William Kempe
William Kempe | |
---|---|
Born | c. 1560 Possibly Kent, England |
Died | c. 1603 (aged about 43) Southwark, London, England |
Occupation | actor |
Years active | 1585 or earlier–1603 |
Known for | Playing comic roles in William Shakespeare's plays |
William Kempe (c. 1560 – c. 1603), commonly referred to as Will Kemp, was an English actor and dancer specialising in comic roles and best known for having been one of the original stage actors in early dramas by
Kempe's success and influence was such that in December 1598 he was one of a core of five actor-shareholders in the Lord Chamberlain's Men alongside Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, but in a short time (possibly after a disagreement among the members of the troupe) he parted company with the group. Despite his fame as a performer and subsequent intent to continue his career, he appears to have died unregarded and in poverty circa 1603.
Life
In a 1615 lawsuit brought by Thomasina (née Heminges) Ostler, widow of William Ostler, against her father, John Heminges, the recently deceased actor William Kempe was referred to as a gentleman (Willelmo Kempe nuper de Londonia generoso defuncto),[1] and it has been suggested that either he was a member of the Kempe family of Olantigh, a property 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Wye in Kent, or pretended that such a connection existed:
Kemp's parentage is unknown, though it has been conjectured that, despite his plebeian performance persona, he was linked in some way to the Kempes of Ollantighe, near Ashford in Kent, who were a wealthy Catholic dynasty. Sir Thomas Kempe (1517–1591) did indeed have a son named William;
Sir Anthony Shirley: for Sir Anthony and his two equally famous brothers were related to the Ollantighe Kempes through their mother, who was Sir Thomas Kempe's daughter. Possibly, then, the actor had some tie of kinship to Ollantighe, at an outlying point on the family tree; or perhaps in recommending himself to Shirley he was just opportunistically taking advantage of the name he shared with Shirley's mother.[3]
Kempe is usually given an approximate birth year of 1560.
Kempe's whereabouts in the later 1580s are not known, but that his fame as a performer was growing during this period is indicated by
By 1592 Kempe was one of
Final years
After his departure from the Chamberlain's Men in early 1599, Kempe continued to pursue his career as a performer. In February and March 1600, he undertook what he would later call his "Nine Days Wonder", in which he morris danced from London to Norwich (a distance of about 110 miles or 177 km) in a journey which took him nine days spread over several weeks, often amid cheering crowds. Later that year he published a description of the event to prove to doubters that it was true.[11] However, his activities after this famous stunt are as obscure as his origins. On evidence from The Travels of the Three English Brothers, he is assumed to have made another European tour, perhaps reaching Italy, but by 1601 he was borrowing money from Philip Henslowe and had joined Worcester's Men. The last undoubted mention of him occurs in Henslowe's diary in late 1602.
Parish records record the death of "Kempe, a man" in St. Saviour, Southwark, late in 1603. While this is not necessarily the comedian, the record fits his departure from the documentary record.[citation needed]
Performance style
In his time, Kempe was as famous for his
As an actor, Kempe is certainly associated with two roles:
In period fiction
- Kempe appears as a character in The Return from Parnassus, or The Scourge of Simony, possibly written during his lifetime or very shortly after his death. In it he praises Shakespeare for outdoing university-educated playwrights.
In modern fiction
Film and TV
- In the 1978 TV series Essex Rebellion. In fact Armin is the informer, who has framed Kempe to replace him.
- In the 1998 John Madden film Shakespeare in Love, he is played by Patrick Barlow.
- In 2005's TV-film A Waste of Shame he is portrayed by John Voce.
- In the 2007 Doctor Who episode "The Shakespeare Code", Kempe is played by David Westhead.
- In the 2016 BBC sitcom Upstart Crow, Kempe is played by Spencer Jones as a parody of modern comedian Ricky Gervais.
- In the 2017 television series Will, he is portrayed by William Houston.
Literature
- Kempe is the subject of Paul Aldred's 2022 novel for young adults Will Kempe, Clown, covering his last three years with the Lord Chamberlain's Company.
- Kempe is a key character in Kevin Sylvester's 2015 novel for young adults Neil Flambé and the Bard's Banquet, published by Simon & Schuster Books
- Kempe appears in Ann Young's 2002 novel for young adults The Nine Days Wonder, published by East Hall Press.
- In Neil Gaiman's 1991 graphic novel The Sandman: Dream Country, Kempe is depicted in the issue A Midsummer Night's Dream, a short story about Shakespeare's first performance of the play.
- Kempe also appears in King of Shadows, a 1999 children's fiction book which shows Kempe as a clown dancing a Nine Days' Morris.
- In Harry Turtledove's alternate history 2002 novel Ruled Britannia Kempe is one of the main characters. His off-stage personality is indistinguishable from the characters he plays on stage, and his antics provide much of the humour in the novel, which is set during a time of grim peril.
