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77-606: Frederick Reynolds (1 November 1764 – 16 April 1841) was an English dramatist . During his literary career he composed nearly one hundred tragedies and comedies, many of which were printed, and about twenty of them obtained temporary popularity. Reynolds' plays were slight, and are described as having been "aimed at the modes and follies of the moment". He is still occasionally remembered for his caricature of Samuel Ireland as Sir Bamber Blackletter in Fortune's Fool , and for his adaptations of some of Shakespeare 's comedies. His first name

154-475: A murder mystery play which is the longest-running West End show , it has by far the longest run of any play in the world, with its 29,500th performance having taken place as of February 2024. Contemporary playwrights in the United States are affected by recent declines in theatre attendance. No longer the only outlet for serious drama or entertaining comedies, theatrical productions must use ticket sales as

231-463: A "grotesque effigy of her former self." William Hazlitt, in his later accounts, stated that her performances lacked the grandeur they had shown in 1785: the "machinery of her voice is slow, there is too long a pause between each sentence [and the] sleeping scene was more laboured and less natural". As a result, according to Lisa Freeman, Siddons' "iconic status came into conflict with the aesthetic of authenticity that she cultivated". Her last appearance

308-582: A character she made her own. The Sarah Siddons Society, founded in 1952, continues to present the Sarah Siddons Award annually in Chicago to a distinguished actress. The 18th-century marked the "emergence of a recognisably modern celebrity culture" and Siddons was at the heart of it. Portraits depicted actresses in aristocratic dress, the recently industrialised newspapers spread actresses' names and images and gossip about their private lives spread through

385-507: A form of playwright. Outside of the Western world there is Indian classical drama , with one of the oldest known playwrights being Śudraka , whose attributed plays can be dated to the second century BC. The Nāṭya Shāstra , a text on the performing arts from between 500BC-500AD, categorizes playwrights as being among the members of a theatre company, although playwrights were generally the highest in social status, with some being kings. In

462-553: A pejorative sense by Ben Jonson to suggest a mere tradesman fashioning works for the theatre. Jonson uses the word in his Epigram 49, which is thought to refer to John Marston or Thomas Dekker : Jonson described himself as a poet, not a playwright, since plays during that time were written in meter and so were regarded as the province of poets. This view was held as late as the early 19th century. The term "playwright" later again lost this negative connotation. The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are

539-554: A persona that could be viewed both on and off stage. Siddons was born Sarah Kemble in Brecon , Brecknockshire, Wales , the eldest daughter of Roger Kemble , a Roman Catholic, and Sarah "Sally" Ward, a Protestant. Sarah and her sisters were raised in their mother's faith and her brothers were raised in their father's faith. Roger Kemble was the manager of a touring theatre company, the Warwickshire Company of Comedians . Although

616-635: A playwright, winning awards for his play The Phoenix at both the New York International Fringe Festival in 1999 and the Route 66 American Playwriting Competition in 2000. Today, theatre companies have new play development programs meant to develop new American voices in playwriting. Many regional theatres have hired dramaturges and literary managers in an effort to showcase various festivals for new work, or bring in playwrights for residencies. Funding through national organizations, such as

693-550: A quasi-public gallery following his acquisition of the painting. William Hamilton's Mrs Siddons and Her Son, in The Tragedy of Isabella gained much traction due to the mutually beneficial relationship between painter and actress. Hamilton had sold his painting for £150 before it was exhibited at the Royal Academy, though kept the painting there for over a week and placed advertisements in at least three leading newspapers inviting

770-473: A radio drama by David Pownall about the long relationship between Siddons and artist Thomas Lawrence , in five 15-minute parts, whilst she is the central character in The Divine Mrs S. , a 2024 play by April De Angelis. When the film All About Eve was released in 1950, the "Sarah Siddons Award for Distinguished Achievement" depicted in its opening scene was a purely fictitious award. However, in 1952,

847-562: A small group of distinguished Chicago theatergoers formed the Sarah Siddons Society , and began to give a genuine award by that name. The now-prestigious Sarah Siddons Award is presented annually in Chicago, with a trophy modelled on the statuette of Siddons awarded in the film. Past honorees include Bette Davis and Celeste Holm , who were previously the cast of All About Eve . Siddons sat for numerous artists, and her portraits include many that depict her in costume portraying

