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Helen Faucit's Acting Style

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2009

Carol J. Carlisle
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Extract

“She is full of strength and grace, and though cold in surface there is burning Etna beneath”—this was Helen Faucit in 1849, as described by Mrs. Mary Coleridge. Perhaps the graphic words were meant for Helen Faucit as a person, but, if so, they apply equally well to her acting style in its maturity, a style that was distinguished alike by power and charm, by passionate “nature” and classical “art.”

Type
Research Article
Information
Theatre Survey , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , May 1976 , pp. 38 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © American Society for Theatre Research 1976

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References

1 Reported by Caroline Fox, who writes that Mrs. Coleridge “talked much” of Helen Faucit. See The Journals of Caroline Fox 1835–71. A Selection, ed. Monk, Wendy (London, 1972), p. 192Google Scholar. Note: Although Helen Faucit was baptized “Helena,” the simplified form “Helen” was always used as her stage name; it is therefore the more appropriate form to use in dealing with her as an actress.

2 Quoted by SirMartin, Theodore, in Helena Faucit (Lady Martin) (Edinburgh and London, 1900), p. 12Google Scholar. Unfortunately Sir Theodore seems to have destroyed the diary itself.

3 9 February 1836.

4 3 October 1836.

5 28 January 1836.

6 See SirAlison, Archibald, “The British Stage,” in Essays, Political, Historical, and Miscellaneous (Edinburgh and London, 1850), III, 585Google Scholar. Originally published in the Dublin University Magazine, November and December, 1846. A few of many testimonies to the effectiveness of Helen Faucit's facial acting: Caledonian Mercury (Edinburgh), 9 March 1844; Evening Packet (Dublin), 4 March 1845; Buxton Herald, 9 August 1845; Glasgow Courier, 21 February 1861.

7 31 January 1836, p. 69.

8 16 October 1836.

9 See Actors by Daylight, and Pencillings in the Pit, 5 May 1838, pp. 76–77Google Scholar.

10 See Glasgow Courier, 13 February 1847, 2nd edn., for a comparison of Helen Faucit's physique with Mrs. Siddons' and Miss O'Neill's. For “lofty” and “commanding” see Aberdeen Herald, 14 June 1845; Examiner (London), 23 01 1858, p. 53Google Scholar; North British Daily Mail (Glasgow), 3 12 1867Google Scholar.

11 See, for example, Morning Herald, 6 January, 28 January, 30 April and 28 May 1836; Morning Chronicle, 9 February 1836; Morning Post, 19 September 1836; John Bull, 16 October 1836; Times, 26 January 1838 and 2 November 1841.

12 14 June 1845.

13 Evening Freeman (Dublin), 19 12 1846Google Scholar.

14 11 March 1865, pp. 151–152. Compare with the review in Examiner, 5 November 1864, p. 712, when Miss Faucit had not yet reaccustomed herself to acting in a theatre the size of Drury Lane.

15 6 March 1865.

16 Athenaeum, 9 November 1833, p. 756Google Scholar. She was acting Mrs. Haller in Kotzebue's, The StrangerGoogle Scholar.

17 9 January 1836, p. 36. See also Observer, 10 January 1836Google Scholar, and Morning Herald, 6 January 1836Google Scholar.

18 For example, Morning Post, 11 March 1836 (Juliet) and Observer, 16 October 1836 (Constance).

19 See, for example, New Monthly Magazine, February 1836, p. 246Google Scholar.

20 Morning Chronicle, 28 January 1836. The same critique appeared in the Observer, 31 January 1836.

21 Actors by Daylight, 5 May 1838, pp. 76–77Google Scholar.

22 Examiner, 31 January 1836, p. 69Google Scholar. Similar advice was given to Helen Faucit personally by Charles Kemble and also by Macready. See Faucit, Helena, Martin, Lady, On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, 5th edn. (Edinburgh and London, 1893), p. 295Google Scholar; Martin, , Helena Faucit, p. 76Google Scholar. I am tentatively accepting Christopher Murray's argument that the list of rules for good acting that Sir Theodore found among his wife's papers had been formulated for her by Macready. See “Macready, Helen Faucit, and Acting Style,” Theatre Notebook, 23, No. 1 (Autumn, 1968), 21–25Google Scholar. (The rule in question is the fourth on the list.)

