Morning journal and courier., 1893-04-21
Mrs. Siddons, Acting.

Mrs. Siddons and her brother, John
Kemble, are links between the old genera
tion of players and the modern. For Ave
generations some members of the Kemble
family were attached to the theatrical pro-
fession, beginning with the grandfather
of Sarah and John, who acted under Bet
terton and Booth, and continuing to our
own day in Fanny Kemble, whose debut
Mrs. Siddons actually witnessed. Sarah
Siddons' parents were strolling players,
and all their children were put on the
stage as soon as they could walk. Sarah,
when toddliDg babe, was brought for
ward as an infant prodigy at her mothers
benefit, but the audience were not proper
ly Impressed, and only laughed and made
noises till Mrs. Kemble came forward and
reproved them by reciting the fable of the
boys and the frog. At thirteen the child
was playing Ariel in barn at Worcester,
aud four years later we find her sustaining
the principal female parts at Wolverhamp-
ton. Her bebut as Portis on December 90,
1775, proved failure; her dress was old
and shabby, her voice weak with nervous
nese, and, in fact, during her first engage
ment at Drury Lane she excited little In
terest. She had the honor of acting twice
with Gsrrick, the second time as Anne to
his Richard III fvs nights before he left
the stage. Garrick did not appreciate the
latent power in the nervous girl of twen-
ty-three, and though he was generous
enough to recommend her to Sheridan af-
ter his retirement from the management,
ND al haha 30 har
courtesy, she bore a grndge against him all
her life. Sheridan shared Gsrr;ck's opin-
ion and rejected her, 30 she was driven to
go into the provinces again, and acted at
Bath with Garrick's successor, John Hen
dersop, achieving some success; hero che
perfected herself in her art and prepared
for another appearance In London.
Six years later che made the frst of her
long succession of triumphs at Drury Lane
In Sotherne's tragedy of "Isabells, or the
Fatal Marriage" her father and husband
| lifelike was her acting of the dying scene
| that night that her little boy of eight, who
/ acted Isabslla's son, and must often have
seen his mother do the part, burst into
real tears, and never had such shouts of
scclsmation been heard since the days of
Garrick. Henceforth each new part cres-
ted veritable furore, and with Reynolds
magnificent picture of the Tragic Muse to
give us a faint idea of her noble presence,
| 1t is not difficult to credit the rspturous
enthusiasm che aroused. In Lady Mac
beth she achieved her greatest triumph,
and with this part her name is connected
for all succeeding generations. She played
the part for the first time on February 2,
1884, and caused Sheridan much anguish,
| as che devisted from Mrs. Pritchard's
reading of the part In the sleep walking
| soene by putting down the candle, which
| the older actress had carried all the time,
and going through tie pantomims of wash
ing her hands. So great was the conser-
vatism of the stage that the manager ex-
pected an uproar from Mrs. Pritchard's
old admirers, but to his delight and sur
prise the audience were too spell bound by
Mrs. Siddons' acting to notice the innovs-
ton. Her provincial tours were equally
triumphant; only once did she meet with
successful rivalry, when In Dublin the
Irish rallied round their old favorite, Ann
Crawford. Edinburgh went mad over her
Her theatrical career was appropriately
begun and ended as one of Shakespeare
heroines, her real farewell of the stage be.
ing taken in June, 1919, as Lady Macbeth
though she appeared once or twice after
wards at family benefits; for the last time
as Lady Randolph, in June, 1919, at the
Il
she became SO stout and unwieldy that
when kneeling in part, she had to bt
helped to rise. Yet Washington Irving
who did not see her till she was old, ssyi
she penetrated in q moment to his heart
frozs and melted it by turns, and that b,
hardly bresthed while she was on tn,
stage. Her effect on her fellow actors wa
also extraordinary. AS Queen Catherin,
on one occasion, her fiery glance at tn,
surveyor drove the unfortunate man who
acted the part off the stage, vowing tina
he would not encounter that awful lool
again for the world. In Rowe's Tanner
lane" she once worked herself up to sucl
pitch of sgony at the eight of her stran
gled lover that she fell apparently lifeles
before the murderer, and the Audienc,
clsmored for the curtain, believing hel
dead. Behind the scenes and In privat
life her naughty manner, her parsimonI
and insoience made her many enemies
and once In Dublin the audience, hsvinJ
heard exaggerated reports of her unchari
tsblenesss and meanness, actually hisset
her off the stage, when she fell faintipi
into her brother Johns arms.