ABSTRACT
For the student of acting and actors, the Eighteenth Century is a rich period. Within a century the careers of such players as Betterton, Quin, Macklin, Garrick, and Kemble ran their courses; these were actors of varying techniques, yet they had in common their century’s earnest desire to imitate “nature” and they all subscribed to the same basic set of acting conventions. To be natural, to hold the mirror up to nature, is the chief, but not the sole, tenet of the actor’s creed. It is this tenet which caused Macklin to revolt against the furious rant of Powell, and probably Powell to revolt against the restraint of Betterton. Each artist is, of course, entitled to his own interpretation of nature. Facial expression played an important part in the acting technique of the period. Sandford, whom King Charles called the best villain in the world, “acted strongly with his face”.
