Richard Sharpe (actor)
Encyclopedia
Richard Sharpe was an actor with the King's Men
, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of William Shakespeare
and Richard Burbage
. Sharpe began his career as a boy player
acting female roles, then switched to male roles in his young adulthood.
's The Duchess of Malfi
, printed in 1623
, contains the earliest cast list in English Renaissance drama
. The list states that Sharpe originated the title role of the Duchess.
The 1623 cast list actually covers two separate productions, the premiere staging and a later revival.
The cast list holds that Sharpe played the Duchess in both of these productions; he would have been perhaps 12 years old for the first, and about 19 for the second (though the dates of both the productions and of Sharpe's birth are not certain). Some commentators blanche at the idea of a 12-year-old boy playing such a prominent woman's role; and some have assigned the part in the first production to the more experienced Richard Robinson
, or to Alexander Cooke
, the veteran who is thought by some to have originated many Shakespearean heroines. (Cooke, however, died in February 1614, necessitating an earlier date for the original production.)
The subject of boy players in female roles is controversial and long-disputed. A cautious approach would rely on the testimony of the evidentiary record, which assigns the role of the Duchess of Malfi to Sharpe.
of 1679
credit Sharpe with parts in the King's Men's premiere productions of:
— in the 1616–24 era.
Sharpe "probably became a sharer in the King's Men in 1624" — that is, a partner in the company rather than a mere hired player. Sharpe then switched from important female roles to important male roles — a transition that some boy players (like Robinson or Stephen Hammerton
) executed more successfully than others (like John Honyman
). Sharpe played Parthenius in the company's production of Philip Massinger
's The Roman Actor
(1626
), Ferdinand the general in the same author's The Picture (1629
), Lysander in Lodowick Carlell
's The Deserving Favourite
(also 1629), Wittworth in John Clavell
's The Soddered Citizen
(1630
), and the King of the Lombards in Arthur Wilson
's The Swisser
(1631
).
King's Men (playing company)
The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage was an English actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama....
. Sharpe began his career as a boy player
Boy player
Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the mainstream companies and performed the female roles, as women did not perform on the English stage in this period...
acting female roles, then switched to male roles in his young adulthood.
The Duchess of Malfi
Sharpe's earliest known role was, arguably, both his most significant and his most controversial. The first edition of John WebsterJohn 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...
, printed in 1623
1623 in literature
The year 1623 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 2 - The King's Men perform Twelfth Night at Court on Candlemas....
, contains the earliest cast list in English Renaissance drama
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
. The list states that Sharpe originated the title role of the Duchess.
The 1623 cast list actually covers two separate productions, the premiere staging and a later revival.
- The original starred Richard Burbage and is usually dated to c. 1614. It must have occurred prior to William OstlerWilliam OstlerWilliam Ostler was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a member of the King's Men, the company of William Shakespeare....
's death in December 1614, since Ostler played the role of Antonio. - The revival production starred Burbage's replacement Joseph TaylorJoseph Taylor (17th-century actor)Joseph Taylor was a 17th-century actor. As the successor of Richard Burbage with the King's Men, he was arguably the most important actor in the later Jacobean and the Caroline eras....
, and so must have taken place after Burbage's March 1619 death. Scholars date it to c. 1621.
The cast list holds that Sharpe played the Duchess in both of these productions; he would have been perhaps 12 years old for the first, and about 19 for the second (though the dates of both the productions and of Sharpe's birth are not certain). Some commentators blanche at the idea of a 12-year-old boy playing such a prominent woman's role; and some have assigned the part in the first production to the more experienced Richard Robinson
Richard Robinson (17th-century actor)
Richard Robinson was an actor in English Renaissance theatre and a member of Shakespeare's company the King's Men.Robinson started out as a boy player with the company; in 1611 he played the Lady in their production of The Second Maiden's Tragedy. He was cast in their production of Ben Jonson's...
, or to Alexander Cooke
Alexander Cooke
Alexander Cooke was an actor in the King's Men, the acting company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage.Edmond Malone introduced the hypothesis, still current though far from certain, that Cooke originated Shakespeare's principal female roles...
, the veteran who is thought by some to have originated many Shakespearean heroines. (Cooke, however, died in February 1614, necessitating an earlier date for the original production.)
The subject of boy players in female roles is controversial and long-disputed. A cautious approach would rely on the testimony of the evidentiary record, which assigns the role of the Duchess of Malfi to Sharpe.
Other roles
Sharpe originated other female roles in ensuing years. the cast lists added to the second Beaumont and Fletcher folioBeaumont and Fletcher folios
The Beaumont and Fletcher folios were two large folio collections of the stage plays of John Fletcher and his collaborators. The first was issued in 1647, and the second in 1679. The two collections were important in preserving many works of English Renaissance drama.-The first folio, 1647:The 1647...
of 1679
1679 in literature
This article lists some of the most significant events of the year 1679 in literature.-Events:*John Locke returns to England from France.*Étienne Baluze becomes almoner to King Louis XIV of France....
credit Sharpe with parts in the King's Men's premiere productions of:
- The Custom of the CountryThe Custom of the Country (1647 play)The Custom of the Country is a Jacobean stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, originally published in 1647 in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio.-Date and sources:The play is usually dated to c. 1619–23...
