"...uncommonly powerful, but not so melodious..."
David Garrick as Richard III. (Not Captain Fearon!)Earlier this week the British Library's fabulous Untold Lives blog posted a charming little article about Captain James Peter Fearon, an East India Company captain who performed the title role in Richard III at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 17 January 1803.
Captain Fearon’s theatrical debut as Richard III was well-received by the large number of sailors in the audience and by the press. He gave the performance twice more in January. The Monthly Mirror believed that he could have a stage career as there was "much genius" in his performance notwithstanding the blemishes. His voice was described as "uncommonly powerful, but not so melodious" and he was praised for his "freedom of deportment, confidence, feeling, and unabating spirit". However Fearon was criticised for hurrying through many of the most significant soliloquies as if he did not understand their meaning: "He appears, throughout, to be running a race with the character, and frequently gets the start of it". The Morning Post wrote that the Captain’s face was capable of very little variety of expression, yet he had the great recommendation of being no imitator but a truly original Richard.
Captain Fearnon sounds rather splendid doesn't he? I wonder what Archie would have made of him? Or indeed George Cadogan, who seems to have had something of a theatrical bent.
You can read more about Captain Fearnon here: A truly original Richard III