John Thompson (actor)
Encyclopedia
John Thompson was a noted boy player
acting women's roles in English Renaissance theatre
. He served in the King's Men
, the acting troupe formerly of William Shakespeare
and Richard Burbage
.
Thompson's career is notable for his length. Some boy actors, like John Honyman
and Stephen Hammerton
, filled female roles for only three to five years before switching to male roles; others, like Richard Sharpe
, appear to have continued in women's roles for a decade. Thompson is known to have played women for at least ten years, if not more.
. In 1636, Shank claimed in legal testimony to have spent £40 to acquire Thompson as an apprentice. (Apprentices' contracts were sometimes purchased from their "masters," as with the case of Stephen Hammerton.)
According to the cast list in the 1623 first edition of Webster's
The Duchess of Malfi
, Thompson played Julia, the "Cardinals Mis." This is Thompson's earliest known part.
The cast list refers to two separate productions, the original of c. 1614 and a revival of c. 1621. When different actors played a role in the two stagings, the list identifies them: the parts of Ferdinand, the Cardinal, and Antonio were filled by different actors in the two productions. The cast list gives the role of the Cardinal's mistress Julia to Thompson in both productions; but this has been greeted with skepticism by some commentators, who think Thompson played the role only in the revival of c. 1621. C. 1614 is an early date for the start of Thompson's career, but it is not impossible, and no evidence contradicts the idea.
The Swisser
in 1631. In between he had roles in Ford's
The Lover's Melancholy
, and in The Lovers' Progress
, The Maid in the Mill
, and The Pilgrim
, three plays in the canon of John Fletcher
and his collaborators. He also played Domitia in The Roman Actor
(1626
), and Honoria in The Picture (1629
), both by Philip Massinger
, plus Cleonarda in Carlell's
The Deserving Favourite
(also 1629) and Miniona Undermine in Clavell's
The Soddered Citizen
(1630
).
Thompson appears to have had a penchant for playing formidable and dominant women, like Honoria the queen or Cleonarda the huntress. More conventionally female roles went to other boy actors. This must reveal something about Thompson's personal characteristics and acting skills. It may also suggest other parts he could likely have taken. For example, no cast information survives for the King's Men's production of Massinger's The Duke of Milan
(c. 1622); but Marcelia, the heroine in that play, is another formidable beauty like Cleonarda or Honoria, and a role that Thompson might have played.
on 15 April 1633, which certainly suggests a continuing career. (Actors were sometimes rewarded with the honorific post; Honyman was named a Groom of the Chamber along with Thompson, and five King's Men became Grooms in January 1641.)
The parish records of St. Giles without Cripplegate
, which was the home of many theatre people of the day and located near the Fortune Playhouse
, note two Thompson daughters in 1631 — the christening of Anne on 16 July and the burial of Lettice on 1 October. Thompson's funeral was held in the same parish on 13 December 1634.
Boy player
Boy player is a common term for the adolescent males employed by Medieval and English Renaissance playing companies. Some boy players worked for the mainstream companies and performed the female roles, as women did not perform on the English stage in this period...
acting women's roles in English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
. He served in the King's Men
King's Men (playing company)
The King's Men was the company of actors to which William Shakespeare belonged through most of his career. Formerly known as The Lord Chamberlain's Men during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it became The King's Men in 1603 when King James ascended the throne and became the company's patron.The...
, the acting troupe formerly of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage
Richard Burbage was an English actor and theatre owner. He was the younger brother of Cuthbert Burbage. They were both actors in drama....
.
Thompson's career is notable for his length. Some boy actors, like John Honyman
John Honyman
John Honyman , also Honeyman, Honiman, Honnyman, or other variants, was an English actor of the Caroline era. He was a member of the King's Men, the most prominent playing company of its era, best known as the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage.Honyman belonged to the generation...
and Stephen Hammerton
Stephen Hammerton
Stephen Hammerton was a boy player or child actor in English Renaissance theatre, one of the young performers who specialized in female roles in the period before women appeared on the stage...
, filled female roles for only three to five years before switching to male roles; others, like Richard Sharpe
Richard Sharpe (actor)
Richard Sharpe was an actor with the King's Men, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage...
, appear to have continued in women's roles for a decade. Thompson is known to have played women for at least ten years, if not more.
Beginnings
Thompson began as an apprentice of veteran comedian and teacher John ShankJohn Shank
John Shank was an actor in English Renaissance theatre, a leading comedian in the King's Men during the 1620s and 1630s.-Early career:...
. In 1636, Shank claimed in legal testimony to have spent £40 to acquire Thompson as an apprentice. (Apprentices' contracts were sometimes purchased from their "masters," as with the case of Stephen Hammerton.)
According to the cast list in the 1623 first edition of Webster's
John Webster
John Webster was an English Jacobean dramatist best known for his tragedies The White Devil and The Duchess of Malfi, which are often regarded as masterpieces of the early 17th-century English stage. He was a contemporary of William Shakespeare.- Biography :Webster's life is obscure, and the dates...
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi
The Duchess of Malfi is a macabre, tragic play written by the English dramatist John Webster in 1612–13. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, then before a more general audience at The Globe, in 1613-14...
, Thompson played Julia, the "Cardinals Mis." This is Thompson's earliest known part.
The cast list refers to two separate productions, the original of c. 1614 and a revival of c. 1621. When different actors played a role in the two stagings, the list identifies them: the parts of Ferdinand, the Cardinal, and Antonio were filled by different actors in the two productions. The cast list gives the role of the Cardinal's mistress Julia to Thompson in both productions; but this has been greeted with skepticism by some commentators, who think Thompson played the role only in the revival of c. 1621. C. 1614 is an early date for the start of Thompson's career, but it is not impossible, and no evidence contradicts the idea.