23 Morning Post, 6 01 1836Google Scholar (Julia in Sheridan Knowles's The Hunchback).

24 Examiner, 6 November 1841, p. 710Google Scholar (Nina Sforza in Zouch Troughton's tragedy of that name). Praise for her portrayal of mixed emotions in other characters: Morning Post. 26 February 1836Google Scholar (Margaret in Joanna Baillie's The Separation); John Bull, 16 October 1836 (Constance in King John); Satirist, 2 June 1839 (Marina in Byron's Two Foscari).

25 Times, 6 January 1836Google Scholar; Examiner, 17 January 1836, p. 37Google Scholar; Athenaeum, 6 November 1841, p. 860Google Scholar; Morning Herald, 25 October 1842; Spectator, 8 October 1836, p. 963Google Scholar, and 17 February 1838, p. 160. There is considerable disagreement among critics of the same performances (e.g. Constance). The Examiner consistently rebuked Helen Faucit for staginess during her first year or so; the Spectator persisted in this criticism even longer.

26 Times, 28 January 1836Google Scholar; Examiner, 17 January 1836, p. 37Google Scholar, and 8 January 1837, p. 23. On other occasions, however, she was praised for the wholeness of her characterizations, even when the dramatist's original had been sketchy. See Athenaeum, 6 May 1837, p. 331Google Scholar.

27 See Morning Post, 25 April 1843Google Scholar, and Morning Herald of the same date. The character was Lady Laura Gaveston in Sheridan Knowles's The Secretary.

28 See Theatrical Times, 16 October 1847, p. 325Google Scholar. Macready's emphasis on the identification with his character is well known. See Downer, Alan S., The Eminent Tragedian William Charles Macready (Cambridge, Mass., 1966), pp. 76–77CrossRefGoogle Scholar; also Christopher Murray, op. cit.

29 John Bull, 10 January 1836Google Scholar; Examiner. 31 January 1836, p. 69Google Scholar; Morning Herald, 28 January 1836Google Scholar; Athenaeum, 27 February 1836, p. 164Google Scholar; Spectator, 7 October 1837, p. 946Google Scholar; Morning Post, 1 May 1838Google Scholar; Times, 5 September 1840Google Scholar; Satirist, 4 October 1840Google Scholar.

30 Morning Herald, 25 May 1840Google Scholar.

31 See, for example, Morning Herald, 9 February 1836Google Scholar, and 12 December 1842; Morning Post, 1 May 1838Google Scholar.

32 Theatrical Times, 17 April 1847, p. 118Google Scholar. See also The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 29 11 1845Google Scholar.

33 20 April. See also Theatrical Times, 16 October 1847, pp. 325–326Google Scholar.

34 See Theatrical Journal, 25 July 1850, p. 335Google Scholar; Marston, Westland, Our Recent Actors (London, 1890), p. 307Google Scholar.

35 Observer (London), 26 10 1845Google Scholar; Glasgow Dramatic Review, 7 May 1845, p. 133Google Scholar; Manchester Advertiser and Chronicle, 8 May 1847Google Scholar.

36 The reviews emphasizing the unity, wholeness, and subtlety of Miss Faucit's characterizations are too numerous to list. See especially Observer, 2 December 1866Google Scholar.

37 The Scotsman (Edinburgh), 26 04 1845Google Scholar.

38 “Faucit, Helen. Recollections of a Great Actress. By an Old Theatrical Hand,” The Evening News and Post, 24 May 1889 (signed “T.A.C.”)Google Scholar.

39 Manchester Courier, 17 November 1871Google Scholar.

40 Macready was sometimes accused of this. See, for example, Murdoch, James, The Stage; or Recollections of Actors and Acting (Philadelphia, 1880), p. 118Google Scholar. Similar implications about Faucit, Helen are found in Examiner, 30 April 1853, p. 278Google Scholar, and Theatrical Times, 16 October 1847, p. 325Google Scholar.

41 2 August 1844.

42 5 March 1858.

43 On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, p. 75.

44 See, for example, Edinburgh Observer, 5 December 1843Google Scholar; Cork Examiner, 2 August 1844Google Scholar; The Scotsman, 12 April 1845Google Scholar; Belfast Daily Mercury, 3 June 1856Google Scholar; Examiner (London), 23 01 1858, p. 53Google Scholar; Morning Herald (London), 19 10 1864Google Scholar.

45 Cork Examiner, 23 August 1844Google Scholar. See also The Scotsman, 12 and 26 April 1845Google Scholar; Observer (London), 26 10 1845Google Scholar; Manchester Courier, 13 May 1846Google Scholar; Glasgow Courier, 11 02 1847Google Scholar.

