Miss Darragh

(?-1917) “Miss Darragh” was the stage-name of Letitia Marion Dallas. We are unsure of the date of her birth, but she made her first stage appearance in 1897. She played only one Shakespeare part, Cleopatra in 1908 at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester. The cards shown here are from this production. She was an accomplished and admired actress; she created the role of Deirdre for William Butler Yeats when the play opened at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in 1907. She alsoRead more

Hutin Britton

(1876-1965) Hutin “Nellie” Britton’s first appearance on stage was with Frank Benson‘s B Company at Brighton in 1901 in Henry V. She had a long, successful career stretching over four decades. She played the parts of Hero in Much Ado About Nothing (1903), Ophelia (1909), Lady Elizabeth in Richard III (1909), and Lady Macbeth at Stratford (1911). With her husband Matheson Lang, she toured South Africa in 1911 where she played Katherine in The Taming of the Shrew, Ophelia, LadyRead more

Sarah Brooke

(1875 – ?) Sarah Brooke trained with the Thomas Thorne Company and after touring with them made her London debut in 1896. She then toured with the company of Johnston Forbes-Robertson and had the opportunity to play Desdemona. At Her Majesty’s Theatre in 1899 she appeared in King John. The next year, 1900, she was at the Lyceum Theatre, London, where she played Hermia (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) and Katherine in Henry V; she played Katherine again in 1905, butRead more

Sir Francis Benson

(1858-1939) While at New College, Oxford, Benson produced Agamemnon, the first play to be performed there in the original Greek. In 1882, he made his first professional appearance at the Lyceum Theatre, London—then under the management of Sir Henry Irving—playing the role of Paris in Romeo & Juliet. The next year, he formed a company of his own. In 1886 he married Gertrude Constance Featherstonhaugh (1860–1946), who acted in his company and played leading parts with him. Benson continued toRead more

Janet Achurch

(1864-1916) Janet Achurch, born into a theatrical family in 1864, made her professional debut in 1883 and the next year in 1884 joined the company of Frank Benson. There she of course had opportunity to play many Shakespeare roles, including Desdemona, Gertrude, and Lady Macbeth. It was over a decade later that she again played Shakespeare as Cleopatra in 1897 at the Queen’s Theatre, Manchester. In 1898 she played Lady Macbeth at the same theater. Her last role in ShakespeareRead more

Sybil Arundale

(1882-1965) Either through choice or through talent, Sybil had a more active career than her sister Grace. Grace had much experience with Shakespeare in her early years before she moved on to lighter fare, but Sybil seems to have played in only a few Shakespeare plays: in 1898 as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and later as Rosalind in As You Like It. But that is not to say that she was not a serious dramatic actor. When IbsenRead more