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924-525: A source of income, which has caused many of them to reduce the number of new works being produced. For example, Playwrights Horizons produced only six plays in the 2002–03 seasons, compared with thirty-one in 1973–74. Playwrights commonly encounter difficulties in getting their shows produced and often cannot earn a living through their plays alone, leading them to take up other jobs to supplement their incomes. Many playwrights are also film makers . For instance, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock began his career as

1001-558: A stricter interpretation of Aristotle, as this long-lost work came to light in the late 15th century. The neoclassical ideal, which was to reach its apogee in France during the 17th century, dwelled upon the unities , of action, place, and time. This meant that the playwright had to construct the play so that its "virtual" time would not exceed 24 hours, that it would be restricted to a single setting, and that there would be no subplots. Other terms, such as verisimilitude and decorum, circumscribed

1078-458: A strong sense of maternity and a delicate femininity. As she noted in her own "Remarks to the character of Lady Macbeth", Siddons found an unearthed fragility in this role. "She read, in the 'I have given suck' soliloquy, a 'tender allusion [to] the maternal mother yearning for her babe'; it is therefore in Lady Macbeth that Siddons found the highest and best scope for her acting abilities. She

1155-399: A thorough understanding to each of her roles. It was through her portrayals of Lady Macbeth and Isabella, particularly, that Siddons offered a new way of approaching character. Siddons has been credited for inventing and promoting textual accuracy above the theatrical traditions of her time: "Siddons was unique for making herself familiar with the entire script, sitting offstage in order to hear

1232-431: A unique ability to control her own celebrity persona and "manipulate her public image through a variety of visual materials". Some scholars believe that although Siddons' fame and success appeared effortless, it was in fact "a highly constructed process". This left her successful, yet fatigued as she was "always aware of the ultimate power of her audiences to approve of her or destroy her". In being aware of her position in

1309-632: A young lady from Llangyfelach , Glamorgan , South Wales , who had taken to the stage and was then engaged at the Covent Garden Theatre. Elizabeth's brother was Robert Mansel, Manager of the Theatre Royal in York . Reynolds's eldest son, Frederic Mansel Reynolds, was a novelist and editor of The Keepsake . The couple moved to Newman Street in 1803, where his neighbors were Mrs. Siddons , Amelia Opie , and Thomas Holcroft . From 1814 to 1822 Reynolds

1386-615: Is Hans Sachs (1494–1576) who wrote 198 dramatic works. In England, The Second Shepherds' Play of the Wakefield Cycle is the best known early farce. However, farce did not appear independently in England until the 16th century with the work of John Heywood (1497–1580). Playwright William Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted. Most playwrights of

1463-438: Is an archaic English term for a craftsperson or builder (as in a wheelwright or cartwright ). The words combine to indicate a person who has "wrought" words, themes, and other elements into a dramatic form—a play. (The homophone with "write" is coincidental.) The first recorded use of the term "playwright" is from 1605, 73 years before the first written record of the term "dramatist". It appears to have been first used in

1540-507: Is sometimes spelt as Frederic . Born in Lime Street, London , Frederick Reynolds was the grandson of an opulent merchant at Trowbridge in Wiltshire , and the son of a whig attorney who acted for Chatham , Wilkes , and many other prominent politicians. His mother was the daughter of a rich city merchant named West. For many years his father's business was very prosperous, but about 1787 he

1617-534: Is still useful to playwrights today is the " French scene ", which is a scene in a play where the beginning and end are marked by a change in the makeup of the group of characters onstage rather than by the lights going up or down or the set being changed. Notable playwrights: Greek theater was alive and flourishing on the island of Crete. During the Cretan Renaissance two notable Greek playwrights Georgios Chortatzis and Vitsentzos Kornaros were present in

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1694-462: The Ancient Greeks . These early plays were for annual Athenian competitions among play writers held around the 5th century BC. Such notables as Aeschylus , Sophocles , Euripides , and Aristophanes established forms still relied on by their modern counterparts. We have complete texts extant by Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides . The origins of Athenian tragedy remain obscure, though by

