Cicely Courtneidge

**Dame Esmerelda Cicely Courtneidge** (1 ga Afrilu 1893 - 26 ga Afrilu 1980) 'yar wasan kwaikwayo ce ta Burtaniya, mai wasan kwaikwayo da mawaƙa. Yarinyar furodusa kuma marubucin wasan kwaikwayo Robert Courtneidge, tana bayyana a cikin shirye-shiryensa a West End tun tana 'yar shekara 16, kuma an inganta ta da sauri daga ƙarami zuwa manyan matsayi a cikin Wasan kwaikwayo na Edwardian.

Bayan barkewar Yaƙin Duniya na farko, mahaifinta ya sami jerin gazawar kuma ya janye daga samarwa na ɗan lokaci. Babu wani furodusa da ya ba saurayi Courtneidge matsayi na jagora a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na kiɗa, kuma ta juya maimakon zuwa zauren kiɗa, ta koyi sana'arta a matsayin mai wasan kwaikwayo. A shekara ta 1916 ta auri ɗan wasan kwaikwayo da mai rawa Jack Hulbert, tare da wanda ta kafa ƙwararru da kuma haɗin aure wanda ya kasance har zuwa mutuwarsa shekaru 62 bayan haka. Sun yi aiki tare a kan mataki da allo, da farko a cikin jerin sake dubawa, tare da Hulbert akai-akai samarwa da kuma yin wasan kwaikwayo.

Courtneidge ya bayyana a fina-finai 12 na Burtaniya a cikin shekarun 1930, kuma daya a Hollywood, yana samun wannan aikin yana da fa'ida sosai. Ita da Hulbert sun kuma yi rikodin Columbia da Muryar Maigidansa, sun dawo mataki a ƙarshen shekarun 1930. A lokacin Yaƙin Duniya na Biyu, Courtneidge ya yi wa sojojin nishaɗi kuma ya tara kudade ga sojojin. Daga nan sai ta yi dogon lokaci a cikin Under the Counter, wasan kwaikwayo wanda ta sami sanarwa mai haske. Shahararren daga cikin sauran nasarorin da ta samu shine wasan kwaikwayon Courtneidge a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na Ivor Novello Gay's the Word daga 1951 zuwa 1952. A cikin sauran shekaru goma, ta mai da hankali kan sake dubawa da wasan kwaikwayo madaidaiciya.

Bayan tsakiyar shekarun 1960, Courtneidge ya mai da hankali kan gidan wasan kwaikwayo wanda ba na kiɗa ba, yana bayyana a West End da kuma yawon shakatawa a cikin wasannin da suka dace, masu tsanani da ban dariya. Yayinda take bayyana a cikin West End ta ƙarshe a 1971, ta yi bikin shekaru 70 a kan mataki. Bayan haka, ta ci gaba da aiki har tsawon shekaru biyar kafin ta yi ritaya.

## Rayuwa da aiki

### Shekaru na farko

Courtneidge, 'yar fari kuma ta biyu cikin yara uku, an haife ta ne a Sydney ga dangin wasan kwaikwayo,  yayin da mahaifinta ke yawon shakatawa a Australia tare da kamfanin JC Williamson. Iyalin sun koma Ingila a shekara ta 1894. Iyayenta sune mai gabatar da Scotland kuma ɗan wasan kwaikwayo Robert Courtneidge da matarsa, Rosaline May (née Adams), waɗanda suka yi aiki a ƙarƙashin sunan Rosie Nott . Rosaline 'yar mawaƙa ce kuma 'yar wasan kwaikwayo Cicely Nott kuma 'yar'uwar wasu' yan wasan kwaikwayo uku, ciki har da Ada Blanche, sanannen tauraron pantomime. A shekara ta 1901, tana da shekaru takwas, Courtneidge ta fara fitowa a matsayin fada Peaseblossom a cikin wasan kwaikwayon mahaifinta na A Midsummer Night's Dream a Gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Yarima, Manchester.

Courtneidge ta yi karatu a Ingila kuma, shekaru biyu, a Switzerland. [n 1] Lokacin da ta *Baƙo* daga karshen, tana da shekaru 15, ta fara aikin wasan kwaikwayo, tare da amincewa da ƙarfafawar iyayenta. Robert Courtneidge ya jefa ta a cikin ƙananan matsayi a cikin ayyukansa. Ta fara fitowa a London West End ne a Gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Apollo a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na *Tom Jones* (1907), wanda mahaifinta ya rubuta tare. Matsayinta na farko shi ne Eileen Cavanagh a cikin Wasan kwaikwayo na Edwardian mai suna The *Arcadians*, wanda ta karbe shi daga Phyllis Dare a cikin 1910.  [n 2] A cikin ɓangaren da ya biyo baya, The *Mousmé* (1911), wanda kuma ya ƙunshi wani littafi da mahaifinta ya rubuta, an jefa ta cikin ɗayan manyan mata biyu tare da Florence Smithson . 

