Nell Gwynne
c u ltu r e
treading the bawds Award-winning playwright and director Jessica Swale tells us why famous royal mistress Nell Gwynn made the perfect lead in her witty new stage show b y l o r na d a v i e s
Gemma Arterton as Nell Gwynn in Swale’s acclaimed new play Photo: Tristram Kenton
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MT Apr16 20-21 culture Nell.indd 20
24/03/2016 14:47
“P
ray good people be civil, I am the Protestant whore”, was Nell Gwynn’s cheeky retort to the masses pushing her coach in the mistaken belief that it was that of the Duchess of Portsmouth, the Catholic Louise de Keroualle. “Pretty, witty Nell”, as Samuel Pepys called her, was an actress, perhaps the best known and remembered mistress of King Charles II. She was one of many (there were 13 in total during his lifetime), but she was the least “greedy” of them all. When he lay dying he begged his heir, the Duke of York, “not to let poor Nellie starve”. It is fitting then, that Jessica Swale, when writing her play on Nell Gwynn, chose to portray her tale as a love story. “I think they must have been in love,” she says, shortly after the play opened at the Apollo after transferring from the Globe. “The fact that she didn’t want a title, and that there are records of the time they spent alone together. She had a tremendous wit. She did things like when King Louis came to go fishing with Charles she got some divers to put sardines in the water and on to Charles’ hook so that when he pulled it out he had this fully dressed sardine, and I think Charles shared that humour.” Born in 1650 in London, Eleanor “Nell” Gwynn grew up in Coal Yard Alley, a poor slum off Drury Lane. She became an orange girl at Three Bridges Theatre (now Theatre Royal) when she was 13. Her confidence and humour caught the eye of Thomas Killigrew, who trained her for the stage. She engaged in an affair with actor Charles Hart, then became mistress to a second Charles, Charles Sackville, before Gwynn found her king, calling him “my Charles the Third”. She bore the
Philip Mould’s Portrait of Nell Gwynn, AngloDutch School, 1670s This newly discovered portrait stands out from the usual canon of mis-identified “Nell Gwynns”. According to Philip Mould, the likeness is taken directly from a now lost miniature of Nell, which is known through engravings. Painted in about the 1670s, this is the most sexually revealing portrait of Nell, and the only portrait to allude so graphically and satirically to her position at court. She is shown with exposed breasts, a well understood sign that the sitter was a mistress. She is also washing sausages, an obvious and long-used sexual allusion, which can even be found in paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Philip Mould & Company, 18-19 Pall Mall
king two children, the Duke of St Albans and Lord Beauclerk, and died in her mid-30s. With Puritanism a thing of the past, Nell was one of the first actresses ever allowed to perform on the English stage, and audiences found her high spirits and wit refreshing. Swale’s research was as much into 17th-century theatre developments as of Nell herself. “I mainly looked at theatre history records to see what it was like for actresses at that time. Things like they didn’t get paid until the third performance.” This is the third “proper” play written by Berkshireborn Swale, following her much-lauded Blue Stockings at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2013, and Thomas Tallis a year later. The 34-year-old is also a celebrated director, directing the first play by a female playwright performed at the Globe. Which role does she prefer? “I really enjoy the creativity of writing, and of being involved in something from the very beginning. However, I love directing as well, I love being around people and seeing how they are on stage, so they go hand in hand. I didn’t set out to write, but I wanted to do a play on women going to university for the first time [Blue Stockings] and it didn’t exist.” Her latest writing turn has been a success, and reviews for Nell Gwynn have been sparkling. “I don’t go and look for [reviews]. As a writer, you have to believe in what you’ve done and put it out there and not let someone else’s opinion make you change anything. But I am delighted with how it’s been received.” Nell is played by Gemma Arterton, an excellent casting choice. “It was great that she said yes, and she was so excited about it from the beginning. There are some parallels, I mean obviously Gemma had a very different upbringing to Nell, but the fact that she didn’t come from the usual acting dynasty background, her mother was a cleaner, I think there are similarities there”. London is another key character in Nell, and Swale says our city is at its heart. “There’s a scene where Nell takes Charles up to the roof to see London being built. It was difficult to show lots of different places due to practicalities, but I’m writing the screenplay now and it’s great because then you can show all these different parts of London.” It’s no coincidence that Swale has focused on women in Blue Stockings and Nell: “I was a drama teacher at an all-girls school and the amount of plays we had to choose from [with female characters] was tiny. It was ridiculous. I’m currently writing a play of Stig Of The Dump, and I’ve made one of the bullies a girl, and one of the burglars. I think it makes it more interesting and rich.” I couldn’t agree more. Nell Gwynn is at the Apollo Theatre until April 30. Tickets from £15
| 21
MT Apr16 20-21 culture Nell.indd 21
