Difference between revisions of "Madame Duret"
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| − | According to Phelps, her name was at one time linked to that of [[Gustavus | + | According to Phelps, her name was at one time linked to that of [[Gustavus Brooke]], though they were not married, and later it appears she may have married her theatrical partner on her South African tour, [[J.H. le Roy]]. |
| − | However she must have returned to the United States in later years, for it appears she set up as an elocution teacher in San Francisco, dying there in poverty in 1881. | + | However she must have returned to the United States in later years, for it appears she set up as an elocution teacher in San Francisco, dying there in poverty in 1881. |
==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance== | ==Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance== | ||
Revision as of 05:00, 1 August 2017
Madame Duret (floreat 1850s to 1870s, died 1881) was a professional actress.
Also referred to as Mrs Marie Duret.
Contents
Biography
Information about the early years of Marie Duret is unfortunately scant. She was apparently born in England, but must have moved to the USA as a young actress, for she really made quite a name for herself as an actress and manager in the USA in the mid 19th century. For example in 1850, after making a name for herself as a very athletic and energetic performer, specializing in "breeches roles", she appeared at a number of New York theatres, founding her own company in 1853 and even managing the Museum theatre in Utica, New York for a number of months, and in 1855 performed in Albany, New York. . She then appears to have visited Australia, and then either returned to the South West or to England.
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According to Phelps, her name was at one time linked to that of Gustavus Brooke, though they were not married, and later it appears she may have married her theatrical partner on her South African tour, J.H. le Roy.
However she must have returned to the United States in later years, for it appears she set up as an elocution teacher in San Francisco, dying there in poverty in 1881.
Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance
She apparently worked in Port Elizabeth and Cape Town between 1861 and 1871 with her husband, Mr J.H. le Roy, as one half of the Leroy and Duret or Le Roy and Duret Company. They were particularly active in the work presented by the British garrison in Cape Town.
She was generally regarded as a formidable actress and clearlty a character actress and seasoned transformationist, performing multiple roles in various plays specifically selected for her, including three characters in The French Spy, or The Wild Arab of the Desert, six in the protean farce The Actress of All Work (Oxberry) and eight in Winning a Husband (Buckstone).
For more performances by the company and Madame Duret, see Le Roy and Duret Company
[JH]
Sources
Henry Pitt Phelps.1880. Players of a Century: A Record of the Albany Stage. Albany: J. McDonough, p. 292.[1]
Jane Kathleen Curry. 1994. Nineteenth-century American Women Theatre Managers. Greenwood: pp. 29-30.[2]
Bosman, F.C.L., Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. 1980: pp.
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