1771-600: The National Endowment for the Arts and the Theatre Communications Group , encouraged the partnerships of professional theatre companies and emerging playwrights. Playwrights will often have a cold reading of a script in an informal sitdown setting, which allows them to evaluate their own plays and the actors performing them. Cold reading means that the actors haven't rehearsed the work, or may be seeing it for

1848-409: The "Female Star".  By "cleverly blurring the distinction between the characters she played on stage with representations of herself offstage (as much portraiture of the period invokes)" Siddons was able to present a duality to her admirers. At once she would project both the "divine and the ordinary, domestic and authoritative, fantastic and real". She avoided claims of sexual licentiousness, and

1925-707: The (then) fictitious Sarah Siddons Society for the film, along with its award, a statuette modelled upon the Reynolds painting. The film opens with a close-up of the statuette, and ends with a character holding it. Actress Bette Davis , who played Margo Channing in the film, posed as Siddons in a 1957 re-creation of the Reynolds portrait staged as part of the Pageant of the Masters . In April 2010, BBC Radio 4 's Woman's Hour Drama presented Sarah Siddons: Life in Five Sittings ,

2002-449: The 4th century BCE, Aristotle wrote his Poetics , in which he analyzed the principle of action or praxis as the basis for tragedy. He then considered elements of drama: plot ( μύθος mythos ), character ( ἔθος ethos ), thought ( dianoia ), diction ( lexis ), music ( melodia ), and spectacle ( opsis ). Since the myths on which Greek tragedy were based were widely known, plot had to do with

2079-536: The 5th century it was institutionalised in competitions ( agon ) held as part of festivities celebrating Dionysos (the god of wine and fertility ). As contestants in the City Dionysia's competition (the most prestigious of the festivals to stage drama), playwrights were required to present a tetralogy of plays (though the individual works were not necessarily connected by story or theme), which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play. For

2156-648: The Bristol theatre, she played Hamlet in 1781. She went on to repeat the role in Liverpool. In Dublin, she played Hamlet during the season of 1802-03 and once more in 1805. She proposed that last performance to her friend and fellow actor William Galindo as a revival of their successful 1802 performance, with herself as Hamlet and Galindo as Laertes. This 1805 revival production made enough of an impression to be caricatured in The Dublin Satirist five years later in 1810. It

2233-550: The Middle Ages, the earliest of which is The Play of the Greenwood by Adam de la Halle in 1276. It contains satirical scenes and folk material such as faeries and other supernatural occurrences. Farces also rose dramatically in popularity after the 13th century. The majority of these plays come from France and Germany and are similar in tone and form, emphasizing sex and bodily excretions. The best known playwright of farces

2310-605: The Restoration of the monarchy in 1660 and the end of the 17th century, classical ideas were in vogue. As a result, critics of the time mostly rated Shakespeare below John Fletcher and Ben Jonson. This period saw the first professional woman playwright, Aphra Behn . As a reaction to the decadence of Charles II era productions, sentimental comedy grew in popularity. Playwrights like Colley Cibber and Richard Steele believed that humans were inherently good but capable of being led astray. The Italian Renaissance brought about

2387-673: The Theatre Royal, King Street (which now houses the Bristol Old Vic ), also run by John Palmer . Siddons lived with her husband and children in a Georgian house at 33 The Paragon in Bath, until her final performance there in May 1782. To say farewell to Bristol and Bath, Siddons presented her famous 'three reasons' speech. In a speech of her own writing, Siddons literally presented her three children as her three reasons for leaving. She said 'These are

Frederick Reynolds (writer) - Misplaced Pages Continue

2464-581: The Vol. II text begins under heading "Life and Times of Frederic Reynolds"; "Chapter X".) Dramatist The earliest playwrights in Western literature with surviving works are the Ancient Greeks . William Shakespeare is amongst the most famous playwrights in literature, both in England and across the world. The word "play" is from Middle English pleye , from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word wright

2541-420: The ancient Greeks, playwriting involved poïesis , "the act of making". This is the source of the English word poet . Despite Chinese Theatre having performers dated back to the 6th century BC with You Meng , their perspective of theatre was such that plays had no other role than "performer" or "actor", but given that the performers were also the ones who invented their performances, they could be considered

