Alexander Gough

Who is Alexander Gough?

Alexander Gough, also Goughe or Goffe, was an English actor in the Caroline era. He started out as a boy player filling female roles; during the period of the English Civil War and the Interregnum when the theatres were closed and actors out of work, Gough became involved in the publication of plays.

Alexander Gough was born in 1614, the son of Robert Gough, an actor with the King's Men. Like some other sons of actors, Gough started acting as a boy — in his case, with his father's company. Alexander Gough played:

Caenis in Massinger's The Roman Actor, 1626

Acanthe in Massinger's The Picture, 1629

Eurinia in Wilson's The Swisser, 1631

Lillia-Bianca in Fletcher's The Wild Goose Chase, the 1632 revival.

Gough also had roles in Ford's The Lover's Melancholy and Clavell's The Soddered Citizen. Gough remained with the company at least until 1636, and perhaps longer, probably playing minor adult roles.

in 1642, at the start of the Civil War, The Puritan regime forced the closure of the London theatres. Theatrical activity did not cease entirely; rather, actors staged clandestine performances, often at the private houses of sympathetic citizens. In so doing, the actors faced a major and obvious problem: how to find audiences for "secret" performances. During this period, Alexander Gough reportedly functioned as what was then called a "jackal" — he helped to gather audiences for these clandestine performances.