A wannan matakin a cikin aikin Courtneidge, akwai wasu ji a cikin wasan kwaikwayo cewa ɗaukaka ta zuwa matsayin tauraro ya fi yawa saboda ita 'yar Robert Courtneidge ce. Da yake nazarin The *Mousmé*, The Observer ya rubuta cewa masu haɗin gwiwar sun "rashin samar da wani isasshen dalili na kasancewa ga shahararren halin Miyo, yarinya mai gashi mai kyau ta Japan, wanda Miss Cicely Courtneidge ta nuna tare da kyakkyawan hali amma ƙoƙari mai yawa, fuska da in ba haka ba, na muhimmancin kunya. "  The Times ya fi son ta kuma ya yaba da ita "kyakkyawan rashin kunya da rashin kulawa".

Courtneidge ta ci gaba da fitowa a cikin shirye-shiryen mahaifinta. A watan Satumbar 1913, ta taka rawar Lady Betty Biddulph a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na kiɗa The Pearl Girl .  An yi amfani da Ada Blanche; wannan shine na uku a jere wanda mahaifiyarta da 'yar uwargidan suka bayyana tare. Har ila yau, a cikin simintin, a matsayin Robert Jaffray, shi ne Jack Hulbert mai shekaru 21, yana yin aikinsa na farko bayan nasararsa a matsayin mai son yayin da yake karatun digiri na Cambridge. A watan Yunin 1914, Courtneidge da Hulbert sun fito tare a cikin The Cinema Star, wanda Hulbert da Harry Graham suka yi amfani da shi na Die Kino-Königin, wasan kwaikwayo na Jamus na 1913 na Jean Gilbert . Wannan yanki ya kasance abin bugawa ga Courtneidge da mahaifinta, suna wasa a gidaje masu cike da gidaje a Gidan wasan kwaikwayo na Shaftesbury har sai Burtaniya da Jamus suka tafi yaƙi a watan Agustan shekara ta 1914; jin daɗin Jamus ya kawo dakatarwar gaggawa.

A shekara ta 1914, Courtneidge da Hulbert sun yi alkawarin yin aure, amma shirin su ya jinkirta saboda dagewar Robert Courtneidge cewa ya kamata su jira shekaru biyu kafin su yi aure. Sun bi wannan umarni kuma ba su yi aure ba har zuwa Fabrairu 1916.  Ba da daɗewa ba bayan barkewar yaƙi, Hulbert ya shiga soja. Courtneidge ta ci gaba da bayyana a cikin shirye-shiryen mahaifinta a West End da kuma yawon shakatawa. Wadannan sune farfadowar The *Arcadians* da The Pearl Girl da sabbin shirye-shirye guda uku da ba su yi nasara ba, The Light Blues, My Lady Frayle da Oh, Caesar!  (duk 1916).  

Rashin nasarar ya sa mahaifinta ya fita daga kasuwanci na ɗan Lokaci, kuma kamar yadda babu wani furodusa da ya gayyace ta ta ta fito a cikin wasan kwaikwayo na kiɗa, sai ta juya maimakon haka zuwa wasan kwaikwayo iri-iri na Gidan kiɗa.[1] The Times daga baya ya rubuta cewa wannan shine mataki na farko a cikin sabon aiki a matsayin "mai wasan kwaikwayo da ke ƙwarewa a cikin zane-zane na cameo".[1] Bayan wani aiki iri-iri na farko a Manchester, mai sukar The Manchester Guardian ya rubuta game da "muryarta mai kyau da kyawawan halaye" a cikin zane-zane da waƙoƙi: "mutum na iya nuna fifiko ga Miss Courtneidge a matsayin 'yar'uwar asibiti, an gabatar da ita tare da duk kyakkyawar alheri wanda ya dace da halin, a kan wakilcinta na Flying Corps 'knut' [2][n 3]

Courtneidge daga baya ta tuna da shekarunta na farko a cikin dakunan taro, "Lokacin da na fara, sunana yana cikin irin wannan karamin bugawa da wuya za ku iya karanta shi. ... Sau da yawa ina amfani da tsuntsu, kuma ina da dinari da aka jefa mini sau da yawa. "  Duk da haka, ta san nau'in, a cewar mai ba da labarinta Derek Pepys-Whiteley:

## Manazarta