2618-404: The arrangement and selection of existing material. Character was determined by choice and by action. Tragedy is mimesis —"the imitation of an action that is serious". He developed his notion of hamartia , or tragic flaw, an error in judgment by the main character or protagonist , which provides the basis for the "conflict-driven" play. There were also a number of secular performances staged in

2695-419: The audience. Some records stated that her farewell lasted eight minutes, others suggested ten, all indicating that she was visibly distraught. Siddons formally retired from the stage in 1812, but reappeared on special occasions. An 1816 request by Princess Charlotte of Wales to see Lady Macbeth brought Siddons out of retirement.  Much older, Siddons was visibly weak, overweight, and was considered by some

2772-563: The domestic life of both the actress and the character", adding a maternal aspect to her portrayal, but also created "a new level of tension in the play not present if the couple is perceived as barren." Her descendants include John Siddons Corby, who invented the Corby gentleman's trouser press, and his children, Peter Corby (inventor of the modern trouser press ) and Jane Beadon (socialite and actress). Sarah Siddons died in 1831 in London. She

2849-531: The first time, and usually, the technical requirements are minimal. The O'Neill Festival offers summer retreats for young playwrights to develop their work with directors and actors. Playwriting collectives like 13P and Orbiter 3 gather members together to produce, rather than develop, new works. The idea of the playwriting collective is in response to plays being stuck in the development process and never advancing to production. Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons ( née Kemble ; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831)

2926-650: The first volume of the Dramatic Annual . His last work was the pantomime produced at the Adelphi Theatre , London, at Christmas 1840. He died on 16 April 1841. Note: "Frederick Reynolds" (with 'k') is the canonical name of the writer at Project Gutenberg and the Library of Congress, and it appears in the title of the autobiography on the title pages of both volumes, in the Second Edition linked here. (In that edition,

3003-420: The full play, and paying careful attention to her scene partners and to textual clues that could aid performance." Her most famous role was that of Lady Macbeth , which she first performed on 2 February 1785. She spellbound her audience through the grandeur of her emotions as she expressed Lady Macbeth's murderous passions. Rather than portraying Lady Macbeth as a murderous evil queen, Siddons depicted her with

3080-639: The illusion for the whole duration of the play as opposed to a breeches role which is much more brief and gained comedic success from the character's poor delivery at representing the opposite sex.  Far from a one-off curiosity, "Siddons played Hamlet repeatedly, if sporadically, for three decades, always in the provinces and never in London, until she reached the age of fifty". Sarah Siddons first played Hamlet in Worcester in 1775 and then in Manchester opposite her brother John Philip Kemble as Laertes March 1777. At

3157-486: The latter part of the 16th century. The plays of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing , Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Friedrich Schiller , and other Sturm und Drang playwrights inspired a growing faith in feeling and instinct as guides to moral behavior and were part of the German romanticism movement. Aleksandr Ostrovsky was Russia's first professional playwright). Author and playwright Agatha Christie wrote The Moustrap ,

Frederick Reynolds (writer) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3234-530: The moles that bear me from your side; / Where I was rooted - where I could have died. / Stand forth, ye elves, and plead your mother's cause' The full speech was published in the Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette, 4th July 1782. The presentation of her own motherhood was something she used throughout her career, notably when she performed her next Drury Lane appearance, on 10 October 1782, which could not have been more different from her debut performances. She

3311-483: The night of 2 May 1797, Sarah Siddons's character of Agnes in George Lillo 's Fatal Curiosity suggested murder with "an expression in her face that made the flesh of the spectator creep." In the audience was Henry Crabb Robinson , whose respiration grew difficult. Robinson went into a fit of hysterics and was nearly ejected from the theatre. This 'Siddons Fever' was a common occurrence with Richards even suggesting it

3388-491: The novel George Barnwell by Thomas Skinner Surr . American director Joseph L. Mankiewicz used the 1784 portrait by Reynolds extensively in his film All About Eve , winner of the 1950 Academy Award for Best Picture . The portrait is seen at the top of an entrance staircase in Margo Channing 's apartment, appearing throughout a party scene, and emphasized by a close-up with which the scene ends. Mankiewicz also invented

