Henry Nye Chart

At the Theatre Royal in Brighton, MEB began three years of acting for actor-manager Henry Nye Chart . There (while first pursuing publication) she played male parts that presage the gender-play of her novels.

She played Winifred Wood in an adaptation of Harrison Ainsworth 's Jack Sheppard opposite Mary Anne Keeley in her famous breeches role as Jack.

She later suppressed and then downplayed the extent of her acting experience, but she retained some friendships from this era, including actress Florence Haydon and managers William Creswick and Henry Nye Chart (to whom she...