Rare playbill announcing the final performance of Kate Bateman at Her Majesty's Theatre Dec. 22nd 1865

Rare playbill for Miss Bateman's (Kate Bateman [1842-1917], American actress) from Her Majesty's Theatre, London, for her farewell benefit 'prior to her departure for America and retirement from the stage'. For this performance, she played Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet'. In addition, her sisters, Virginia and Isabella, 'will make their first and only appearance on any stage' in 'Little Daisy. Kate Bateman was born into a theatrical family in Baltimore and, with her sister Ellen, became a child actress. In 1859, she scored successes on stage in Boston and New York and in 1863, came to England. Although the playbill states she was about to retire and return to America, in fact, she remained in England, marrying an Englishman, George Crowe, son of the journalist Eyre Evans Crowe. She retired for only two years, returning to work with Henry Irving at the Lyceum, which, at that time, was managed by her father, H.L. Bateman. Irving seems to have been unimpressed by the Bateman sisters, however, and they left for Sadler's Wells with their mother after the death of their father, and Irving took over the Lyceum, which he turned into the most important theatre in London. Kate appeared in several productions at Sadler's Wells, but was forced to retire again from the stage due to illness, only appearing intermittently over her final years. The bill has a central horizontal fold, a discrete tape repair verso at the top and one small hole, midway down the bottom half, not affecting the text. Some edgewear, but overall a nice, scarce item of this American acting family in England's history. …