- In J. B. Cheaney's 2004 novel The True Prince along with more of the Lord Chamberlain's Men.
- Kempe's Jig is referenced in Geoffrey Hill's poem "After Reading Children of Albion (1969)" from his A Treatise of Civil Power, published in 2007.
Stage
In 1973 Chris Harris began touring in "Kemp's Jig" a one-man humorous show describing Kemp's life and the Nine Days' Wonder. The play toured globally, with its performance at the National Theatre televised for LWT's Aquarius programme. In 2019 Blue Fire Theatre Company took over the production, which continues to tour with Steve Taylor playing Kemp.
- Kempe was the title character in Dan Roentsch's play Will Kemp.[13]
- William Gibson depicts Kempe as a moody tragedian in his 1968 play A Cry of Players, a significant departure from Kempe's actual performance style.
In 2008, comedian
In 2021, Tortive Theatre launched a new one-actor play about the life and death of William Kempe, written by T.G Hofman, at the Edinburgh Fringe.[15] Shakespeare's Fool starred Robin Leetham as Kempe and was directed by Ben Humphrey. The show started touring the UK in 2022.[16]
Concerts
During the COVID-19 Lockdowns 2020–2021, Hexachordia, a Musical trio created KEMP’S JIG - a fifty-five minute “Docu-Concert” following the exploits of the Shakespearean comic actor and available to view online.[17]
Footnotes
- ^ Wallace 1909, p. 7.
- ^ Richardson III 2011, p. 276.
- ^ Butler 2004.
- ^ "William Kempe - National Portrait Gallery". www.npg.org.uk.
- ISBN 9788174786371– via Google Books.
- ^ "William Kempe | British actor". Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ^ The Earl made a special payment of ten shillings for this performance.
- ISBN 0-19-505161-0.
- ^ James Shapiro, (2005). 1599, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare. Faber and Faber, London. pp.42–49.
- ^ Robert Hornback The English Clown Tradition from the Middle Ages to Shakespeare 1843843560 - 2013 "nd of the stupid puritan stereotype generally, that Shakespeare wrote his own strict, stupid puritan clown for Kemp — for whatever reason, Kemp's last Shakespearean role — in 1598. Like the “foolish Mayre or foolish justice” ...
- ^ The year Kempe gives was 1599 Old Style, which has caused some later confusion. That Kempe's jig took place in 1600 (New Style) is established by a record of the payment of his prize money by the Norwich City Corporation.
- ^ "Mathew Holmes lute books: Kemp's jig". Cambridge Digital Library. Retrieved 11 December 2014.
- ^ New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 16 June 1986.
- ^ "Tim Fitzhigham The Bard's Fool". Chortle. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- ^ Vines, Rebecca (21 August 2021). "Broadway Baby". Broadwaybaby.com. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "Tortive Theatre | Shakespeare's Fool". TortiveTheatre.com. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
- ^ "Kemp's' Jig". www.hexachordia.com. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
References
- Butler, Martin (2004). "Kemp, William (d. in or after 1610?)". doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/15334. Retrieved 30 December 2012. (Subscription or UK public library membershiprequired.) (subscription required)
- Richardson, Douglas (2011). Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, ed. Kimball G. Everingham. Vol. III (2nd ed.). Salt Lake City.
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ISBN 144996639X - Wallace, Charles William (1909). Advance Sheets From Shakespeare, the Globe, and Blackfriars. Stratford Upon Avon: Stratford Head Press. pp. 1–16.
- Records of Early English Drama – Norwich 1540–1642, 1984, 114–115 [Norwich Mayors' Court Books XIII p. 418] – Record of payment to Kemp for his jig
- "Tim Fitzhigham The Bard's Fool". Chortle. Retrieved 15 June 2014.
- Bald, R. C. "Leicester's Men in the Low Countries." Review of English Studies 19 (1943), 395–7.
- Collier, J. P. Lives of the Original Actors in Shakespeare's Plays. London: Shakespeare Society, 1853.
- Nielsen, James. "Kempe at the Globe." Shakespeare Quarterly 44 (1993), 466–468.
- Nunzeger, Edwin. A Dictionary of Actors and of Other Persons Associated With the Public Presentation of Plays in England Before 1642. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929.
- Shapiro, James. 1599, A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare, "Prologue" and Chapter 1, "A Battle of Wills". (2005), 1–49.
- Wright, Louis. "Will Kemp and Commedia dell'Arte." Modern Language Notes 41 (1926), 516–520.
External links
- Works by William Kemp at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about William Kemp at Internet Archive
- Text of Kempe's Nine Days Wonder at Project Gutenberg.
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Kemp, William". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the