Robert Shatterell

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Robert Shatterell (1616–1684) was an English actor of the seventeenth century. He was one of the limited group of actors who began their careers in the final period of English Renaissance theatre, and resumed stage work in the Restoration, after the long theatre closure of the English Civil War and the Interregnum, 1642–1660. [See: Richard Baxter; Nicholas Burt; Walter Clun; Charles Hart; Michael Mohun; William Wintershall.]

English Renaissance theatre theatre of England between 1562 and 1642

English Renaissance theatre—also known as Renaissance English theatre and Elizabethan theatre—refers to the theatre of England between 1562 and 1642.

English Civil War series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists

The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists ("Cavaliers") over, principally, the manner of England's governance. The first (1642–1646) and second (1648–1649) wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third (1649–1651) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The war ended with the Parliamentarian victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651.

Richard Baxter, or Backster, was a seventeenth-century actor, who worked in some of the leading theatre companies of his era. His long career illustrates the conditions during the difficult years of transition from the period of English Renaissance theatre, through the English Civil War and the Interregnum, and into the Restoration era.

Contents

Biography

Robert Shatterell was baptised on 10 November 1616 in the parish of St. Botolph, Aldgate. He started as a boy player; he was with Beeston's Boys in 1639. During the Civil War, like fellow actors Hart and Burt, he served as an officer in the elite cavalry regiment commanded by Prince Rupert. Shatterell he may have seen combat in the battles of Naseby and Marston Moor, and perhaps at Edgehill as well. [1]

Aldgate ward of the City of London

Aldgate is an area of Central London, England, within the City of London. is located 2.3 miles (4 km) east north-east of Charing Cross. It lies within the Historic County of Middlesex. It was the eastern-most gateway through the London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the East End of London. It gives its name to a City ward bounded by White Kennet Street in the north and Crutched Friars in the south, taking in Leadenhall and Fenchurch Streets, which remain principal thoroughfares through the City, each splitting from the short street named Aldgate that connects to Aldgate High Street.

Boy player Adolescent males employed by renaissance theater companies

Boy player refers to children who performed in Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the adult companies and performed the female roles as women did not perform on the English stage in this period. Others worked for children's companies in which all roles, not just the female ones, were played by boys.

Battle of Naseby battle

The Battle of Naseby was a decisive engagement of the First English Civil War, fought on 14 June 1645 between the main Royalist army of King Charles I and the Parliamentarian New Model Army, commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell. It was fought near the village of Naseby in Northamptonshire.

Once the main combat of the Civil War had ended, Shatterell returned to the stage. He was one of the English actors who were active on the Continent, primarily in The Hague and Paris, in the mid-1640s. [2]

The Hague City and municipality in South Holland, Netherlands

The Hague is a city on the western coast of the Netherlands and the capital of the province of South Holland. It is also the seat of government of the Netherlands.

Paris Capital of France

Paris is the capital and most populous city of France, with an area of 105 square kilometres and an official estimated population of 2,140,526 residents as of 1 January 2019. Since the 17th century, Paris has been one of Europe's major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts.

After dramatic activity recommenced in England in 1660, Shatterell became one of the thirteen actors who were original sharers in the new-organized King's Company. During his ensuing career, he played mostly comic roles; he took the parts of Poins in Shakespeare's Henry IV plays, Voltore in Jonson's Volpone , and Maskal in Dryden's An Evening's Love , plus Bessus in A King and No King and Calianax in The Maid's Tragedy , both plays by Beaumont and Fletcher, [3] and the Quack in Wycherly's The Country Wife .

The King's Company was one of two enterprises granted the rights to mount theatrical productions in London at the start of the English Restoration. It existed from 1660 to 1682.

William Shakespeare English playwright and poet

William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Ben Jonson 16th/17th-century English playwright, poet, and actor

Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright, poet, actor, and literary critic, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours. He is best known for the satirical plays Every Man in His Humour (1598), Volpone, or The Fox, The Alchemist (1610) and Bartholomew Fair (1614) and for his lyric and epigrammatic poetry; he is generally regarded as the second most important English playwright during the reign of James VI and I after William Shakespeare.

Family

Robert Shatterell's younger brother Edward Shatterell (1620 – c. 1664) was also an actor, though less successful and more obscure.

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References

  1. ↑ John H. Astington, "Actors and the Court After 1642," Early Modern Literary Studies, Special Issue 15 (August 2007), pp. 1-23.
  2. ↑ Judith Milhous and Robert D. Hume, "New Light on English Acting Companies in 1646, 1648, and 1660," Review of English Studies, New Series, Vol. 42 No. 168 (November 1991), pp. 487-509.
  3. ↑ Edwin Nunzeger, A Dictionary of Actors and of Others Associated with the Representation of Plays in England Before 1642, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1929; p. 322.


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