85:
The cast list holds that Sharpe played the
Duchess in both of these productions; he would have been perhaps 12 years old for the first, and about 19 for the second (though the dates of both the productions and of Sharpe's birth are not certain). Some commentators blanche at the idea of a 12-year-old
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Parish records testify to the brief existence of Sharpe's illegitimate son
Richard; as the record puts it, he was "base born of the body of Margaret Smith singlewoman...." The infant was christened on 6 September 1631, and buried eleven days later, on 17 September; his mother was a servant.
215:
Sharpe "probably became a sharer in the King's Men in 1624" — that is, a partner in the company rather than a mere hired player. Sharpe then switched from important female roles to important male roles — a transition that some boy players (like
Robinson or
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The subject of boy players in female roles is controversial and long-disputed. A cautious approach would rely on the testimony of the evidentiary record, which assigns the role of the
Duchess of Malfi to Sharpe.
94:, the veteran who is thought by some to have originated many Shakespearean heroines. (Cooke, however, died in February 1614, necessitating an earlier date for the original production.)
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boy playing such a prominent woman's role; and some have assigned the part in the first production to the more experienced
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Sharpe's earliest known role was, arguably, both his most significant and his most controversial. The first edition of
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The 1623 cast list actually covers two separate productions, the premiere staging and a later revival.
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The original starred
Richard Burbage and is usually dated to c. 1614. It must have occurred prior to
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W. R. Elton and
William B. Long, eds., Dover, DE, University of Delaware Press, 1989, p. 145.
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Sharpe's death followed that of his son by four months; he was buried in the parish of
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Sharpe originated other female roles in ensuing years. the cast lists added to the
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acting female roles, then switched to male roles in his young adulthood.
63:. The list states that Sharpe originated the title role of the Duchess.
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credit Sharpe with parts in the King's Men's premiere productions of:
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Shakespeare and
Dramatic Tradition: Essays in Honor of S. F. Johnson,
74:'s death in December 1614, since Ostler played the role of Antonio.
371:, "Records of Players in the Parish of St. Giles, Cripplegate,"
23:, the leading theatre troupe of its time and the company of
224:). Sharpe played Parthenius in the company's production of
19:(c. 1602 – January 1632) was an actor with the
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The revival production starred
Burbage's replacement
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Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press, 2004; p. 240.
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355:"The Versatility of Shakespeare's Actors," in:
220:) executed more successfully than others (like
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375:Vol. 44 No. 3 (September 1929), pp. 789-826.
343:New York, St. Martin's Press, 1997; p. 243.
373:Papers of the Modern Language Association
328:The Shakespeare Company 1594–1642,
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59:, contains the earliest cast list in
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108:second Beaumont and Fletcher folio
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402:English male Shakespearean actors
392:17th-century English male actors
31:. Sharpe began his career as a
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307:on 25 January 1632, aged 30.
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341:Six Renaissance Tragedies,
258:(also 1629), Wittworth in
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121:The Custom of the Country
61:English Renaissance drama
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170:The Little French Lawyer
255:The Deserving Favourite
142:The Humorous Lieutenant
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305:St. Anne Blackfriars
265:The Soddered Citizen
177:The Lovers' Progress
52:The Duchess of Malfi
40:The Duchess of Malfi
353:Thomas J. King, Jr.
339:Colin Gibson, ed.,
156:The Knight of Malta
149:The Island Princess
128:The Double Marriage
25:William Shakespeare
218:Stephen Hammerton
184:The Loyal Subject
163:The Laws of Candy
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412:Boy players
407:1632 deaths
324:Andrew Gurr
279:The Swisser
241:The Picture
102:Other roles
386:Categories
311:References
33:boy player
21:King's Men
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299:Death
284:1631
270:1630
246:1629
236:1626
112:1679
57:1623
27:and
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