46 Edinburgh Observer, 5 December 1843Google Scholar; Caledonian Mercury, 19 February 1844Google Scholar; The Nation (Dublin), 24 01 1846Google Scholar; Evening Freeman (Dublin), 15 04 1857Google Scholar; Morning Post (London), 5 11 1857Google Scholar; Examiner (London), 23 01 1858, p. 53Google Scholar; Marston, Westland, Our Recent Actors, p. 307Google Scholar.

47 Faucit, Helena, Martin, Lady, On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, pp. 4–6, 47–48, 89Google Scholar. The facts of Helen Faucit's early life support the probability of her reminiscences here.

48 Ibid., pp. 53–54, 57.

49 Ibid., pp. 47–48, 50.

50 As in her letter to Alexander Ireland, dated only “3 o'clock” but written, as internal evidence indicates (taken with the facts of her career), on Wednesday 18 April 1866. MS. Y. c. 902 (10) in the Folger Shakespeare Library.

51 On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, p. 108. See also p. 236; and Martin, , Helena Faucit, p. 404Google Scholar.

52 On Some of Shakespeare's Female Characters, p. 164.

53 Martin, , Helena Faucit, p. 152Google Scholar. Martin quotes from notes on Helen Faucit's Antigone that Burton had given him in 1890.

54 PROMPT. ROM. 8 in the Folger Shakespeare Library. No. 14 of the Romeo and Juliet promptbooks listed by Shattuck, Charles H. in The Shakespeare Promptbooks: A Descriptive Catalogue (Urbana, Illinois, 1965), p. 413Google Scholar.

55 See Observer, 23 October 1864, 12 March 1865Google Scholar, and 2 December 1866; North British Daily Mail, 20 November 1869Google Scholar; Manchester Guardian, 17 November 1871Google Scholar. As in her early period, Helen Faucit often rose above such mannerisms in scenes of emotion. Some testimonies to this fact: Observer, 1 February 1852Google Scholar; Illustrated London News, 20 March 1858Google Scholar; North British Daily Mail, 3 December 1867Google Scholar.

56 Theatrical Times, 16 October 1847, p. 325Google Scholar.

57 For example, see Edinburgh Evening Courant, 25 January 1849 and 23 November 1852Google Scholar; Morning Post, 17 July 1851Google Scholar; Manchester Courier, 13 May 1846Google Scholar; Evening Packet (Dublin), 31 01 1846Google Scholar.

58 Newcastle Advertiser and Commercial Herald, 1 February 1844Google Scholar.

59 The Scotsman, 26 April 1845Google Scholar.

60 Caledonian Mercury, 8 March 1847Google Scholar.

61 Aberdeen Herald, 14 June 1845Google Scholar.

62 Living pictures: among many examples are the tableau “realizations” of several paintings by Sir Charles Eastlake in Planché's, J. R.The Brigand (first produced at Drury Lane, 18 11 1829)Google Scholar and two by David Wilkie in Jerrold's, DouglasThe Rent Day (Drury Lane, 25 01 1832)Google Scholar. Living sculptures: Raphael's Dream, an entertainment beloved of acrobats, dancers, etc.; and the “Walhalla Entertainments” of Madam Wharton (or Warton) and her troupe. A “picture” in the sense of a tableau to ring down the curtain on is, of course, a familiar phenomenon, not confined to that period.

63 For example, her interest in the fine arts, particularly sculpture. SeeSirAlison, Archibald, Some Account of My Life and Writings … Edited by His Daughter-in-Law Lady Alison (Edinburgh and London, 1883), I, 533–534Google Scholar; Martin, , Helena Faucit, pp. 80, 143Google Scholar.

64 Martin, , Helena Faucit, pp. 157–158Google Scholar.

65 See 1 March 1845, p. 345, for the tribute to her Antigone; and 7 February 1846, p. 267, for an explanation of why the journal had avoided theatrical comment except when Helen Faucit was acting.

66 “The Antigone of Sophocles as Represented on the Edinburgh Stage,” Collected Writings of Thomas De Quincey, ed. Masson, David (Edinburgh, 1890), X, 382Google Scholar. The essay was originally published in Tait's Magazine for February and March 1846.

