Women In The 19th Century Theatre, - By Catherine Haill...

WOMEN IN THE 19th CENTURY THEATRE

by Catherine Haill, V & A

`Don't put your daughter on the stage' would have been redundant advice in the 19th century, when being an actress was the last career any middle-class mother would have chosen for her respectable daughter. Acting was considered morally suspect at a time when the most suitable occupation for a middle-class girl was companion or governess. Shortly before marrying the actress Ellen Terry, in 1864, the artist G.F. Watts wrote to a friend declaring: `I have determined to remove her from the temptations of the stage.' The situation changed gradually by the end of the century when theatre itself earned more esteem, but as late as 1898 the theatre critic Clement Scott concluded that the overwhelming temptations faced by actresses meant that it was nearly impossible: `for a woman to remain pure who adopts the stage as a profession ... Her prospects frequently depend on the nature and extent of her compliance, and, after all, human nature is very weak.'

Despite the debased reputation of the theatre in the 19th century, there was never a shortage of actresses, or women to work backstage. Girls who worked in a factory or sweat-shop would have found more interest in a theatre job such as a dresser or seamstress, with the chance of an occasional walk-on part. Many of them followed relatives into the theatre, which was also a common way of becoming an actress. With only the benefits of training on the job, many actresses remained relatively obscure as extras or chorus girls, needing daytime work as well to make a living wage. A few however, like the dancer Celeste Stephan (d.1909), rose to the top and made their names and good wages in a male-dominated environment where pay was generally equal for women and men doing jobs of the same value.

Mrs. Honey (1816?-1843) grew up in the theatre and as a young widow managed the City of London Theatre from 1837. The daughter of the Sadler's Wells actress Mrs Young, she worked as a girl in the wardrobe before appearing in juvenile parts under the stage name Laura Bell. She worked in several West End theatres, including the The Olympic under the management of the charismatic actress Madame Vestris. Like Madame Vestris, Mrs. Honey made her name playing male characters, or `breeches roles', and as managers both would have appreciated that their scandalous reputation for wearing tights and exposing their legs `to the common gaze' was nevertheless good for box office receipts.

Sara Lane (1822/3-1899) was not born into the business, but like many other working-class girls found the stage an attractive alternative to other occupations. Born Sara Borrow, she started aged sixteen as the music hall singer Sara Wilton but went on to become the second wife of Sam Lane, the proprietor of the Britannia Saloon who employed her in 1843. After his death she became one of the most popular and successful actress-managers of the 19th century whose tenure at the Britannia Theatre lasted for twenty-eight years, and whose funeral procession brought Hoxton to a standstill.

While Mrs. Honey and Sara Lane achieved their greatest success as widows, being married within the profession had its advantages for women wanting to work after marriage. Clarissa Conquest danced at the Garrick Theatre when her husband Benjamin Conquest was lessee in the 1830s; Mrs. Honner, the Irish-born actress Maria Macarthy (1808-1870) and star of the Pavilion in 1831, appeared with her husband while they managed the City of London Theatre after 1847; Emma Yarnold appeared with her husband when he was lessee of the Pavilion Theatre in 1848 and managed it after his death, while in the 1840s and 1850s the prolific Mrs Denvil (d.1889), the playwright wife of the manager of the Pavilion Theatre, regularly kept his theatre supplied with plays.