Celebrity actor couple play Jersey

This playbill from the 13th of June 1845 describes the visit of a couple who were to become one of the most famous acting duos of the Victorian era, Mr and Mrs Charles Kean.

Charles Kean was the son of the famous Shakespearean actor Edmund Kean.

But where his self-educated father was noted for his dramatic intensity and love for a drink, his Eton-educated son had a very different stage presence.

Charles Kean made his London debut in 1827 and after touring the provinces, went to America. It was on his return that he began to build his reputation and performed in Hamlet, Richard the Third and as Jaques in As You Like It.

He also appeared with this soon to be wife, the actress Ellen Tree, in a production of Romeo and Juliet in London in 1841.

She quickly changed her name when they married a year later.

They were a powerful partnership, and as Shylock and Portia in this particular production of The Merchant of Venice, would have been a big draw for spectators.

A few years later Kean became a lessee of the Princess's Theatre, London. That was where he began to stage a series of Shakespeare’s plays that involved huge casts, spectacular scenery and a meticulous attention to historical detail.

The playbills for these performances have painstaking notes about how he brought his Shakespearean extravaganzas to the stage.

He was also the Director of the Royal Theatricals, private productions, that included Shakespeare’s plays that were performed at Windsor Castle in front of Queen Victoria and other guests.

The second playbill relates to a benefit performance of Macbeth on July 6th 1846, for Miss Palmer.

This meant that Miss Palmer could choose the play and her role – Lady Macbeth in this case - and would take home a proportion of the profits minus the overheads.

For the relatively unknown actor it could be a tussle between ambition and common-sense as selecting the lead role could mean that returns on the box office were lower than those a big star would attract.