﻿{"id":341,"date":"2016-05-02T11:46:59","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T09:46:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/?p=341"},"modified":"2020-01-09T13:03:27","modified_gmt":"2020-01-09T12:03:27","slug":"charles-mathews-1776-1835-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/2016\/05\/02\/charles-mathews-1776-1835-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Mathews (1776-1835)"},"content":{"rendered":"<h6><strong><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/2016\/05\/02\/charles-mathews-1776-1835-2#english-translation\">here<\/a> for English translation<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Charles Mathews (1776-1835)<\/h5>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-342 size-full alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/f_c-matthews1.jpg\" alt=\"f_c-matthews1\" width=\"151\" height=\"226\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Charles Mathews nacque il 28 giugno del 1776 nello Strand, a Londra. Il padre era libraio a Richmond ed officiava anche come pastore. La sua passione per il teatro, specialmente quello comico, sbocci\u00f2 gi\u00e0 in tenera et\u00e0, mentre lavorava come apprendista presso il padre: pare che assieme a un amico avesse convertito a teatro uno stanzone della bottega, con lo scopo di intrattenere i suoi amici. Dopo un rifiuto da parte del Covent Garden Theatre, al quale aveva fatto domanda per il ruolo di <i>leading comedian<\/i>, si impegn\u00f2 per tre anni in uno studio sistematico della commedia classica e delle sue tecniche, da Shakespeare a Jonson, assistendo agli spettacoli delle compagnie maggiori e costruendosi un considerevole repertorio virtuale di ruoli. Nel 1793, per guadagnare visibilit\u00e0, pag\u00f2 dieci ghinee per ottenere la parte di Richmond in una messinscena del Riccardo III: in tali vesti avrebbe potuto infatti dare un saggio delle sue abilit\u00e0 di scherma nel duello finale contro il protagonista. Con tale esibizione riusc\u00ec finalmente ad aprirsi una strada concreta: si un\u00ec ad una compagnia dublinese, con la quale debutt\u00f2 l\u2019anno seguente interpretando con successo attori famosi (Joseph Munden, John Kemble, Mr Wathen) in veste comica.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Tuttavia, un anno dopo, deluso dalla mancanza di promozioni e dall\u2019inadeguatezza di paga e supporto, Mathews decise di spostarsi a Londra. Durante il viaggio conobbe e strinse amicizia con un altro attore, Montague Talbot, al punto che quando ci furono dei problemi dovuti al maltempo e la nave fu costretta a fermarsi a Swansea, vi si stabilirono per diverso tempo, dopo aver trovato posto presso una compagnia locale. Durante questo periodo, Mathews spos\u00f2 Eliza Kirkham Strong, nel 1797.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Nel 1798 riusc\u00ec invece a farsi assumere dalla compagnia di York, notoriamente tra i migliori trampolini di lancio per la scena londinese. Qui finalmente ottenne i ruoli che preferiva ed anche un buon successo. Dopo la morte della prima moglie nel 1803, spos\u00f2 Anne Jackson, un\u2019attrice della stessa compagnia dalla quale avr\u00e0 nello stesso anno un figlio, Charles James Mathews \u2014 il quale diventer\u00e0 poi attore e drammaturgo. Continuava inoltre a limare lo stile delle sue imitazioni di attori e svilupp\u00f2 anche il talento come ventriloquio.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">L\u2019esperienza lo port\u00f2 a Londra e, nel 1803, fece il suo debutto all\u2019Haymarket Theatre, prima nei panni di Jabel in <i>The Jew <\/i>di Richard Cumberland, poi di Lingo in <i>The Agreeable Surprise <\/i>di Samuel Arnold. La sera successiva ripet\u00e9 persino la performance davanti a re Giorgio III e alla sua famiglia.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-343 size-medium alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/f_c-matthews2-190x300.jpg\" alt=\"f_c-matthews2\" width=\"190\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/f_c-matthews2-190x300.jpg 190w, https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/f_c-matthews2.jpg 206w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 190px) 85vw, 190px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">La stagione successiva segn\u00f2 l\u2019inizio del vero successo, portandogli commenti molto favorevoli da parte dei critici che, ritenendo il suo stile meno formale di quello di John Fawcett, meno costruito di quello di Joseph Murden