The Invisible Woman Disappears: Ellen Ternan’s Last Performance at the Haymarket

The production was trailed in the press from 31 July, only Mathews among its cast being mentioned.4 On the morning of the day it opened, some newspaper advertisements additionally listed the names of the four supporting actors. 10 On the same day, the weeklies Bell’s Life in London and the Era advertised the piece with “Miss Maria Ternan” among the cast, and the same listing occurred in The Times and the Morning Post from Monday 8 August daily for much of the rest of its run. 19 In April, Ellen was presumably considered sufficiently dispensable by Buckstone to be allowed to assist, together with a few other young professional actresses, at the St. James’s Theatre in an otherwise amateur charity performance.20 Thereafter, between the end of April and the opening of Out of Sight in August, the only recorded acting undertaken by Ellen was a 3-night run of the farce Used Up in June21 (Table 2). The bill contains (it is suggested here mistakenly) the last known reference to a professional stage appearance by Ellen Ternan. (© Victoria and Albert Museum.) The present study shows that newspaper advertisements also announced Ellen’s appearance on 4 August.