3465-509: The only damage to her career was faced toward its end, when caricatures and satirical prints emerged detailing the physical decline and stoutness of her body. Shearer West, in an analysis of the collapse of Siddons' private and public personas, wrote that Siddons' brother, the actor-manager John Philip Kemble , "substantially rewrote passages in some of the plays in order to temper any indelicacy [and] transcend sexual indiscretions" that could harm her reputation of feminine propriety. Siddons had

3542-593: The ordinary wife and mother and this was crucial in a time when women were expected to stay at home, rather than provide for their family. Overall, her choice of roles and carefully constructed persona meant Siddons was able to live out the entirety of her career with little to no public scandal. Theatre biographer Henry Barton Baker wrote: Wonderful stories are told of her powers over the spectators. Macready relates that when she played Aphasia in Tamburlaine , after seeing her lover strangled before her eyes, so terrible

3619-463: The passions in Siddons' melancholy expression and deportment. Mary Hamilton's correspondence with her fiancé illuminated its seamless transition from "the artist's studio to the theatrical stage", practical venues that interlocked in the eighteenth century and formed a large part in creating the very idea of celebrity. The interest in the portrait was so great that William Smith's house was transformed into

3696-407: The period typically collaborated with others at some point, as critics agree Shakespeare did, mostly early and late in his career. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. In England, after the interregnum , and Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, there was a move toward neoclassical dramaturgy. Between

3773-455: The play being cut down from five to three acts in about 1795. Eloisa , his second drama, was produced at Covent Garden in December 1786. Reynolds then abandoned tragedy for comedy, and his first comedy, The Dramatist , submitted to the public at the benefit of Mrs. Wells , on 15 May 1789 was received with great applause. It was performed before George III at Covent Garden on his first visit to

3850-424: The public eye, Siddons "carefully selected the roles in which she appeared and assiduously cultivated her domestic image". She would only choose roles which could aid her popularity and protect her image. By cleverly blurring the distinction between the characters she played on stage and her presentation offstage, Siddons combined her maternal persona with depictions of British femininity. This allowed her to avoid

3927-517: The public to view it. A contemporary biographer recalled "carriages thronged to the artist's door; and, if every fine lady who stepped out of them did not actually weep before the painting, they had all of them, at least their white handkerchiefs ready for that demonstration of sensibility". As noted in Campbell's biography, Siddons returned to the role some six years later, and in 1802 she left Drury Lane for its rival establishment, Covent Garden . It

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4004-712: The public. Though few people had actually seen Siddons perform, her name had been circulated to such an extent that when it was announced "the crowd behaved as if they knew her already". Actresses playing and acting like aristocrats decreased the difference in the public's eyes between actresses and aristocrats and many earned large amounts of money. Despite this giving actresses a larger amount of control, women were still viewed as "extreme representations of femininity - they were good or bad, comic or tragic, prostitutes or virgins, mistresses or mothers". Their on-stage roles and personal biographies blurred - leading many actresses to use these extreme representations of femininity to create

4081-520: The same reproach and scandal as other actresses of the time. For example, Siddons used her role of Isabella, a sacrificing mother, to frame her "rise to stardom in terms of her maternal roles on stage and off stage". In performing these domestic moments with the result of public triumph, Siddons was able to reiterate the characteristics that made her such a popular celebrity and icon; "her devotion to her family and her humble, behind-the-scenes existence". Siddons' role off stage, then, appears to be that of

4158-553: The subject matter significantly. For example, verisimilitude limits of the unities. Decorum fitted proper protocols for behavior and language on stage. In France, contained too many events and actions, thus, violating the 24-hour restriction of the unity of time. Neoclassicism never had as much traction in England, and Shakespeare 's plays are directly opposed to these models, while in Italy, improvised and bawdy commedia dell'arte and opera were more popular forms. One structural unit that

4235-626: The success of the play was established, with the shout of inquiry, "Where is he, my guardian angel?" The answer was made, "The author has just retired," but Sheridan replied, "Pooh! I mean the dog-actor, author and preserver of Drury Lane Theatre." His comedy Folly as it Flies was performed at Covent Garden in 1801. Lord Byron took a swipe at Reynolds in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers where he says: "Where Reynolds vents his 'dammes!' 'poohs!' and 'zounds!' / And common-place and common sense confounds." He married Elizabeth Mansel on 16 March 1799,