ma naturale quanto quello di John Bannister, lo annoverarono tra i migliori comici londinesi. La sua abilit\u00e0 pi\u00f9 di spicco pare fosse la capacit\u00e0 di immedesimarsi in maniera pressoch\u00e9 perfetta in qualsiasi persona senza neppure bisogno di costumi. Di lui si disse che aveva il potere di indossare i pensieri di un altro uomo pur tenendo i suoi vestiti, e che molti spettacoli scritti per lui non erano che canovacci scarni che lui stesso poi andava a riempire con le sue idee. Nell\u2019estate 1804 lui e sua moglie arrivarono a firmare un contratto congiunto col Drury Lane per cinque anni, e l\u2019autunno seguente una formidabile interpretazione di Don Manuel nel <i>She Would and She Would Not <\/i>di Colley Cibber stabilir\u00e0 definitivamente il suo primato come attore comico. Per il tempo restante per\u00f2 era costretto a stabilire collaborazioni, anche solo stagionali, con teatri di provincia, perci\u00f2, nel 1808, concep\u00ec l\u2019idea di realizzare, sul modello di Bannister, uno spettacolo individuale che eliminasse ogni dipendenza da compagnie minori. Questa sorta di \u2018assolo\u2019 (sebbene di fatto anche sua moglie vi prendesse parte) fu messo in scena per la prima volta ad Hull il 12 Aprile di quell\u2019anno con il titolo <i>The Mail Coach Adventure, or, Ramble in Yorkshire<\/i>. Si trattava di una miscellanea di discorsi che esploravano pensieri, impressioni e disagi di una serie di personaggi letteralmente e metaforicamente \u2018spaesati\u2019, perch\u00e9 in transito tra diverse parti della Gran Bretagna e spesso anche di altre nazioni.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-344 size-full alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/f_c-matthews3.jpg\" alt=\"f_c-matthews3\" width=\"284\" height=\"271\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Oltre ogni aspettativa dell\u2019autore, l\u2019evento segn\u00f2 l\u2019inizio di un\u2019intera nuova fase della sua carriera, una fase pi\u00f9 propriamente creativa che vide nascere innanzitutto la commedia <i>The Travellers, or, Hit or Miss<\/i> (1811), una sorta di rielaborazione del primo lavoro ideata per le scene<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">dei vari teatri di provincia inglesi e realizzata come \u2018two-man show\u2019 assieme a Charles. Il progetto dur\u00f2 solo una stagione, ma a partire dal 1812 Mathews port\u00f2 in scena pi\u00f9 volte <i>The Mail Coach Adventure <\/i>da solo, e nel 1817 lo spettacolo assunse il nuovo titolo di <i>At Home<\/i>. La tipologia di comicit\u00e0 che Mathews praticava era quella incentrata sulla cosiddetta \u2018social quackery\u2019, ossia sulle falsit\u00e0, gli inganni e gli intrighi sociali che caratterizzavano la realt\u00e0 contemporanea. In un mix tra caricatura familiare e satira sociale, Mathews costruiva caricature che coglievano perfettamente e drammatizzavano aspirazioni, ansie ed imbarazzi della sua epoca, non senza un retrogusto di riflessione e amarezza nei confronti della delusione e della perdita.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Se di l\u00ec in poi le tourn\u00e9e costituirono una parte fondamentale della sua carriera, anche le performance londinesi non erano state e non furono poi meno proficue. Nel 1809 l\u2019incendio del Drury lane lo aveva costretto a spostarsi al Lyceum nel 1811 e poi al Covent Garden nel 1812. Qui lavor\u00f2 tranquillamente fino a quando, nel 1814, una caduta da carrozza non lo rese zoppo. In seguito all\u2019incidente gli furono riservati tendenzialmente ruoli secondari di personaggi anziani o storpi e, di fronte a tale scenario, Mathews prefer\u00ec a un certo punto rescindere anticipatamente il contratto.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Nel 1817 si spost\u00f2 all\u2019Haymarket Theatre, dove present\u00f2 per la prima volta al pubblico londinese la versione \u2018one-man\u2019 di <i>The Mail Coach Adventure.