Irene Rooke

(1878-1958) Irene Rooke first appeared on stage in 1895; after she joined Ben Greet’s company she had the opportunity to play a number of roles in Shakespeare: Viola, Ophelia, Perdita, Miranda, Desdemona, Hero, and Rosalind. She played in London for the first time in 1897 as Ophelia opposite Edward Gordon Craig’s Hamlet at the Olympic Theatre. Rooke did not return to Shakespeare until 1910 when she played Viola for Miss Horniman at Manchester’s Gaiety Theatre; she played Viola again inRead more

Ada Rehan

(1860-1916) Delia Crehan was born in Ireland, immigrated to the United States, and became one of the more popular actresses in Augustin Daly’s company. She later joined John Drew’s Philadelphia troupe and it was a printer’s error there that gave her the stage-name “Ada Rehan.” She was totally devoted to the theater and her profession and never found time to marry. When she moved to London in 1884, she proved equally popular there, adding a number of Shakespearean roles to herRead more

Evelyn Millard

(1869-1941) Evelyn Millard, a popular stage “beauty,” made her first appearance in 1891 as a walk-on at the Haymarket Theatre. Her first major parts came when she joined Sarah Thorne at the Theatre Royal in Margate; she played, among other roles, Juliet and then Hero in Much Ado About Nothing. When she joined the company of Sir Beerbohm Tree in 1897 she was given the role of Portia in Julius Caesar. Between 1903 and 1916, she played in several moreRead more

Dorothy Green

(1886-1961) Dorothy Green was only fifteen when she made her first professional appearance in 1901 in Henry V, and from that point on she was never far between parts in Shakespeare’s plays. This is partly due to the fact that she had joined Herbert Beerbohm Tree‘s company when she was quite young, and then later played with Frank Benson and became one of the loyal “Bensonians.” Two notable parts during this period were as Beatrice in 1913 and as HermiaRead more

Alexandra Carlisle

(1886-1936) Ms. Carlisle’s first professional appearance in 1903 was in a Shakespeare comedy when she played Audrey in As You Like It; that same year she also played Maria in Twelfth Night. When Herbert Beerbohm Tree revived Twelfth Night and The Merchant of Venice in 1908, she played Olivia and Portia. In 1935, the year before she died, she turned from the comedies to the tragedies, playing Emilia in Othello and Lady MacDuff in Macbeth.Read more

Ivah Wills Coburn

(1882-1937) Ivah Wills was co-founder in 1905 of the Coburn Shakespearean Players with Charles Coburn, whom she married the following year in 1905. They performed together, primarily in the plays of Shakespeare, for many years until her death in 1937 due to heart disease.Read more