The Angel and the Rake

Author’s NotePrivate theatres were built in Russia in many of the great Palaces. The one in The Winter Garden Palace was built by Catherine the Great and can still be seen by visiting tourists. The Peterhof Palace Theatre, built in 1745 in the reign of the Empress Elisabeth Petrovna, in place of an old riding school, was rebuilt in 1857. It was the scene of many Gala Performances, which included ballet and gypsy dancing when all the streets and roads leading to the theatre would be lit up and decorated with comparable magnificence. A large number of English Ducal houses also include theatres, which serve to provide entertainment at selected parties. At Christmas the village children are invited to enact a Nativity Play. The audience would include those who served in the house and worked on the estate. Acting has always been very much a Royal pastime. H. M. the Queen, when she was Princess Elizabeth, together with her sister, Princess Margaret, performed in plays and pantomimes at Christmas at Windsor Castle. One of these was ‘Cinderella’ with Princess Margaret in the title role and Princess Elizabeth as Prince Charming. H. R. H. the Prince of Wales had an outstanding success when, on November 17,1965, to crown his last year at Gordonstoun School, he was cast in the role of Macbeth. King Charles II enjoyed special performances put on in the Palace of Westminster. Sarah Bernhardt, who was staying at the same hotel as Queen Victoria at Cimiez near Nice in May1897, performed at her own request, in the Queen’s Drawing Room. Afterwards the Queen wrote in her journal, “It is extremely touching and Sarah Bernhardt’s acting was quite marvellous, so pathetic and full of feeling.”