- The Double MarriageThe Double MarriageThe Double Marriage is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger, and initially printed in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date and performance:...
- The False OneThe False OneThe False One is a late Jacobean era stage play, written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. Generally categorized as a "classical history," the play tells part of the story of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra....
- The Humorous LieutenantThe Humorous LieutenantThe Humorous Lieutenant, also known as The Noble Enemies or Demetrius and Enanthe, is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher...
- The Island PrincessThe Island PrincessThe Island Princess is a late Jacobean tragicomedy by John Fletcher, initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-The play:...
- The Knight of MaltaThe Knight of MaltaThe Knight of Malta is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy in the canon of John Fletcher and his collaborators. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date and source:...
- The Laws of CandyThe Laws of CandyThe Laws of Candy is a Jacobean stage play, a tragicomedy that is significant principally because of the question of its authorship.-Date:...
- The Little French LawyerThe Little French LawyerThe Little French Lawyer is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date:...
- The Lovers' ProgressThe Lovers' ProgressThe Lovers' Progress, also known as The Wandering Lovers, or Cleander, or Lisander and Calista, is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger...
- The Loyal SubjectThe Loyal SubjectThe Loyal Subject is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher that was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Performance:...
- The Mad LoverThe Mad LoverThe Mad Lover is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher that was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647....
- The ProphetessThe Prophetess (play)The Prophetess is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date and performance:...
- Women PleasedWomen PleasedWomen Pleased is a late Jacobean era stage play, a tragicomedy by John Fletcher that was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Date and performance:...
— in the 1616–24 era.
Sharpe "probably became a sharer in the King's Men in 1624" — that is, a partner in the company rather than a mere hired player. Sharpe then switched from important female roles to important male roles — a transition that some boy players (like Robinson or Stephen Hammerton
Stephen Hammerton
Stephen Hammerton was a boy player or child actor in English Renaissance theatre, one of the young performers who specialized in female roles in the period before women appeared on the stage...
) executed more successfully than others (like John Honyman
John Honyman
John Honyman , also Honeyman, Honiman, Honnyman, or other variants, was an English actor of the Caroline era. He was a member of the King's Men, the most prominent playing company of its era, best known as the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage.Honyman belonged to the generation...
). Sharpe played Parthenius in the company's production of Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
's The Roman Actor
The Roman Actor
The Roman Actor is a Caroline era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger; it was first performed in 1626, and first published in 1629...
(1626
1626 in literature
The year 1626 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Izaak Walton marries Rachel Floud.*John Beaumont is made a baronet.-New books:*Francis Bacon - The New Atlantis*Robert Fludd - Philosophia Sacra...
), Ferdinand the general in the same author's The Picture (1629
1629 in literature
The year 1629 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*April 6 - Tommaso Campanella is released from custody in Rome, and gains the confidence of Pope Urban IV....
), Lysander in Lodowick Carlell
Lodowick Carlell
Lodowick Carlell , also Carliell or Carlile, was a seventeenth-century English playwright, active mainly during the Caroline era and the Commonwealth period.-Courtier:...
's The Deserving Favourite
The Deserving Favourite
The Deserving Favourite is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Lodowick Carlell that was first published in 1629. The earliest of Carlell's plays "and also the best," it is notable for its influence on other plays of the Caroline era....
(also 1629), Wittworth in John Clavell
John Clavell
John Clavell was a highwayman, author, lawyer, and doctor.He is known for his poem A Recantation of an Ill Led Life, and his play The Soddered Citizen...
's The Soddered Citizen
The Soddered Citizen
The Soddered Citizen is a Caroline era stage play, a city comedy now attributed to John Clavell. The play was lost for three centuries; the sole surviving manuscript was rediscovered and published in the twentieth century....
(1630
1630 in literature
The year 1630 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* English literature, drama, and education lose a major patron and benefactor when William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Lord Chamberlain of England, dies on April 10.-New books:...
), and the King of the Lombards in Arthur Wilson
Arthur Wilson (17th century)
-Life:Wilson was born in Yarmouth. In the 1620–25 period he served as secretary to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and accompanied the Earl on his military campaigns on the Continent. After two years' study at Oxford University , Wilson entered the service of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of...
's The Swisser
The Swisser
The Swisser is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Arthur Wilson. It was performed by the King's Men in the Blackfriars Theatre in 1631, and is notable for the light in throws on the workings of the premier acting company of its time....
(1631
1631 in literature
The year 1631 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 9 - Love's Triumph Through Callipolis, a masque written by Ben Jonson and designed by Inigo Jones, is staged at Whitehall Palace....
).