<\/i> La prima fu vista da S. J. Arnold, che gli offr\u00ec subito un contratto per recitare ogni stagione primaverile per i successivi sette anni all\u2019English Opera House. Fu in questa occasione che apparve per la prima volta pubblicamente il titolo <i>At Home<\/i>, prima citato solo come designazione informale in lettere alla moglie. Lo spettacolo prese in questi anni la forma definitiva di un lungo monologo da quale si diramavano aneddoti, battute e canzoni che portavano lo spettatore attraverso una serie di avventure divertenti e fornivano lo spunto per numerose imitazioni e persino per ventriloqui. Per tale tecnica lui stesso coni\u00f2 il termine di \u2018mono-poly-logue\u2019, che indica un monologo in cui chi parla lo fa per\u00f2 attraverso diverse voci. Il titolo era invece riferito al fatto che la rappresentazione si svolgesse in uno scenario che ricreava quello di un salone privato, con Mathews vestito in abiti elegantemente ordinari, come fosse impegnato in una normale chiacchierata mondana in casa. Tale idea rivedeva totalmente il rapporto tra attore e spettatori, abbattendo la \u2018quarta parete\u2019 e rendendo il pubblico un simbolico partecipante alla \u2018chiacchierata\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Al di l\u00e0 di questo impegno fisso primaverile, Mathews riprese i suoi tour nelle province, organizzati durante tutto il resto dell\u2019anno. I suoi \u2018one-man-show\u2019 erano ormai costantemente sulla bocca di tutti, e non di rado lui si avvaleva di collaborazioni con validi scrittori e drammaturghi del suo tempo. Nel 1819 realizz\u00f2 <i>A Trip to Paris, <\/i>dove si era recato poco prima in tourn\u00e9e congiuntamente con Frederick Yates. Nel 1822 visit\u00f2 anche l\u2019America, esperienza che arricch\u00ec e segn\u00f2 profondamente la sua formazione professionale. Debutt\u00f2 a Baltimora, e fu un trionfo. La critica acclam\u00f2 universalmente le sue performance, e fu la stella della stagione teatrale, proseguendo il suo tour tra Philadelphia, New York e Boston. Fece ritorno in Inghilterra come il maggiore commediante dell\u2019epoca, e per di pi\u00f9 con una nuova pi\u00e8ce, intitolata <i>A Trip to America, <\/i>la cui premi\u00e8re ebbe luogo all\u2019English Opera House nel \u201824. Nei dieci anni successivi, ogni stagione primaverile, esclusa quella del 1828, Mathews mise in scena \u201c<i>At Home\u201d <\/i>per quaranta serate. Nel 1828 interruppe a causa di una proposta dal Drury Lane che gli prometteva la pi\u00f9 alta somma mai pagata ad un attore comico.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Nello stesso anno avviava la sua nuova occupazione di manager dell\u2019Adephi Theatre, dove mise in scena <i>At Home <\/i>fino al 1834. Fu questa l\u2019ultima stagione londinese per Mathews che, dopo una performance d\u2019addio al teatro di Richmond (il luogo dove aveva iniziato nel 1793), sebbene ormai anziano e debole, si imbarc\u00f2 con la moglie nel suo ultimo viaggio in America: aveva ricevuto un\u2019offerta conveniente da un agente statunitense, i cui dettagli sono per\u00f2 stati oscurati dal tempo. Sappiamo che il piano originario, da lui ideato in prima persona, prevedeva una permanenza di almeno 18 mesi, con l\u2019intenzione di estendere il suo tour anche al Canada \u2500 progetto la cui messa in pratica venne poi impedita dall\u2019aggravarsi delle sue condizioni di salute gi\u00e0 durante il viaggio di andata. La stessa esperienza teatrale newyorkese non part\u00ec col piede giusto: al suo arrivo, Mathews si ritrov\u00f2 inizialmente coperto di accuse di calunnia e diffamazione degli americani in <i>A Trip to America<\/i>. Tuttavia, la messinscena concreta di tale pezzo cancell\u00f2 presto praticamente ogni rancore, e successivamente Mathews ricevette indiscusso successo in tutte le citt\u00e0 che visit\u00f2. Le sue performance furono ci\u00f2 non di meno decimate dalla malattia, che presto imped\u00ec totalmente qualsiasi sforzo di recitazione, perch\u00e9 troppo gravante sui polmoni.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Torn\u00f2 cos\u00ec in Inghilterra ben prima del previsto, e mor\u00ec a Plymouth \u2500 dove \u00e8 ancora sepolto \u2500 il 28 giugno 1835, nel giorno del suo cinquantanovesimo compleanno.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Qualche ultimo cenno sulla sua fama e sui riconoscimenti che ottenne render\u00e0 forse l\u2019idea dell\u2019impatto che la sua figura ebbe sulla scena culturale primo-ottocentesca. Innanzitutto, dopo l\u2019uscita di <i>At Homes<\/i>, Mathews fu invitato ad esibirsi a Hampton Court e a Carlton House, e come compenso il re gli don\u00f2 100 ghinee detratte dal Privy Purse. Inoltre, Coleridge compose in suo onore una poesia estemporanea in cui la versatilit\u00e0 comica dell\u2019attore \u00e8 trasfigurata in una forma di panteismo teatrale: \u201cIf, in whatever decks this earthly ball, \/ \u2018tis still great mother Nature \u2013 <i>one in all! <\/i>\/ hence Mathews needs must be her genuine son, \/ a second Nature, that acts ALL IN ONE\u201d. Forse per\u00f2 il