67 See Burton's notes on Helen Faucit's Antigone, quoted by Martin in Helena Faucit, p. 152; see also the plate opposite that page, made from an engraving after Burton's portrait of Helen Faucit as “The Grecian Muse.” The portrait itself is now in the National Portrait Gallery of Scotland, and a replica is in the National Portrait Gallery of Ireland. Another portrait of her in Grecian dress, also by Burton, is in the Manchester City Art Gallery. Richard and Leonee Ormond, of London, now own Burton's large full-length drawing of Helen Faucit in Grecian costume with hands bound. See their article, with illustrations, “Helen Faucit as Antigone,” Country Life, 7 December 1967, pp. 1507–1509Google Scholar. Most illuminating of all are the numerous sketches of Helen Faucit as Antigone (and possibly as Iphigenia) in Burton's sketchbook, now in the Harvard Theatre Collection. They constitute a superb record of many of her “Grecian” attitudes as described by Burton himself and by other witnesses.

68 Evening Packet, 25 February 1845Google Scholar.

69 Evening Packet, 1 December 1846Google Scholar. See the Evening Freeman of the same date for comment on the pictorial quality of another scene.

70 The Nation, 1 March 1845, p. 345Google Scholar.

71 Morning Chronicle, 4 August 1846Google Scholar.

72 Caledonian Mercury, 8 March 1847Google Scholar.

73 Theatrical Times, 15 May 1847, p. 157Google Scholar.

74 Manchester Guardian, 17 November 1871Google Scholar.

75 The Nation, 1 March 1845, p. 345Google Scholar.

76 Martin, , Helena Faucit, p. 126Google Scholar.

77 Examiner, 11 March 1865, p. 152Google Scholar, reprinted in Morley's, Journal of a London Playgoer (London, 1866)Google Scholar.

78 One critic, writing in the Edinburgh Observer (28 November 1843)Google Scholar, described her as “our greatest living poet.” See also The Scotsman, 26 April 1845Google Scholar; Manchester Courier, 13 May 1846Google Scholar; The Nation (Dublin), 7 02 1846, p. 267Google Scholar; Theatrical Times, 15 May 1847, p. 157Google Scholar; Morning Post (London), 5 11 1864Google Scholar; Manchester Guardian, 17 November 1871Google Scholar; Manchester Examiner and Times, 14 November 1871Google Scholar.

79 Histoire de l'art dramatique en France depuis vingt-cinq ans (Leipzig, 1859), III, 322–323Google Scholar.

80 Sir Archibald Alison, who considered her the “first actress” of her time in both tragedy and comedy, remarked: “Female fascination, perhaps not unmixed with coquetry, is her natural bent.” See “The British Stage,” in Essays, Political, Historical, and Miscellaneous, III, 586Google Scholar.

81 For example, Julia in Sheridan Knowles's The Hunchback, Pauline in Bulwer-Lytton's The Lady of Lyons, Mabel in Westland Marston's The Patrician's Daughter.

82 A sampling of the many tributes of this kind: Newcastle Advertiser, 1 February 1844Google Scholar; Cork Examiňer, 2 August 1844Google Scholar; Southern Reporter (Cork), 3 August 1844Google Scholar; Glasgow Dramatic Review, 17 December 1845, pp. 289–290Google Scholar; Evening Packet (Dublin), 26 11 1846Google Scholar; Glasgow Courier, 6 February 1847, 2nd edn.Google Scholar; Observer (London), 6 11 1864Google Scholar; Examiner (London), 11 03 1865Google Scholar; Edinburgh Evening Courant, 16 November 1867Google Scholar. See also Vandenhoff, George, Leaves from an Actor's Notebook (New York, 1860), pp. 42–43Google Scholar.

83 Published in Martin, , Helena Faucit, pp. 224–226Google Scholar. The letter, dated 11 January 1851, was to Mrs. Bruce Joy.

84 Morning Chronicle (London), 26 04 1853Google Scholar; North British Daily Mail (Glasgow), 26 11 1867Google Scholar.

85 Juliet, : Evening Packet, 4 March 1845Google Scholar; Liverpool Chronicle, 18 April 1846Google Scholar; Glasgow Courier, 13 February 1847, 2nd ednGoogle Scholar. Beatrice, : Manchester Guardian, 24 November 1871Google Scholar; also Glasgow Courier, 6 April 1848Google Scholar and Manchester Examiner and Times, 23 November 1871Google Scholar.

86 “Foreign Actors on Our Stage,” in On Actors and the Art of Acting (London, 1875), p. 171Google Scholar.