Sarah Siddons: Actress Of Theatre, Queen of Tragedy - Page: 3

Sarah Kemble, later known as Sarah Siddons, was born on July 5, 1775 at The Shoulder of Mutton Public House in Brecknockshire, Wales. She was the oldest of 12 and the daughter of Roger and Sarah Kemble. Young Sarah was named after her mother. Her parents led a group of traveling actors. The Kemble family became the progenitors of a family of actors. The actress Fanny Kemble was third generation to this family. All of the children eventually became known with the stage at a very young age and Sarah was no exception.

When the family traveled with their group, the boys were always schooled in the town they arrived, but somehow Sarah too became very well educated. She was eventually accepted into Mrs. Harris’ Day School in Worcester, Thornelore Lodge. It is there that she made her first stage appearance at the age of 12 in April 1767. She played the young princess in King Charles I while her parents played General and Lady Fairfax and her brother played James, Duke of York. She found true love on the stage and made acting her decision for her life.

While in her teens, she became infatuated with another actor in the traveling troop named William Siddons. He was considered by her to be handsome and of course her parents highly disapproved. They wanted her to accept the attention of a squire to make her life stable and worthy. She disagreed and so Sarah was sent to work as a lady’s maid in Guys Cliff, Warwickshire in order to keep her away from her true love. While she was there, she recited Shakespeare, Milton and Nicolas Rowe anywhere she could, in the servant’s halls and occasionally in front of an aristocrat company. In her spare time, she developed a love of sculpting and began to exhibit her work. It is said that between 1789 – 1790 she would make busts of herself to sell.

Necessary consent to marry was at last obtained when Sarah was 18. William and Sarah married at Trinity Church, Coventry in November 1773. After her marriage to William, she started a new acting company earning 5lbs a week playing Cheltenham in 1774. It was there that she realized her true power as an actress. While playing Portia Belvidera in Otway’s Venice Preserv’d, she won over the critics of the time called “People of Quality”. This was quite a feat since they often scoffed actors and melodrama. Her future was laid out to her in just moments.

David Garrick, a leader of a famous company of the time was told about Sarah and he sent a representative to see her perform. At the time she was playing Rosalind in As You Like It in a barn in Worchester. Once he heard of her performance, Garrick offered her an engagement to appear with him in Drury Lane London in 1775, sight unseen. Her performance was forced to perfection and thus she failed miserably and swore that she would never play London again. She eventually went back to her own company. In 1782, 7 years later, she was approached again by Garrick’s successor, Richard Brinsky Sheridan. She finally said yes to the part more suitable for her ability, the character of Isabella in Fatal Marriage. The critics called her phenomenal and she reigned supreme as the Queen of Drury Lane. The death scene was so profound that it stopped the audience and caused an uproar so intense that the performers couldn’t finish the play. Siddons set and the audience loved her and she would be forever known from that point on as the Queen of Tragedy. She played the part until she and her brother, John Philip Kemble went to Coventry Garden. She was appointed to teach education to royal children in1783.

After so many years in the spotlight, she decided to let others make their marks on the stage. She She then retired June 29, 1812 in a Grand way. Her farewell appearance was chosen to be Lady MacBeth. On this occasion the audience would not let the play finish beyond the sleepwalking scene. The moment was so perfect and emotional that the audience couldn’t bear to see her leave the stage. That moment became her moment of perfection.

Sarah had many roles that she became known for, the majority of them tragedies. Her greatest roles were Isabella Belvidera -Venice Preserv’d, Jane Shore- The Tragedy of Jane Shore, Katherine - Henry VIII, Constance - King John, Zara- The Mourning Bride, Volumnia - Coriolanus, but it was as Lady MacBeth that she excelled. She was said to indentify with the role and possess it comletely, being totally oblivious to all else around her. Sarah became known for creating the hand gestures in the sleepwalking scene that actresses still use today.

Siddons was the idol of many. Her portrait was done by Thomas Gainsborough, Sir Thomas Lawrence and by Sir Joshua Reynolds. It was Reynolds that entitled his painting “ Mrs. Siddons the Tragic Muse.” William Hazlett wrote that “her passion emanated from her breast as a shrine. She was tragedy personified.” Her warm, rich voice captivated all who watched her performances and could easily keep them in awe. Sarah shunned publicity but always won the praise of many of her contemporaries.

Sarah lived 19 years beyond retirement till the age of 76. Over the years, she mothered 7 children, 2 of whom died in infancy. She apparently continued to still do private readings and even did a special performance for her brother Charles and his wife as a present. She died June 8, 1831 in London. A statue by Chantry presently stands of the actress in Westminster Abbey. She inspired so much through her performances that an award was created in her memory. The contemporary Sarah Siddons Distinguished Acting Award is given to actresses still today. Her son Henry still carried on the family tradition when he managed Edinburgh’s Theatre Royale.

The actress known for her tragic renditions of women, especially Shakespeare’s women made pain romantic. She was an actress that didn’t need to struggle with her characters. It was an easy transition and she learned early on in her career that when she tried too hard it interfered with her concentration and performance. Emotion flowed when she crossed the stage and she never looked back. She took what she knew how to do and did it better than anyone else at the time.

Sarah Kemble Siddons will forever hold the throne as the Queen of pain, tragedy and sadness but will also stand for a woman that lived a dream, satisfied her soul and created a history in the performance arts known as the theatre. Her life was full and dramatic and no doubt full of love from home and the audience. She was rumored to be so depressed from her retirement that it was fitting that she committed suicide, but no truth has been established to prove the rumor.This only added to the romantic nature of her life on stage. However there are many today in London that swear her spirit still roams. In what is now an electrical substation on Baker Street a ghostly spirit has been seen wandering around. Why would her spirit want to be in this location? It was where once stood her home. Obviously her soul still creates mystery and tragedy.

“Sorry am I to say, I have often observed that I performed worst when I most ardently wished to do better than ever.” Sarah Siddons