Charlotte Charke is a former actress, philanthropist, crossdresser, now turned novelist. Her most recent installment has gained incredible public attention. This conversation was recorded December 2019.
Charlotte Charke: Welcome, Mrs. Charke! Thank you for taking the time to sit down with us to talk about your new book.
Charlotte Charke: Thank you for having me, I’m honoured that you wanted to interview me.
C. Charke: Oh, come now no need to play humble, your writing has been huge! Everyone is just waiting on the edge of their seat for the next installment.
C. Charke: Oh, I don’t know about that, but I definitely have my fans. Many of whom which have supported me all throughout my life, including during my acting career and when I started playwriting.
C. Charke: Yes, about that: you wrote for the theatre and obviously for actors, now you write novels. Such a different audience, was the writing process similar for both?
CC: More than you can imagine. In many ways it is different, mostly you only have the one character—yourself in an autobiography or memoir, plus in theatre you want things to be larger than life, grabbing people’s attention. For my novels I simply write the various episodes of my life.
CC: Wow. Going back to your time in the theatre, you come from a theatre family, don’t you?
CC: Yes I do, my maiden name is Cibber—as in Colley Cibber—who is my father, though we had a bit of a falling out some time ago—but I’ll spare you the details.
CC: So, in a way you were destined for the stage. What was it like going on stage and playing your first role?
CC: Actually, not much different than my childhood exploits, I loved putting on my father’s costumes and pretending to be other people, going onto the stage seemed natural—since I was first able to walk, I was becoming for the theatre.
CC: Oh, wow so you were crossdressing from a very young age? Colley himself played around with clothing in a certain way, he played a fop quite famously.
CC: Yes indeed, that periwig is burned into my memories, it was one of my favourite things of his to put on—it was so extravagant and just over the top. I suppose in some ways him and I are quite similar.
CC: you aren’t suggesting that fops and breeches roles are the same thing, are they?
CC: [laughs] Aren’t they? They both exceed our expectations you could say.
CC: [silence]
CC: What, you don’t think so?
CC: Well…I’m not sure, I suppose I’ve never thought of it before. I suppose that suits you quite well though Mrs. Charke, always exceeding expectations. Speaking of crossdressing, everyone’s always curious what’s underneath there, or why you do it, don’t suppose I’ll get an answer today will I?
CC: No you won’t. I really don’t see how it matters, sometimes I wear women’s clothing and sometimes I wear men’s. Both are like putting on a costume, one is just a bit more cumbersome-
CC: -[laughs]
CC: My book isn’t a how-to or a treatise on cross-dressing, that’s not what my book is about, it just happens to feature that as part of my life, my narrative isn’t political, it’s just my life.
CC: Speaking of your writing, many people are saying it is quite political, that it depicts a feminine view of the challenges to women working in the public sphere, and women’s class. How would you respond to such interpretations?
CC: I didn’t set out to write a political novel nor was that my intent. I merely wrote the story of my sometimes-peculiar life. If there was any particular aim behind my writing it was definitely to gain back the favor of my father—Colley Cibber. I simply wrote to try to patch up and repair the horrible misunderstanding and rift that has grown between us over the years. I hoped that in writing my story, should he honour me with perusing those pages, that it might garner a bit of pity in him and bring me back into his grace.
CC: Wow. I really enjoy the effect you think art can have on the world. That the bigger-than-life may trickle down and the essence of it may move others. Such a British way of life, being virtuous enough to be moved. What’s something you left out of the Narrative, something you think may have some effect if we knew? What’s something that we don’t know about you?
CC: I’m not sure I left anything out, I simply gave the narrative of my life, no additions and no subtractions. Anything anyone wants to know about me is already in there—you simply have to read to find out.
CC: Well I suppose we’ll leave it there, thank you for speaking with me.
CC: The pleasure is all mine.
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