4312-455: The theater after his illness, on 18 October 1789. He wrote two pieces with Miles Peter Andrews . His play, The Caravan, or the Driver and his Dog , was performed at Drury Lane , with the introduction of a live dog that was trained to save a child from drowning by leaping from a rock and plunging into real water. It is still remembered through a jest of Sheridan , who burst into the greenroom, when

4389-447: The theatre company included most members of the Kemble family , Siddons' parents initially disapproved of her choice of profession. At that time, acting was only beginning to become a respectable profession for a woman. From 1770 until her marriage in 1773, Siddons served as a lady's maid and later as companion to Lady Mary Bertie Greatheed at Guy's Cliffe near Warwick . Lady Greatheed

4466-544: The time of Henderson's letter, Palmer could not immediately attend to his advice. In 1777, she went on "the circuit" in the provinces. For the next six years she worked in provincial companies, in particular York and Bath . Her first appearance at Bath's Old Orchard Street Theatre was in autumn 1778 at a salary of £3 per week (equivalent to £483 in 2023, or approximately $ 662). This amount grew as her performances became better known, and as she began to appear in Bristol at

4543-456: Was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John Philip Kemble , Charles Kemble , Stephen Kemble , Ann Hatton , and Elizabeth Whitlock , and the aunt of Fanny Kemble . She was most famous for her portrayal of the Shakespearean character Lady Macbeth ,

4620-466: Was an immediate sensation playing the title role in Garrick's adaptation of a play by Thomas Southerne , Isabella, or, The Fatal Marriage . So good was she that "Her pathetic embodiment of domestic woe created a sensation, flooding the audience with tears and exciting critics to hyperbolic praise." Siddons continued to act in the provinces, appearing at The Theatre , Leeds, in 1786 and consistently brought

4697-405: Was engaged to appear at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane . Owing to inexperience as well as other circumstances, her first appearances as Portia and in other parts were not well received and she received a note from the manager of Drury Lane stating that her services would not be required. She was, in her own words, "banished from Drury Lane as a worthless candidate for fame and fortune". After she

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4774-544: Was fine & powerful acting; and when it has ceased we of this generation can never look to see the like again." Commissioned and completed in 1784, Sir Joshua Reynolds ' portrait, Sarah Siddons as The Tragic Muse , is characterized by Reynolds' inspiration, contextualisation of the Muse, and distinctive brush work and paint palette. This portrait, as Heather McPherson writes, became the known depiction of tragedy, infused with contemporary ideas about acting and representation of

4851-453: Was for Earl of Winchilsea's XI in 1795, and the second was for All-England in 1796. His first piece, Werter , was founded on Goethe 's novel, and was produced at the Bath Theatre on 25 November 1785, and at Covent Garden Theatre , London, for Miss Brunton 's benefit, on 14 March 1786. In later years it was often reproduced on the stage, and it was printed both in London and Dublin,

4928-600: Was her agony as she fell lifeless upon the stage, that the audience believed she was really dead, and only the assurance of the manager could pacify them. One night Charles Young was playing Beverly to her Mrs. Beverly in The Gamester , and in the great scene was so overwhelmed by her pathos that he could not speak. Unto the last she received the homage of the great; even the Duke of Wellington attended her receptions, and carriages were drawn up before her door nearly all day long. On

5005-405: Was her favourite role, as it was the most natural. Sarah Siddons played the role of Hamlet multiple times over three decades. By the early nineteenth century, "Hamlet had become arguably Shakespeare's most iconic character". Her choice to tackle this role was fascinating as cross gendered roles were "generally more difficult and demanding than a breeches role". The performer would need to sustain

5082-583: Was interred in Saint Mary's Cemetery at Paddington Green . The churchyard was converted into a public park (St Mary's Gardens) in 1881, and most stones were cleared at that time. Siddons' gravestone was one of the few to be preserved, and it remains in good condition beneath a wrought iron canopy, despite some erosion and the modern addition of a protective cage. Five thousand people attended her funeral. Newspapers mourned her death, publishing long obituaries. One wrote: "This lady, who, at no very distant period,

5159-499: Was involved in financial difficulties. When Reynolds was about six years old he was sent to a boarding school at Walthamstow , and on 22 January 1776 he was admitted at Westminster School . On 12 January 1782 he entered the Middle Temple , but he soon abandoned the law for playwriting. Reynolds was also a noted amateur cricketer . Mainly associated with Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), he made two first-class appearances. The first

