England, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, India, and Egypt. In 1889 she took over management of the Novelty Theatre
in London. That year she played one of her most notable roles as Nora in the English premiere of Ibsen's A Doll's House
. This enhanced her own fame as well as Ibsen's standing in England.
George Bernard Shaw
wrote the title role of his play Candida with her in mind and would only allow the play to be performed if Achurch played the title role, which took place in 1897 at Her Majesty's Theatre
. In 1889, during her tour with her actor husband Charles Charrington in Egypt, she gave birth to a stillborn child in Cairo
, almost dying herself during the birth. The lingering pains increased her addiction to morphine
.
, Isle of Wight
.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
stage actress and actor-manager
Actor-manager
An actor-manager is a leading actor who sets up their own permanent theatrical company and manages the company's business and financial arrangements, sometimes taking over the management of a theatre, to perform plays of their own choice and in which they will usually star...
. She made her London debut in 1883. She played many Shakespearean roles, but is best known as a pioneer of major roles in the works of Ibsen. Perhaps her most notable role was as Nora in A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
. She also produced and starred in Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf
Little Eyolf is an 1894 play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The play was first performed on January 12, 1895 in the Deutsches Theater in Berlin.-Plot:...
(1896).
Background
Born as Janet Sharp on 17 January 1864 in Chorlton-on-MedlockChorlton-on-Medlock
Chorlton-on-Medlock is an inner city area of Manchester, England.Historically a part of Lancashire, the northern border of Chorlton-on-Medlock is the River Medlock which runs immediately south of Manchester city centre. Its other borders roughly correspond to Stockport Road, Hathersage Road, Moss...
, Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, her mother died during childbirth and she was reared by her father William Prior Sharp, an insurance agent. Her maternal grandparents, James and Mary Achurch, managed the Theatre Royal in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. She became an actress after ending her education in 1881 and joining Sarah Thorne
Sarah Thorne
Sarah Thorne was a British actress and actor-manager of the nineteenth century who managed the Theatre Royal at Margate for many years and who ran a School for Acting there widely regarded as Britain's first formal drama school...
's stock company in Margate
Margate
-Demography:As of the 2001 UK census, Margate had a population of 40,386.The ethnicity of the town was 97.1% white, 1.0% mixed race, 0.5% black, 0.8% Asian, 0.6% Chinese or other ethnicity....
.
Career
Janet Achurch's first appearance on stage was in 1883 at the Olympic TheatreOlympic Theatre
The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street, and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout much of its existence...
in London in the farcical Betsy Baker. From 1883 to her retirement in 1913, she appeared in a wide range of roles, in London, touring England, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, India, and Egypt. In 1889 she took over management of the Novelty Theatre
Novelty Theatre
The Novelty Theatre was a London theatre. It was located on Great Queen Street, accessed off Little Queen Street until 1905, and from the new Kingsway road from 1905 onwards...
in London. That year she played one of her most notable roles as Nora in the English premiere of Ibsen's A Doll's House
A Doll's House
A Doll's House is a three-act play in prose by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premièred at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having been published earlier that month....
. This enhanced her own fame as well as Ibsen's standing in England.
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw was an Irish playwright and a co-founder of the London School of Economics. Although his first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, in which capacity he wrote many highly articulate pieces of journalism, his main talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60...
wrote the title role of his play Candida with her in mind and would only allow the play to be performed if Achurch played the title role, which took place in 1897 at Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre, in Haymarket, City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who established the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art at the theatre...
. In 1889, during her tour with her actor husband Charles Charrington in Egypt, she gave birth to a stillborn child in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, almost dying herself during the birth. The lingering pains increased her addiction to morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
.
Marriages
Janet Achurch married, firstly, to St Aubyn Miller (1865-1929) on 25 May 1884 at Margate, and secondly, to Charles 'Charrington' Martin (1854-1926) on 28 June 1889 at Chelsea.Retirement and death
Her last performance was in 1913 as Merete Bery in Wiers-Jenssen's The Witch. Due to exhaustion and illness, she declared her retirement as soon as the production closed. She died of "morphine poisoning" on 11 September 1916, aged 52, at VentnorVentnor
Ventnor is a seaside resort and civil parish established in the Victorian era on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England. It lies underneath St Boniface Down , and is built on steep slopes and cliffs leading down to the sea...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
.
Sources
- Ince, Bernard. 'The Charringtons Off The Stage', Theatre Notebook, vol. 60 (no. 3), 2006, p. 175
- Morley, Malcolm. Margate and its Theatres, London, 1966, p. 106