Carrington made his first stage appearance in 1904, and the next year, he played his first part in Shakespeare in Cymbeline at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester. He spent eight years with Frank Benson‘s company and played many major roles in Shakespeare. After leaving the military in 1919 he revived his career at Stratford where, eventually, he played in over 140 productions. Among his parts were Caliban, Mark Antony (Julius Caesar), Oberon, Ford (Merry Wives of Windsor), Leontes, and Mercutio (1919). Other parts in various venues included Bassanio, Othello, Shylock, Richard II, Hamlet, Benedick, Gioachino (Cymbeline), Orsino, Orlando, Henry V, Macbeth, and Cassius (Julius Caesar).

After 1922, he broadened his repertoire and acted in a number of contemporary plays. When he returned to Shakespeare he was the first actor to play the role of Hamlet for a radio audience in 1928. He also appeared in three Shakespeare films in 1911, but his career was on the stage.

You do not meet a man but frowns (1.1).

Cymbeline, which takes places in ancient Britain, is filled with hidden identities, extraordinary schemes, and violent acts. Long ago, the two sons of King Cymbeline were abducted, leaving Cymbeline with a daughter, Imogen. Cymbeline’s stepson, Cloten, is now his heir, and Cymbeline expects Imogen to marry him. She secretly marries Posthumus Leonatus instead.

Banished from court, Posthumus makes a foolish bet on Imogen’s chastity, which leads to false evidence that she has betrayed him. He plots to have her killed, and starts by sending her on a journey. Meanwhile, still angry about Imogen’s marriage, Cloten plans to find and rape her.

Imogen—now disguised as a boy, “Fidele”—unwittingly encounters her brothers, who have grown up in a mountain cave unaware of their princely origins. The brothers kill Cloten, but Imogen, horrified, believes they have slain Posthumus.

Cymbeline, meanwhile, refuses to pay a tribute to the Romans, who invade Britain. After the Romans are repelled in battle, Cymbeline agrees to the tribute, his sons are restored, and Imogen and Posthumus are reconciled (reproduced with permission from Folger).

Postcards of Cymbeline: 

Productions of Cymbeline:

1896 Henry Irving‘s company played eighty-eight performances of Cymbeline at the Lyceum Theatre, London; the play opened on September 22 and closed January 27, 1897. Irving played Iachimo, Ellen Terry, Imogen, F. H. Macklin played Cymbeline, and Norman Forbes played Cloten (Wearing, I: 600-01).

1906 Cymbeline opened on October 22 for a one-month run at New York’s Astor Theatre. Among the cast were Viola Allen, Henry Hadfield, and Alison Skipworth (Loney, I: 33).

1909 On April 19, Frank Benson opened the Stratford-upon-Avon Shakespeare Festival with Julius Caesar. Other plays that season are Cymbeline, as well as thirteen others.