24/03/2016 14:47
treading the bawds Award-winning playwright and director Jessica Swale tells us why famous royal mistress Nell Gwynn made the perfect lead in her witty new stage show b y l o r na d a v i e s
Gemma Arterton as Nell Gwynn in Swale’s acclaimed new play Photo: Tristram Kenton
20 |
MT Apr16 20-21 culture Nell.indd 20
24/03/2016 14:47
“P
ray good people be civil, I am the Protestant whore”, was Nell Gwynn’s cheeky retort to the masses pushing her coach in the mistaken belief that it was that of the Duchess of Portsmouth, the Catholic Louise de Keroualle. “Pretty, witty Nell”, as Samuel Pepys called her, was an actress, perhaps the best known and remembered mistress of King Charles II. She was one of many (there were 13 in total during his lifetime), but she was the least “greedy” of them all. When he lay dying he begged his heir, the Duke of York, “not to let poor Nellie starve”. It is fitting then, that Jessica Swale, when writing her play on Nell Gwynn, chose to portray her tale as a love story. “I think they must have been in love,” she says, shortly after the play opened at the Apollo after transferring from the Globe. “The fact that she didn’t want a title, and that there are records of the time they spent alone together. She had a tremendous wit. She did things like when King Louis came to go fishing with Charles she got some divers to put sardines in the water and on to Charles’ hook so that when he pulled it out he had this fully dressed sardine, and I think Charles shared that humour.” Born in 1650 in London, Eleanor “Nell” Gwynn grew up in Coal Yard Alley, a poor slum off Drury Lane. She became an orange girl at Three Bridges Theatre (now Theatre Royal) when she was 13. Her confidence and humour caught the eye of Thomas Killigrew, who trained her for the stage. She engaged in an affair with actor Charles Hart, then became mistress to a second Charles, Charles Sackville, before Gwynn found her king, calling him “my Charles the Third”. She bore the
Philip Mould’s Portrait of Nell Gwynn, AngloDutch School, 1670s This newly discovered portrait stands out from the usual canon of mis-identified “Nell Gwynns”. According to Philip Mould, the likeness is taken directly from a now lost miniature of Nell, which is known through engravings. Painted in about the 1670s, this is the most sexually revealing portrait of Nell, and the only portrait to allude so graphically and satirically to her position at court. She is shown with exposed breasts, a well understood sign that the sitter was a mistress. She is also washing sausages, an obvious and long-used sexual allusion, which can even be found in paintings by Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Philip Mould & Company, 18-19 Pall Mall
king two children, the Duke of St Albans and Lord Beauclerk, and died in her mid-30s. With Puritanism a thing of the past, Nell was one of the first actresses ever allowed to perform on the English stage, and audiences found her high spirits and wit refreshing. Swale’s research was as much into 17th-century theatre developments as of Nell herself. “I mainly looked at theatre history records to see what it was like for actresses at that time. Things like they didn’t get paid until the third performance.” This is the third “proper” play written by Berkshireborn Swale, following her much-lauded Blue Stockings at Shakespeare’s Globe in 2013, and Thomas Tallis a year later. The 34-year-old is also a celebrated director, directing the first play by a female playwright performed at the Globe. Which role does she prefer? “I really enjoy the creativity of writing, and of being involved in something from the very beginning. However, I love directing as well, I love being around people and seeing how they are on stage, so they go hand in hand. I didn’t set out to write, but I wanted to do a play on women going to university for the first time [Blue Stockings] and it didn’t exist.” Her latest writing turn has been a success, and reviews for Nell Gwynn have been sparkling. “I don’t go and look for [reviews]. As a writer, you have to believe in what you’ve done and put it out there and not let someone else’s opinion make you change anything. But I am delighted with how it’s been received.” Nell is played by Gemma Arterton, an excellent casting choice. “It was great that she said yes, and she was so excited about it from the beginning. There are some parallels, I mean obviously Gemma had a very different upbringing to Nell, but the fact that she didn’t come from the usual acting dynasty background, her mother was a cleaner, I think there are similarities there”. London is another key character in Nell, and Swale says our city is at its heart. “There’s a scene where Nell takes Charles up to the roof to see London being built. It was difficult to show lots of different places due to practicalities, but I’m writing the screenplay now and it’s great because then you can show all these different parts of London.” It’s no coincidence that Swale has focused on women in Blue Stockings and Nell: “I was a drama teacher at an all-girls school and the amount of plays we had to choose from [with female characters] was tiny. It was ridiculous. I’m currently writing a play of Stig Of The Dump, and I’ve made one of the bullies a girl, and one of the burglars. I think it makes it more interesting and rich.” I couldn’t agree more. Nell Gwynn is at the Apollo Theatre until April 30. Tickets from £15
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MT Apr16 20-21 culture Nell.indd 21
24/03/2016 14:47
