King of England Charles II - Nell Gwynn

ContentsThe People Loved Her Because She Was One of Them An Interview with Jessica Swale
Speaking to Heather NeillNell Gwynn, orange seller and mistress of Charles II, is a figure of legend, but where did she come from? Its hard to know exactly; working-class lives werent recorded in enough detail for there to be accurate records, but many believe she was brought up in Coal Yard Alley in Covent Garden, where her mother, Old Ma Gwynn, kept a brothel. Nell probably worked there, either serving drinks to clients or as a prostitute. Some say she worked as a herring gutter or oyster hawker before she began selling oranges in the pit at Drury Lane. Her father died in a debtors prison and she had one sister called Rose. Part of the joy of writing Nell Gwynn has been sketching around the bones of the known facts, imagining and inventing. What was the life of an orange seller like? The girls sold sharp China oranges and sweetmeats in baskets, whilst earning tips passing messages between punters and backstage like a seventeenth-century Tinder. What was the life of an orange seller like? The girls sold sharp China oranges and sweetmeats in baskets, whilst earning tips passing messages between punters and backstage like a seventeenth-century Tinder.

Many were prostitutes too. Its not clear how Nell got onstage, but I like to imagine that she was spotted wittily doing her job by Charles Hart. Hart was the star of the day. Yes and she did become his mistress. Dryden wrote plays for them both in Thomas Killigrews company. What was theatre like when it was re-established after Cromwells Commonwealth? When Charles II returned from France in 1660, he licensed two theatre companies in London: Killigrews Kings Company at Drury Lane and Davenants Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields. What was theatre like when it was re-established after Cromwells Commonwealth? When Charles II returned from France in 1660, he licensed two theatre companies in London: Killigrews Kings Company at Drury Lane and Davenants Dukes Company at Lincolns Inn Fields.

I imagine Killigrew must have been under tremendous pressure as the two companies were in constant competition. At Drury Lane there was an apron stage and a pit filled with benches rather than standing groundlings. Society was much smaller then, so all classes would meet at the theatre and the Globe emulates that democratic feel. As for Dryden, it is funny that so many of his plays are badly written, but he must have felt the weight of expectation; theatre was re-emerging after an eleven-year gap, he was at the helm of the new culture, the King wanted new plays it cant have been easy. No wonder they reinvented so many familiar texts. King Lear was given a new ending in which Cordelia survives, and Dryden wrote a new play called The Enchanted Island, about Prospero and his two daughters Miranda and Dorinda. King Lear was given a new ending in which Cordelia survives, and Dryden wrote a new play called The Enchanted Island, about Prospero and his two daughters Miranda and Dorinda.

Sound familiar? Yet, though his plays havent stood the test of time, he was a successful poet and even became Poet Laureate. How did the first actresses fit into the picture? Charles II had seen actresses on stage in Paris and decided it was high time we followed fashion. However, the early actresses got a rather raw deal. Writers knew the audiences interest in actresses was often voyeuristic, so played into this by writing body-exposing rape scenes, or writing breeches parts, in which women, disguised as tight-trousered men (exposing their shapely legs) were then revealed to be female with the dramatic exposure of their breasts. Punters often paid an extra penny to watch the actresses change, many of whom were prostitutes. This was Nells world, but I wanted her to question it.

If she was learning the craft, falling in love with acting, surely someone of her wit and intelligence would want better parts to play than the wilting waifish woman. She wasnt the first woman on stage; that was probably Margaret Hughes, or possibly (as in this play) Moll Davies at the rival company, but Nell was in the first wave of actresses. You have had considerable success directing plays of this period. Did you consider writing in the style of a Restoration play? Whilst I originally considered writing in a Restoration style, I thought it would be alienating (and a little perverse) to use archaic language, to be overly verbose and use magniloquent phraseology unnecessarily (you see). What was far more important to me was to capture the quick wit of the time and the equivalent of that for us is more akin to modern farce. So thats what this is.

Ive peppered it with period references, but Ive chosen to use modern syntax and diction, with the occasional anachronism for comic effect. You have actors demonstrating attitudes, poses to indicate emotions. Would the acting style have seemed alien to us? Its easy to assume that it was melodramatic, but actually Pepys describes the best actors as seeming real, so I wonder if the style somehow used precise physical positions as a structure, rather like ballet, whilst still being emotionally connected, like naturalism. The attitudes werent static poses but frameworks of movements and gestures which actors used to underscore the text. As theatres were large buildings, it was important that emotion could be read in an actors posture. Are the songs in the play based on the music of the period? Theyre certainly inspired by it. Are the songs in the play based on the music of the period? Theyre certainly inspired by it.

I love writing lyrics, and had been listening to everything from Purcell to an album called The History of Bawdy Songs, which tells you all you need to know! So I would write in pastiche of a style, then pass the lyrics on to Nigel Hess, who would transform them by writing original melodies and scoring them so beautifully that theyd become unrecognisable. He is a genius, I think. How much is known of Nells relationship with the King? I think they really were in love. She was his favourite mistress for many years, and they spent a lot of private time together. He had a secret passage built from his court rooms in Westminster to her house in Pall Mall, so they could rendezvous for card games and evenings away from the public. Unlike Barbara Castlemaine, she made no attempt to interfere in politics and never asked for a title for herself (though she did for her sons).

Louise de Keroualle, another favourite mistress and Nells rival, was tremendously unpopular and was known as the Catholic whore. Theres a story that a crowd once attacked Nells coach thinking Louise was inside, so Nell merrily stuck her head out and said Hold, good people, I am the Protestant whore! which garnered whoops and cheers from the delighted onlookers. The people loved her because she was one of them. And, of course, theres Charless famous dying wish: Dont let poor Nellie starve. Who was Arlington, the courtier? Arlington was an ambitious adviser to the King, significantly older and more experienced. Ive conflated him with Buckingham to give Charles a right-hand man.

He may seem outspoken in his manner with the King, but the reality is that the Court was terribly shaken after the Commonwealth, and it was essential that Charles didnt put a foot wrong. The divine right of kings had just been re-established, order restored, the aristocrats returned. If Arlington and his courtiers could ensure the Kings image was spotless, divine, he would stay on his pedestal. But if his saintly image was tarnished by an affair with a prostitute from Coal Yard Alley, who would see him as divine then? What would stop the next Cromwell? One of your themes is celebrity