Talk:Edward Kynaston

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Starting to act at the age of 17 years old, Edward Kynaston became part of the Restoration Theater in Britain and was well-known for playing female roles because of his looks and made a convincing woman in the style of theatre in that period. Like Samuel Pepys put it so well in his diaries he was "the most beautiful woman on stage, the loveliest..., only her voice not very good".

His career when he was a young boy, he and other beautiful young lads, like him, were taken under the wings of a mentor, who taught them all about Shakespeare's plays and how to act and behave like a woman. No wonder why he was so good at it!! It is believed that in 1660, Charles II banned actors to do female roles in the English theater which forced Kynaston to prove himself as an actor in male roles. Even if he wasn't too keen for such roles,he quickly succeeded in it,he even had not just a salary but a share in the troupe, by 1664.

It is not known when he stopped acting, but according to Colley Cibber, he "stayed too long upon the stage, till his memory and spirit began to fail him". Even though he might had a reputation of being a homosexual, he got married in 1662 and had several children throughout his life. He was one of the last Restoration actors to do female roles. He finally left the world in 1712.