pi\u00f9 grande tributo offertogli fu quello firmato \u2018Q\u2019 nell\u2019<i>Examiner <\/i>del 18 marzo 1822. Il genio comico di Mathews, dichiara il critico, sta nella sua capacit\u00e0, in qualche modo shakespeariana, di inventare personaggi individuali che sono al contempo rappresentativi di determinati tratti o categorie universali: \u201cThe personation of Mathews is doubtless of the very highest order, for it individualises classes of character, and so far is Shakespearian\u201d. Sulle stesse righe continuer\u00e0 un critico americano nel \u201924: \u201cThis is not just acting \u2500 it is more, it is good feeling\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<h6 id=\"english-translation\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">English Translation<\/span><\/strong><\/h6>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: justify;\">Charles Mathews (1776-1835)<\/h5>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Charles Mathews was born on the 28th June 1776 at the Strand in London. His father was a bookseller who also officiated as a priest. His passion for the theatre, particularly for comedy, developed at a young age while working as an apprentice at his father\u2019s bookshop; together with a friend he converted a room of the shop into a theatre to entertain his friends. After requesting the position of \u201cleading comedian\u201d at Covent Garden Theatre and being turned down, he underwent a study of classic comedies and their techniques, from Shakespeare to Jonson, lending a hand in large companies\u2019 shows and building a considerable repertoire of roles. In 1793, to gain visibility, Mathews paid ten guineas in order to play Richmond in a production of Richard III, as whom he was able to show his fencing skills in the final duel against the protagonist. With such a display, Mathews was able to pave his way to success; he joined up with a company from Dublin, spending the following year acting with famous actors (Joseph Munden, John Kemble, Mr Wathen) as a comedian.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">However, a year later, disappointed by the lack of promotions and insufficient pay, Mathews decided to move to London. During the journey, he met and befriended another actor, Montague Talbot, to the point that when there were unforeseen issues due to bad weather and their boat was forced to dock at Swansea, they both stayed there together for quite some time after finding a place with a local company. During this time, Mathews married Eliza Kirkham Strong in 1797.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">In 1798 Mathews managed to get hired by a company in York, a good way to springboard into the London theatre scene. He finally obtained the roles and success he was after. After his wife\u2019s death in 1803, he married Anne Jackson, an actress from the same company. In that same year they had a son, Charles James Mathews, who went on to be an actor and playwright. He continued to iron out his acting style and also developed some talent as ventriloquist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">The experience later brought Mathews to London and in 1803 he made his debut at the Haymarket Theatre, first in the role of Jabel in Richard Cumberland\u2019s The Jew, then as Lingo in Samuel Arnold\u2019s The Agreeable Surprise. The following evening, he even repeated his performance for King George III and his family.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">The next season kick-started true success for Mathews, bringing him positive critical acclaim that classed him as one of the best London comedians. His acting style was described as less formal than John Fawcett\u2019s, less manufactured than Joseph Murden but as natural as John Bannister\u2019s. The leading feature in his acting was the ability to connect himself almost perfectly as any character without even being in costume first. It is said he had the ability to put on the thoughts of a character like putting on the character\u2019s clothes, and that many shows written for him were nothing but outlines that Mathews injected his ideas into. In the summer of 1804 he and his wife accepted a five-year contract at the Drury Lane theatre; that autumn an incredible performance as Don Manuel in Colley Cibber\u2019s She Would and She Would Not cemented Mathews\u2019 status as a comic actor. For the rest of his contracted time he was forced to establish partnerships, if only seasonally, with provincial theatres. However, in 