February the 1st in Theatrical History

(John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons in Macbeth as painted by Thomas Beach)

On the first of February 1757 John Philip Kemble was born. The son of Roger Kemble (b 1721 d 1802) and Sarah Ward (b 1735 d 1807) he was part of the theatrical dynasty the Kemble Family. John Kemble had several siblings being one of twelve children, out of whom 5 others became actors including the most famous female actor of the age Sarah Siddons. The family has its beginnings in the famous 'Ward Company of Comedians' run by John's grandfather John Ward and the union of Roger Kemble to John Ward's daughter Sarah solidified the legacy of the Kemble family. John Philip Kemble learnt his trade touring with his grandfathers company and ended up having great success on the London scene after debuting at Drury Lane in Hamlet. In 1803 Kemble left Drury Lane and joined George Frederick Cooke at the Covent Garden company with his sister Mrs Siddons joining him soon after. Tragedy struck five years later when Covent Garden was destroyed by a fire. Both Mrs Siddons and Kemble lost their vast wardrobes to the fire and chose to build a new theatre designed by the architect Robert Smirke, his most recognisable work is the facade of the British Museum, costing one hundred and fifty thousand pounds in 1809 which is the equivalent of nine million pounds today. This of course led to increases in the price of attendance which brought about the darkest part of Kemble's career when on opening night of the new theatre at Covent Garden the audience cried out for the old prices and continued until the police and military had to be called. For two months riots and disruptions continued under his regime at Covent Garden until he finally agreed to reduce prices to the old rates. Kemble would retire in 1817 leaving his share in Covent Garden to his brother Charles but by now the shine on the Kemble family had long been overshadowed by a new star Edmund Kean.



Ulysses is produced at Her Majesty's theatre in 1902. This play is a poetry play based on the ancient Greek tale and was written by Stephen Phillips. It was produced by the theatre company of Beerbohm-Tree and is speculated to have been part of the inspiration for James Joyce's later novel of the same name.