Dancing With/For One's Own: A Pragmatic Analysis of Self-Celebration in Kemp's Nine Days Wonder

[opening paragraph] Known as one of the most skilful actors on the Elizabethan stage, especially for dancing practise and stage or dramatic jigs (Dyce 1840: v; Baskervill 1929; Clegg 2019: 89), William Kemp is a controversial figure whose self and persona have always wavered between self-congratulation and his contemporaries' praise and biting criticism. Gray (1930) was probably one of the first critics to highlight Kemp's controversial reputation as an actor. Although Kemp's contemporaries were sometimes annoyed by him 'tak[ing] off his slipper and throw[ing] it at some other actors', Gray also acknowledged that 'he [Kemp] must have shown his ability to do other things than throw slippers about the stage' (262). In fact, he was 'the outstanding comedian […] of the Shakespearean company' (262). As will be seen later in greater detail, Kemp's controversial reputation can be ascribed to some mysterious events of 1599, a year that marks the divide between celebrations of and invectives against his persona. As underlined by some critics, if Kemp was saluted as a skilful actor when a member of The Chamberlain's Men (1594–9), he became a target of his contemporaries' criticism afterwards, so much so that 'Shakespeare […] may well have had Kempe in mind when he has Hamlet lecture the players: "And let those that play your clowns speak no more than is set down for them"' (Dutton 1989: 112).