Mazeppa was a major hit in the mid-19th century and played
to sell-out audiences in the US and UK. Originally a folk tale,
it was made famous by the poem of the same name written by
Lord Byron and adapted for the stage in 1831 by H.M.Milner as ‘Mazeppa;
or the Wild Horse of Tartary’.
Andrew Ducrow’s version of the tale, ‘Mazeppa and the Wild
Horse’ opened at Astley’s in 1831. The play featured elaborate
scenery, exotic costumes and a cascade of horses. Ducrow used
the drama to display his trick riding skills dashing around
the stage on two wild horses.
But it was an American actress, Adah Isaac Menken, who became
most famous in the role. She caused a sensation by being tied
to a real horse that galloped around the theatre and wearing
only a short tunic and tights which made her legs look naked.
Advertisements claimed that Menken’s legs ‘would have made St.Anthony
lift his eyes from his prayer book’ and a song of the period
says of Menken that ‘the classical style of her dress does not
much trouble the sewing machine’. Menken was also renowned for
her famous admirers whom it is said included Blondin,
Charles Dickens and the poet Swinburne.
Menken appeared as Mazeppa at Astley’s from October 1864 for
a ten week season. Such was the success of the show that she
returned again in the summer of 1865.
Mr Philip Astley’s Introduction to The First Circus in England