5236-402: Was not exceptionally wealthy. In the conclusion, he writes, "[H]aving been omitted from many wills on account of my supposed wealth, I hope this true, and faithful exposition of the real state of my finance, may catch the eye of some rich testator, and induce him to make me reparation, by bequeathing me a thumping legacy." In 1831 appeared a novel by him, A Playwright’s Adventures , published as

5313-406: Was not less eminent for the splendour of her mental endowments, than for the towering majesty of her person and demeanour, paid the great debt of nature on Wednesday morning, at nine o'clock." She was described as a goddess, a royal, majestic. The extent of her celebrity reaches forward to today. Siddons's portrayal of the prostitute Millwood in a 1796 production of The London Merchant inspired

5390-570: Was on 9 June 1819 as Lady Randolph in John Home 's play Douglas . In 1773, at the age of 18, she married William Siddons, an actor. After 30 years, the marriage became strained and informally ended with their separation in 1804. William died in 1808. Sarah Siddons gave birth to seven children, five of whom she outlived: Siddons regularly performed on stage while visibly pregnant, which often elicited sympathy for her character. As Lady Macbeth, her pregnancy not only provided "a further reminder of

5467-666: Was part of the amusement: "The theatrical vogue for the audience to shriek whatever the heroine did originated with Sarah. The 'Siddons fever', which 'raised the price of salts and hartshorn', often included fits of fainting, hysterics and physical paroxysms as part of the enjoyment." Siddons occasionally gave public readings of plays, and the Scottish poet/playwright Joanna Baillie recorded her thoughts of several performances given in 1813. Despite her reservations about Siddon's "frequent bursts of voice beyond what natural passion warranted," Baillie wrote to Sir Walter Scott , "take it all in all

5544-412: Was permanently engaged at Covent Garden Theatre as "thinker" for the management, and after the lapse of a year he discharged the same duties for Elliston at Drury Lane. In 1826 his autobiography, The Life and Times of Frederic Reynolds (although later editions sometimes spell his name 'Frederick'), was published. It was in this work he noted that, despite having written many successful dramatic works, he

5621-604: Was released from Drury Lane, Siddons was immediately engaged by Richard Yates, manager of the Theatre Royal Birmingham . During the summer of 1776, John Henderson would see Siddons perform. He was immediately struck with her excellence, and pronounced that she would never be surpassed. He did more than this; he wrote directly to Palmer, manager of the Theatre Royal Bath , to advise an engagement of her without delay. Due to there being no available roles for Siddons at

5698-518: Was tall and had a striking figure, brilliant beauty, powerfully expressive eyes, and solemn dignity of demeanour which enabled her to claim the character as her own." After Lady Macbeth she played Desdemona , Rosalind , Ophelia , and Volumnia , all with great success; but it was as Queen Catherine in Henry VIII that she discovered a part almost as well adapted to her acting powers as that of Lady Macbeth. She once told Samuel Johnson that Catherine

5775-429: Was the beginning of twenty years in which she became the undisputed Queen of Drury Lane . Her celebrity status was called "mythical" and "monumental", and by the mid-1780s Siddons had established herself as a cultural icon. Yet her iconography and the fashioning of her celebrity differed greatly in comparison to her female counterparts. Siddons, according to Laura Engel, invented a new category of femininity for actresses:

5852-509: Was the daughter of the Duke of Ancaster ; her son, Bertie Greatheed , was a dramatist who continued the family's friendship with Siddons. In 1774, Siddons won her first success as Belvidera in Thomas Otway 's Venice Preserv'd . This brought her to the attention of David Garrick , who sent his deputy to see her as Calista in Nicholas Rowe 's Fair Penitent , the result being that she

5929-459: Was there, on 29 June 1812, after 57 performances that season, that she gave what was credited as perhaps the most extraordinary farewell performance in theatre history. The audience refused to allow Macbeth to continue after the end of the sleepwalking scene . Eventually, after tumultuous applause from the pit, the curtain reopened and Siddons was discovered sitting in her own clothes and character – whereupon she made an emotional farewell speech to

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