1808, he came up with the idea to create a solo performance, that would eliminate his dependence on minor companies for work. This type of \u2018solo\u2019 work (as his wife also took part in the shows) was put on stage for the first time in Hull on the 12th April 1808 under<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">the title The Mail Coach Adventure, or, Ramble in Yorkshire. It was about a number of subjects, exploring thoughts, feelings and hardships of various characters, who were literally and metaphorically \u2018disoriented\u2019, while they were travelling around different areas of Great Britain, and often other nations as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Beyond Mathews\u2019 expectations, the show marked the start of an entirely new creative phase of his career, one that would bring about the birth of comedy The Travellers, or, Hit or Miss (1811), a sort of new elaboration of his first idea, conceived for the stage of provincial theatres and performed as a \u201ctwo-man show\u201d. The project only lasted for one season but from 1812 Mathews brought The Mail Coach Adventure to the stage by himself; the show\u2019s name changed to At Home in 1817. The type of comedy Mathews focused on was making fun of so-called \u201csocial quackery,\u201d or pointing out the lies, deceit and social nuances that were a part of society at the time. In a mix of familiar caricatures and social satire, Mathews created caricatures that perfectly captured the aspirations, fears and awkwardness of his era, with a bitter aftertaste of delusion and loss.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">While Mathews\u2019 tours were a fundamental part of his career, his performances in London were no less profitable. In 1809, the Drury Lane theatre burnt down, forcing him to move to the Lyceum theatre in 1811 and then to the Covent Garden theatre in 1812. There, he worked quietly until a fall from a coach crippled him two years later. Following the accident, he was given mostly secondary roles as an old and\/or crippled character; in response to this he preferred to terminate the contracts early on.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">In 1817, Mathews moved to the Haymarket Theatre, where he presented a one-man show of The Mail Coach Adventure to the London public for the first time. In the audience there was S. J. Arnold, who offered Mathews a contract to perform in every spring season for the following seven years at the English Opera House. For those seven years, the show took the form of a long monologue detailing anecdotes, jokes and songs that brought the audience into a world of adventure and was the inspiration for various imitative works and even ventriloquist acts. He himself coined the term \u2018mono-poly-logue\u2019 to describe the performance style: a monologue in which the speaker talks in different voices. The title referred to the fact that the performance was conveyed in the same way one would chat in one\u2019s own home, with Mathews dressed in simple clothing. This style redefined the relationship between actor and audience, breaking the \u2018fourth wall\u2019 and making the audience a symbolic part of the show, or \u2018chat.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Alongside his springtime performances, Mathews once again went on a tour of the provinces during the rest of the year. His one-man shows were now the talk of the town and he would often collaborate with some of the great writers and playwrights of his time. In 1819, he produced A Trip to Paris, a place he had been to before as part of a tour with Frederick Yates. In 1822 Mathews also visited America, an enriching experience that enhanced his professional skills. He debuted in Baltimore and was a success. He achieved critical acclaim and was the star of the theatrical season, continuing his tour to Philadelphia, New York and Boston. He returned to England as the leading comedian of the time. What\u2019s more, he returned with a new work, titled A Trip to America, which premiered at the English Opera House in 1824. During every spring for the following 10 years (except for 1828) Mathews staged At Home for forty nights. In 1828, such performance did not take<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">place as he accepted an offer from the Drury Lane theatre that would grant him the highest sum of money ever paid to a comic actor at the time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">In that