Middle years
Thompson's last known female role was as Panopia in the company's production of Wilson'sArthur Wilson (17th century)
-Life:Wilson was born in Yarmouth. In the 1620–25 period he served as secretary to Robert Devereux, 3rd Earl of Essex, and accompanied the Earl on his military campaigns on the Continent. After two years' study at Oxford University , Wilson entered the service of Robert Rich, 2nd Earl of...
The Swisser
The Swisser
The Swisser is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Arthur Wilson. It was performed by the King's Men in the Blackfriars Theatre in 1631, and is notable for the light in throws on the workings of the premier acting company of its time....
in 1631. In between he had roles in Ford's
John Ford (dramatist)
John Ford was an English Jacobean and Caroline playwright and poet born in Ilsington in Devon in 1586.-Life and work:...
The Lover's Melancholy
The Lover's Melancholy
The Lover's Melancholy is an early Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Ford. While the dating of the works in Ford's canon is very uncertain, this play has sometimes been regarded as "Ford's first unaided drama," an anticipation of what would follow through the remainder of his...
, and in The Lovers' Progress
The Lovers' Progress
The Lovers' Progress, also known as The Wandering Lovers, or Cleander, or Lisander and Calista, is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a tragicomedy written by John Fletcher and Philip Massinger...
, The Maid in the Mill
The Maid in the Mill
The Maid in the Mill is a late Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and William Rowley. It was initially published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.-Performance:...
, and The Pilgrim
The Pilgrim (play)
The Pilgrim is a late Jacobean era stage play, a comedy by John Fletcher that was originally published in the first Beaumont and Fletcher folio of 1647.The play was acted by the King's Men; they performed it at Court in 1621 Christmas season...
, three plays in the canon of John Fletcher
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...
and his collaborators. He also played Domitia in The Roman Actor
The Roman Actor
The Roman Actor is a Caroline era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger; it was first performed in 1626, and first published in 1629...
(1626
1626 in literature
The year 1626 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*Izaak Walton marries Rachel Floud.*John Beaumont is made a baronet.-New books:*Francis Bacon - The New Atlantis*Robert Fludd - Philosophia Sacra...
), and Honoria in The Picture (1629
1629 in literature
The year 1629 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*April 6 - Tommaso Campanella is released from custody in Rome, and gains the confidence of Pope Urban IV....
), both by Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger
Philip Massinger was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including A New Way to Pay Old Debts, The City Madam and The Roman Actor, are noted for their satire and realism, and their political and social themes.-Early life:The son of Arthur Massinger or Messenger, he was baptized at St....
, plus Cleonarda in Carlell's
Lodowick Carlell
Lodowick Carlell , also Carliell or Carlile, was a seventeenth-century English playwright, active mainly during the Caroline era and the Commonwealth period.-Courtier:...
The Deserving Favourite
The Deserving Favourite
The Deserving Favourite is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Lodowick Carlell that was first published in 1629. The earliest of Carlell's plays "and also the best," it is notable for its influence on other plays of the Caroline era....
(also 1629) and Miniona Undermine in Clavell's
John Clavell
John Clavell was a highwayman, author, lawyer, and doctor.He is known for his poem A Recantation of an Ill Led Life, and his play The Soddered Citizen...
The Soddered Citizen
The Soddered Citizen
The Soddered Citizen is a Caroline era stage play, a city comedy now attributed to John Clavell. The play was lost for three centuries; the sole surviving manuscript was rediscovered and published in the twentieth century....
(1630
1630 in literature
The year 1630 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* English literature, drama, and education lose a major patron and benefactor when William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Lord Chamberlain of England, dies on April 10.-New books:...
).
Thompson appears to have had a penchant for playing formidable and dominant women, like Honoria the queen or Cleonarda the huntress. More conventionally female roles went to other boy actors. This must reveal something about Thompson's personal characteristics and acting skills. It may also suggest other parts he could likely have taken. For example, no cast information survives for the King's Men's production of Massinger's The Duke of Milan
The Duke of Milan
The Duke of Milan is a Jacobean era stage play, a tragedy written by Philip Massinger. First published in 1623, the play is generally considered among the author's finest achievements in drama.-Performance:...
(c. 1622); but Marcelia, the heroine in that play, is another formidable beauty like Cleonarda or Honoria, and a role that Thompson might have played.
Last years
Thompson fades from view after 1631; but the very patchy records of the era may obscure the fact that he simply continued acting. He was named a Groom of the ChamberGroom of the Chamber
Groom of the Chamber and Groom of the Privy Chamber were positions in the Royal Household of the English monarchy, the latter considerably more elevated. Other Ancien Régime royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles...
on 15 April 1633, which certainly suggests a continuing career. (Actors were sometimes rewarded with the honorific post; Honyman was named a Groom of the Chamber along with Thompson, and five King's Men became Grooms in January 1641.)
The parish records of St. Giles without Cripplegate
Cripplegate
Cripplegate was a city gate in the London Wall and a name for the region of the City of London outside the gate. The area was almost entirely destroyed by bombing in World War II and today is the site of the Barbican Estate and Barbican Centre...
, which was the home of many theatre people of the day and located near the Fortune Playhouse
Fortune Playhouse
The Fortune Playhouse was an historic theatre in London. It was located between Whitecross Street and the modern Golden Lane, just outside the City of London...
, note two Thompson daughters in 1631 — the christening of Anne on 16 July and the burial of Lettice on 1 October. Thompson's funeral was held in the same parish on 13 December 1634.