Margaret Hughes (May 29, 1630 – February 6, 1685) is often credited as the first professional actress on the English stage.^[1]

The occasion of her first performance was on December 8, 1660, in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello, when she played the role of Desdemona in a production by Thomas Killigrew's new King's Company at their Vere Street theatre.^[2]

Personal Life

It was rumoured that she was a lover of Sir Charles Sedley (who has been characterized as a "famous fop") in the 1660s; she was reportedly also involved with Charles II himself, if only briefly. She later lived with Prince Rupert, Duke of Cumberland (sometimes known as "Rupert of the Rhine") as his morganatic wife; they had a daughter named Ruperta. Prince Rupert's older brother, Karl Ludwig, Elector Palatine, once sounded out Rupert as to his willingness to return to the Rhineland and marry appropriately. Rupert chose to stay with Margaret and Ruperta. Margaret (known as 'Peg') continued to act even after Ruperta's birth, with the Duke's Company at the Dorset Garden Theatre (near the Strand in London). After Rupert's death, Margaret sold a necklace he had given to her to Nell Gwyn, for 4000 guineas. She reportedly had a significant gambling habit — which was a common trait in her era.

Gender and acting

Women were almost exclusively banned from appearing as actresses on the stage up until approximately 1660. Embarrassing incidents could occur for male actors in female roles. A famous incident occurred when a play which Charles II was watching suddenly stopped. When he sent servants to see what the problem was it was found that the male that was supposed to play one of the female parts was still shaving.

Once women began appearing professionally on the stage in the early 1660s, they won quick acceptance. Thomas Killigrew staged an all-female-cast production of his own play The Parson's Wedding in 1664, and again in 1672.

"First actress"

Hughes's status as the first professional actress in England is not beyond dispute; claims have been made for Anne Marshall, the other early actress in Killigrew's King's Company. Margaret Hughes possesses the most substantial amount of evidence in her favor. Her name also appears in a cast list for Othello nine years later in 1669.

In Literature and Drama

A one-act play about Margaret Hughes, titled The First Actress, was performed in 1911, at the Kingsway Theatre in London, by a group of suffragette actresses who called themselves the Pioneer Players. Ellen Terry played Nell Gwyn in this production.

Jeffrey Hatcher wrote a play about Edward Kynaston titled Compleat Female Stage Beauty (2000), and later adapted his play for the 2004 film Stage Beauty, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Claire Danes as Margaret.

Portrait

• Margaret Hughes as painted by Sir Peter Lely

Notes

References

• Halliday, F. E. A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964. Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.
• Rennert, Hugo Albert. The Spanish Stage in the Time of Lope de Vega. Hispanic Society of America, 1909.
• Thomson, Peter, et al., eds. The Cambridge History of British Drama. 3 Volumes, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2004.

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