same year, Mathews became manager of the Adephi Theatre, where he continued to put on productions of At Home until 1834. This was the last season in which he performed there; after a farewell performance at the Richmond theatre (where, in 1793, he had started performing), old as he was, he went on one final trip to America with his wife because had received a convenient offer from an American agent, the details of which are lost to time. We know that his original plan was to stay for at least 18 months with plans to extend his tour to Canada \u2013 a plan that was impeded by his worsening health. His theatre experience in New York didn\u2019t start off well as he was accused of slander and defamation of Americans in his play A Trip to America. However, the actual performance of his work soon did away with any resentment and he soon gained undisputed success in every city he visited. Despite this, his performances soon stopped altogether due to his ill health; any attempts at performing were too much pressure on his lungs.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">With this, Mathews returned to England much sooner than planned. He died in Plymouth \u2013 where he is still buried to this day \u2013 on the 28th June 1835, on his 59th birthday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">An addendum to his fame and accolades should give you an idea of the impact that Mathews had on nineteenth-century culture. Firstly, after At Home premiered, he was invited to perform at Hampton Court and at Carlton House. As payment, the king gave him 100 guineas from the privy purse. In addition to this, Coleridge wrote a poem in his honour that transfigured his versatile acting style into a form of theatrical pantheism: \u201cIf, in whatever decks this earthly ball, \/ \u2018tis still great mother Nature \u2013 one in all! \/ hence Mathews needs must be her genuine son, \/ a second Nature, that acts ALL IN ONE\u201d. Probably, though, the greatest tribute he received was the review on the Examiner of the 18th of March 1822, signed by an anonymous \u201cQ\u201d. The critic declared that Mathews\u2019 comic genius resided in his almost \u201cShakespearian\u201d ability to create characters that were simultaneously individual and representative of certain universal categories: \u201cThe personation of Mathews is doubtless of the very highest order, for it individualises classes of character, and so far is Shakespearian.\u201d Following the same lead, an American critic wrote about him in 1824: \u201cThis is not just acting \u2500 it is more, it is good feeling\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 10pt;\">Translated by Aisha Gueye<br \/>\nRevised by Dott.ssa Valentina Pramaggiore<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Bibliografia\/Bibliography<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.oxforddnb.com\/view\/article\/18329?docPos=1\">http:\/\/www.oxforddnb.com\/view\/article\/18329?docPos=1<\/a> [Richard L. Klepac, \u2018Mathews, Charles (1776\u20131835)\u2019, <i>Oxford Dictionary of National Biography<\/i>, Oxford University Press, 2004; consultato il 13\/04\/2016]<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Moody, Jane and Daniel O\u2019Quinn (eds), <i>The Cambridge Companion to British Theatre 1730-1830<\/i> (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2007)<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'times new roman', times, serif;\">Moody, Jane, <i>Illegitimate Theatre in London, 1770-1840<\/i> (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2000)<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click here for English translation Charles Mathews (1776-1835) Charles Mathews nacque il 28 giugno del 1776 nello Strand, a Londra. Il padre era libraio a Richmond ed officiava anche come pastore. La sua passione per il teatro, specialmente quello comico, sbocci\u00f2 gi\u00e0 in tenera et\u00e0, mentre lavorava come apprendista presso il padre: pare che assieme &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/2016\/05\/02\/charles-mathews-1776-1835-2\/\" class=\"more-link\">Leggi tutto<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Charles Mathews (1776-1835)&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,4],"tags":[38,39,52],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":971,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions\/971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lilec.it\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}