Another misadventure, in regard to the complexion of Shakespeare's
Moor, has been related of an esteemed actor, for many years past
attached to the Haymarket Theatre. While but a tyro in his profession,
he had undertaken to appear as Othello, for one night only, at the
Gravesend Theatre. But, not being acquainted with the accustomed
method of blackening his skin, and being too nervous and timid to make
inquiry on the subject, he applied to his face a burnt cork, simply.
At the conclusion of the performance, on seeking to resume his natural
hue, by the ordinary process of washing in soap and water, he found,
to his great dismay, that the skin of his face was peeling off rather
than the colour disappearing! The cork had been too hot by a great
deal, and had injured his cuticle considerably. With the utmost haste,
although announced to play Hamlet on the following evening, the
actor--who then styled himself Mr. Hulsingham, a name he forthwith
abandoned--hired a post-chaise and eloped from Gravesend.
Making-up is in requisition when the performer desires to look either
younger or older than he or she really is.
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