The player queens

by Richard Findlater

The Player Queens

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

Reviews

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an overview of the lives of several women who became "Player Queens" that is, major actresses, of the English stage. For centuries men had played the roles of women in the public theaters. After the English civil war theaters were suppressed. After the Restoration they were reopened and women were allowed to be actors. For some this was done in the sense of moral reform with zealots arguing that allowing boys to play in women's roles "was to encourage homosexuality and masturbation - an inducement to to sodomy, to self-pollution ... a greater sin than mere temptation to whoredom and adultry." Findlater has chosen several actresses from each era of the English stage and provided 'biographies' of them and their stagecraft. Much of his description is taken from the writings of contemporary critics of the actresses. Most of the actresses up to the late Victorian/Edwardian era were either lower class orphans or born to those already in the acting trade. The common thread among them is Shakespeare and support of women's rights. Written in the mid-1970s, it does not include film and TV actresses, concentrating solely on the stage.