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Sarah Siddons |
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Sarah Siddons’ most famous Shakespearean parts included Lady Macbeth (a role in which she inspired awe, amazement and terror, especially in the sleepwalking scene), Isabella in Measure for Measure and Constance in King John. Often, she played opposite her brother who was renowned for his stern, dignified interpretations of Shakespearean heroes.
Present day Worcester
© Ian Britton, freefoto.com |
Many of her most successful characters were wronged wives; others fell into the category of tempestuous wives and mistresses. Though spectators admired her acting for its decorum, dignity and grandeur, Siddons’ performances were also remarkable for their astonishing emotional intensity. Such was the excitement which she inspired amongst her fans that audiences shrieked and others even fainted when she appeared on stage. According to the great theatre critic William Hazlitt, Sarah Siddons was tragedy personified, a goddess of the modern world. To have seen her in Lady Macbeth, he declared, “was an event in every one’s life, not to be forgotten."
Sarah Siddons’ success brought her into contact with many of the leading political, literary and artistic figures of the day. 
Angel Street, Worcester
© Worcester City Council |
Celebrated artists including Sir Thomas Lawrence and George Romney rushed to paint her portrait; expectant fans thronged Sir William Hamilton’s door even before his painting of Sarah was completed. When Sir Joshua Reynolds depicted her as the Tragic Muse in 1784 he told her that he had resolved to go down to posterity upon the hem of her garment.
Such was her fame that her funeral in 1831 was attended by five thousand people including the combined companies of the Theatre Royal of Drury Lane and Covent Garden. A remarkable journey from the little theatre in the yard at the King’s Head in Worcester.
Words: Dr Jane Moody
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