IS: Hi folks! Today I'm here with a very special guest. Let's give a warm welcome to Maria Rebecca Davison!
MD: Hello!
IS: So, Mrs. Davison-- can I call you Maria? How are you?
MD: Maria is fine, thanks. I'm wonderful, how are you?
IS: Great, great. As you know, I have a few questions for you in this little interview of mine, so I say we get started with that. So, tell me about the place and time you lived.
MD: I was born in 1783 in Liverpool, England. Liverpool is a wonderful city that dates back to 1st century-AD, the population being 77,000 in 1800. (City Portal Liverpool, 2014) During my child and adult years, two monarchs ruled England- George III and George IV. Women had almost no rights at all during that time, and were expected to stay at home with their children or serving her husband and whatnot. (Women in Theater, 2009)
Britain had much social and political unrest in the early 1800's. There was political reform, The Peterloo Massacre, and not to mention all of the slavery and unemployment. Theater riots unfortunately occurred in England as well. Convent Garden, where I have acted in before, was victim of the "Old Price Riots" in 1809. That was when I was 26 years old. (Lambert, 2015) (Theater in the Nineteeth Century, http://homepage.smc.edu/martin_ben/TheaterHistory/nineteenth.htm)
IS: What events in your early life made you get interested in the arts?
MD: Well, my mum and my dad were both provincial performers. You could say because of this, I was sort of born into the industry. I started off just with playing small roles, taking after them. I played fairies and cupids. But, these small roles excited my childish mind at the time.
I mostly acted in Liverpool as a child, since it is my hometown. Though I also acted in Newcastle, as well as Dublin. I believe just this experience at my young age kick-started my passion for acting to begin with. (Knight and Gilliard, 2004)
IS: What were major accomplishments and the methods you used in your art?
MD: I was always very active in my theater. I am well known for my role as "Juliana" in "The Honeymoon". (Tobin, 1827) (Cole, 1859) I also played "Maria" in Murphy's "The Citizen". (Alals, 1809) In the play "Road to Ruin", I played "Sophia", as well as "Gillim" in "The Quaker". "Rosalind" in "As You Like It" was another very fun role, but of course I cannot forget playing the lovely "Julia" in "Rivals". Playing Julia was my return to Drury Lane.
Methods I used in my acting was mainly just trying to go for the big companies to result in my success. The Theatre-Royal on Drury Lane in Newcastle, England is a notable theater for me. That is where I performed as "Juliana", and it is one of England's most popular theatres! (Urban, 1858) It is a great accomplishment for me. The theater opened in 1788, when I was just 5 years old. Acting at Covent Garden and the Haymarket were also great accomplishments of mine. But oh, the Theatre Royal was wonderful! (Theatre Royal, 2015)
IS: What was the world of art like in your particular art field when you entered it?
MD: When I first starting acting, theater was growing. It progressed more as it started to get more and more technical and scenic. Instead of the normal backdrop, there came revolving turntables and much more backstage storage. The late eighteenth century was a great age in theatre. It was fantastic to be going into the Industry at such a marvelous time for actors and actresses. (The Growth of Theatres, crossref-it.info) Restoration Theater was at large through Romanticism, with playwrights like Richard Sheridan writing extremely popular sentimental comedies at the time. (Wild, 2011)
But, copyright was a problem when I was first starting. In the early 1800's, writers of plays were exploited continuously. By the Victorian Age, copyright was almost nothing at all. (Mohajer, The London Theatre Around 1800)
IS: How did major cultural, economic, and political situations of the time impact your work?
MD: Well, we all know of the famous Napoleonic War. That war ended in 1815, but after it ended we faced some economic hardships that took a toll on theater. Theaters were struggling financially because of this. Cultural issues occurred as well when the Industrial Revolution began to take place. People living in rural areas were beginning to move to big cities and industrial towns because of the new ideas. This left behind the rural theaters, causing many to struggle. (Mohajer, The London Theatre Around 1800)
Not only that, but theater had a bad reputation. The middle class looked down upon theater. Economic decline took place because of the reputation that the theaters had penniless standards of acting. (The Theatres Trust, 2007)
IS: What hardships or roadblocks did you have to overcome in order to be an artist?
MD: Just a lot of different things that happened to be going on in my time. Women were not expected to have a career or any education at all. (National Women's History Museum, 2007) This was tough, given that I was a female acting in places as famous as Covent Garden. Women also were expected to marry, which could be quite a lot of pressure while dealing with a professional career. (Smith, 2002) There were also many changes that had to be made to theaters. This was difficult to deal with because I was so active in the business while these changes were being made.
Sometimes it was even dangerous to be an actress, because of fires in the theaters. These fires were because of most theaters having wood interiors. We finally got fire-risk curtains and a water tank to extinguish fires in case they happened. This was a very good hardship to overcome, because it would put my artistic career at risk. (The Theatres Trust, 2007)
IS: What role did mentors play in helping you develop the interests and talents you have as a artist?
MD: As I said before, both of my parents were provincial performers. But not just my parents have helped me become the performer I am today! A woman by the name of Miss Farren has helped me from the start. She saw me play "Rosetta" in "Love in a Village" when I was only thirteen. After that, she predicted that I would be successful in my acting career.
I did not see Miss Farren for a bit, but she coincidentally saw me again acting the Widow Cheerly. She wanted me to be a part of the next season of Drury Lane immediately. She was the stage manager of Drury Lane, and she started made my career skyrocket. Miss Farren helped me immensely, especially with my performance as "Lady Teasle". Because Miss Farren used to play this role before she retired, her performance led me to live up to her expectations. (Cole, 1859)
IS: What personal stories best illustrate how you became successful in the art?
MD: Well, my success didn't come all at one time. There are little things that led to my success as an actress. A personal story I enjoy is when I got to perform as "Juliana" in "The Honeymoon". This is because I was said to have "made up" this role. And, much to my excitement, my audience enjoyed Juliana. I was well known for playing this role, and it caused more and more fame to come my way.
Another little story of mine that I like to tell is of my early acting career. When I was just five years old, I acted in "The Duke of York". The famous British actor George Frederick Cooke watched my performance. I was always into acting as a child, as you know, but his response to my performing stood out to me most out of all my childhood plays. G.F. Cooke complimented my acting and talked of me very highly, something he rarely did to others. This contributed to my success, causing me to continue in my theater. (Cole, 1859)
IS: How did your work impact the world of art?
MD: Even though I am an old woman now, I believe I am still a strong actress. Most women only act for their beauty and stop at old age, not wanting to show off their looks as elders. I, however, pave the way for women wanting to continue their acting into old age. As Bannister says, "Us old folks know how to do it!"
Not only that, but I also impacted Drury Lane's success as well. (Not to brag or anything...) Because of my role as Juliana, who, as you know, was my original character, "The Honeymoon" was successful. It ran twenty-eight nights, keeping Drury Lane's business booming. I stuck with Drury Lane for 14 years throughout my acting career as well. And, not only did Drury Lane make me successful, but without me, their shows wouldn't be complete for fourteen years without the help of me! (Cole, 1859)
IS: That is very true Maria, you did help them out a lot with your superior acting! And we applaud you for that. Those are all of my questions for today!
MD: Oh, blast! We're finished already? It was lovely speaking to you! Come pay a visit soon, my husband James would love to meet you I'm sure. Ta ta!
IS: Thank you for your time!
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