Exit the Actress

Touchstone
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2011 by Priya Parmar

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Touchstone trade paperback edition February 2011

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Designed by Renata Di Biase

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Parmar, Priya.

Exit the actress / by Priya Parmar.

p. cm.

1. Gwyn, Nell, 1650–1687—Fiction. 2. Charles II, King of England, 1630–1685—Fiction. 3. Mistresses—Great Britain—Fiction 4. Actresses—Great Britain—Fiction. 5. Great Britain—Kings and rulers—Paramours—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3616. A757 E95 2011

813’.6—dc22

2009048703

ISBN 978-1-4391-7117-2
ISBN 978-1-4391-7118-9 (ebook)

for my mother and father
from nora who left for plumbean’s house
to see the moon with you

Exit the Actress

By Most Particular Desire

T
HEATRE
R
OYAL,
C
OVENT
G
ARDEN

Audiences Brilliant and Overflowing

Are Invited to Attend the Premiere of

E
XIT THE
A
CTRESS

This Present Wednesday, May 1, 1662

will be repeated tomorrow, Friday, and Saturday next

P
RESENTED BY
M
R.
T
HOMAS
K
ILLIGREW,

L
EASEE AND
R
OYAL
P
ATENT
HOLDER

With: the cast as listed below

Gwyn Family

Mrs.
*
Eleanor Gwyn (Ellen/Nell/Nelly)
—an orange girl turned actress at the King’s Theatre

Mrs. Rose Cassels (née Gwyn)
—Ellen’s older sister

Mrs. Eleanor Gwyn (Nora)
—Ellen and Rose’s mother; a serving woman at the Rose Tavern

Captain Thomas Gwyn
**
—Nora’s husband; an officer in the Royal Army

Dr. Edward Gwyn (Grandfather)
—Captain Gwyn’s father; a canon of Christ Church, Oxford

Mrs. Margaret Gwyn
***
(Great-Aunt Margaret)
—Dr. Gwyn’s sister; living in Oxford

Theatre

Mr. Theophilus Bird (Theo)
—Actor at the King’s Theatre

Mr. Nicholas Burt (Nick)
—Actor at the King’s Theatre

Mr. William Davenant
—Manager of the Duke’s Theatre

Mrs. Moll Davis
—Actress at the Duke’s Theatre; mistress to King Charles II

Mr. John Dryden
—Playwright; Poet Laureate

Sir George Etheredge
—Wit; playwright

Mr. Charles Hart
—Actor; major shareholder of the King’s Theatre

Mrs. Margaret Hughes (Peg)
—Actress at the King’s Theatre and possibly the first woman to act upon the London stage

Mr. Harry Killigrew
—Groom of the Bedchamber; Wit; son of Thomas Killigrew

Mr. Thomas Killigrew—Patent
holder; manager and major shareholder of the King’s Theatre; former Groom of the Bedchamber

Mrs. Elizabeth Knep (Lizzie)
—Actress; mistress of diarist Samuel Peyps

Mr. Edward Kynaston (Teddy)
—Former cross-dressing star; Wit; well-loved actor

Mr. John Lacy—Actor
, choreographer at the King’s Theatre

Mrs. Rebecca Marshall (Becka)
—Actress at the King’s Theatre

Mrs. Mary Megs (Orange Moll)
—Orange seller at the King’s Theatre; employs the orange girls

Royal Families of England and France

King Charles I**—King
of England; executed in 1649

Queen Henrietta Maria—His
queen; daughter of King Henri IV of France; aunt to King Louis XIV of France

King Charles II—Son
of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria and cousin to King Louis XIV of France; restored to the throne in 1660

Queen Catherine of Braganza—Wife
to King Charles II; former Portuguese Infanta

King Louis XIV—King
of France; first cousin to King Charles II

James, Duke of Monmouth (Jemmy)—Illegitimate
first-born son of King Charles II and Lucy Walker

Henry, Duke of Gloucester**—Brother
of King Charles II; died of the sweat in 1660

James, Duke of York—Younger
brother of King Charles II

Anne, Duchess of York—His
wife, daughter to the Earl of Clarendon

Henriette-Anne (Minette)—Youngest
child of King Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria; the Madame of France; Duchesse d’Orléans; married to Philippe, Duc d’Orléans

Philippe Charles d’Orléans—Brother
of King Louis XIV; the Monsieur of France; Duc d’Orléans, husband of Minette

Royal Court of England

Sir Henry Bennet—Lord
Arlington; Secretary of State

Earl of Clarendon—Chancellor
, Privy Councillor, father of Anne, Duchess of York

Lady Barbara Palmer (née Villiers)—Countess
of Castlemaine; Duchess of

Cleveland; mistress to King Charles II, mother of their five children

Lord Buckhurst (Charles Sackville)—Earl
of Dorset and Middlesex; Wit, poet

Sir Charles Sedley—Wit
, poet

George Villiers—Duke
of Buckingham; Wit; Privy Councillor; childhood friend of King Charles II, cousin of Barbara Castlemaine

Lord John Wilmot (Johnny)—Earl
of Rochester; Wit; poet

To Be Performed by:

T
HE
K
ING’S
C
OMPANY
(
ESTABLISHED
1660)

PERFORMANCES BEGIN AT 3 O’CLOCK DAILY

P
ROLOGUE

S
POKEN BY THE
A
CTRESS

M
RS.
N
ELLY
G
WYN

upon her Farewell Performance

T
HEATRE
R
OYAL,
D
RURY
L
ANE
, L
ONDON

Prompt Copy

T
AKEN BY
S
TAGE
M
ANAGER
B
OOTH

March 1, 1670

Mrs. Nelly Gwyn: (Whispering in the wing, hands folded, eyes closed.
) Take a breath. Count three. Curtain up.
Now.

(
Curtain rises. Enter the Actress stage left.
)

Mrs. Nelly Gwyn:
Here I am. Back by request: for one night only, at
his
behest. (
Deep court curtsey to KING CHARLES II, seated in the royal box.
) What a lark and what a loss that such things are no longer fit for one such as me. How impossible is my unlikely luck: For here we are for one last night, to whirl like a dervish, and dance in delight, to look round and round at the faces bright, brightened still by candlelight. And then the curtain will fall and the thing will be done.

(
Noisy sigh.
) So if it be now: Good-bye to you and good-bye to me. To what we’ve loved and what we’ve been. To the villains punished and the good set free and love scenes played under the apple tree. There. Done it. (
Skipping.
) So off I go into the big blue swirl, to become a star, and to glitter far from home—but I will be
your
star, marked with affection, stamped and sealed. From you and of you: polished up, and good as new—well better than new; I once was a merry but meanly fed scamp but now I eat for
two
. Oh, I had forgotten how free this is. It has been many months since…. well, you all know what I have been doing since. (
Laughter.
) And now I
have a different life. I am to be an unmarried mother and devoted wife. So far a life well lived, I’d say. Turning left and left into unexpectedness I’ve flown through and through. Down the corridor, up the stair, over the road that leads nowhere, with candied daisies in my hair. And what did I find? A sugar-spun life of fruit and fancy shot straight through with gold. How extraordinary.