" He had seen the same play in the previous November, when
it was represented by male performers only. But even after the
introduction of actresses the heroines of the stage were still
occasionally impersonated by men. Thus in January, 1661, Pepys saw
Kynaston appear in "The Silent Woman," and pronounced the young actor
"the prettiest woman in the whole house." As Cibber states, the stage
"could not be so suddenly supplied with women but that there was still
a necessity to put the handsomest young men into petticoats."
Strange to say, the name of the actress who played Desdemona under
Killigrew's management in 1660 has not been discovered. Who, then, was
the first English actress, assuming that she was the Desdemona of the
Vere Street Theatre? She must be looked for in Killigrew's company.
His "leading lady" was Mrs. Ann Marshall, of whom Pepys makes
frequent mention, who is known to have obtained distinction alike in
tragedy and in comedy, and to have personated such characters as the
heroine of Beaumont and Fletcher's "Scornful Lady," Roxana in
"Alexander the Great," Calphurnia in "Julius Caesar," Evadne in "The
Maid's Tragedy," and so on; there is no record, however, of her having
appeared in the part of Desdemona.
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