Mary Saunderson

Mary Saunderson (1637–1712), later known as Mary Saunderson Betterton after her marriage to Thomas Betterton, was an actress and singer in England during the 1660s and 1690s. She is considered one of the first English actresses.

Her most notable accomplishments are her being the first female actress to portray several of Shakespeare's woman characters on the professional stage. She was the first to portray Juliet in Romeo and Juliet,Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, and other female roles in The Tempest, Hamlet (as Ophelia),Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night, King Lear. In Shakespeare's day, female roles were played by teenage boys, as women and young girls were not allowed on the stage. By the 1660s, however, the laws in England had changed, allowing females to act professionally. Mary's connections through her husband, Thomas, who was also a famous actor, allowed her to play several significant roles. Saunderson had a reputation for virtue; Colley Cibber described her as leading "an unblemish'd and sober life".

One of her earliest roles was in The Siege of Rhodes, taking over the role of Ianthe in place of a Mrs. Edward Coleman, whom many agreed had done very poorly in the role. Acting under the direction of William Davenant, Mary did very well, even to the point that she was frequently called Ianthe for the rest of her life. She sang in several of Aphra Behn's operas. Perhaps her greatest and most lauded accomplishment was her performance in the role of Lady Macbeth. Actor-playwright Colley Cibber considered her “so great a Mistress of Nature” who was the only actress able to “throw out those quick and careless Strokes of Terror from the Disorder of a guilty Mind … with a Facility in her Manner that render'd them at once tremendous and delightful”. She played the major female roles for about 30 years, until she gradually faded out of the stage lights in the early 1690s. Her final appearance was in John Dryden's last play, Love Triumphant, where she played the leading female role.

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