George Stephen Kemble
(1758 - 1822). Engraved by James Heath (1757-1834), after John Raphael Smith (1752-1812).
stipple engraving, published 1808. 191 mm x 146 mm.
Kemble supported the careers of many leading actors of his time such as Master Betty, his wife Elizabeth Satchell, his sister Elizabeth Whitlock, George Frederick Cooke, Pye Esten, John Edwin, Joseph Munden, Grist, Elizabeth Inchbald, Pauline Hall, Wilson, Charles Incledon, Egan. His nephew Henry Siddons made his first appearance on stage in Sheffield (October 1792). Other names include his younger brother Charles Kemble, Thomas Apthorpe Cooper, John Liston, John Emery, Daniel Egerton, William Macready.
He presented many London stars such as Edmund Kean, Alexander and Elizabeth Pope (née Elizabeth Younge), Mrs. Dorothea Jordan, his brother John Philip Kemble, Wright Bowden, his sister Sarah Siddons, Elizabeth Billington, Michael Kelly (tenor), Anna Maria Crouch, and Charles Lee Lewes in the many theatres that he managed.
John Taylor, writing in the London Magazine, stated, 'Mr. Stephen Kemble was an actor of considerable merit.' He comments on Kemble's commitment to address injustice through theatre: 'All characters of an open, blunt nature, and requiring a vehement expression of justice and integrity, particularly those exemplifying an honest indignation against vice, he delivered in so forcible a manner, as to show. obviously that he was developing his own feelings and character. This manner was very successfully displayed in his representation of the Governor,Sir Christopher Curry, in the opera of 'Inkle and Yarico.'
Writing of Kemble's reputation in the provincial theatre circuit, Taylor notes: 'Stephen Kemble, who was an accurate observer of human life, and an able delineator of character and manners, was so intelligent and humorous a companion, that he was received with respect into the best company in the several provincial towns, which he occasionally visited in the exercise of his profession.'
Kemble published a dramatic play The Northern Inn (1791), also known variously as The northern lass, or, Days of good Queen Bess, The good times of Queen Bess. The play was first produced August 16, 1791, as The northern inn, or, The good times of Queen Bess, at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket.
Kemble also published a collection of his writings Odes, Lyrical Ballads and Poems (1809). About Kemble's poetry, the Scottish writer John Wilson stated, 'Stephen Kemble was a man of excellent talents, and taste too; and we have a volume of his poems. . . . in which there is considerable powers of language, and no deficiency either of feeling or of fancy. He had humour if not wit, and was a pleasant companion and worthy man.' Of particular interest in Kemble's writing is his reflections on contemporaneous events such as the Battle of Trafalgar, the death of Lord Nelson, the death of Robert Burns, his conversion to the abolitionist movement and support of the Slave Trade Act 1807 or the death of his brother-in-law William Siddons.
Kemble published a play with his son Henry Kemble (1789–1836), entitled Flodden Field (1819) based on the Battle of Flodden (1513). The text is based on Sir Walter Scott's Marmion: a tale of Flodden field in six cantos. The play was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on December 31, 1818. The European Magazine, and London Review reported that at its debut 'the whole [play] went off without opposition, and its repetition, was received with applause.'
An essay of his entitled 'In the Character of Touchstone, Riding on an Ass' was published by William Oxberry in his book The Actor's Budget (1820).
Stephen Kemble as Falstaff (1802)
Stephen Kemble as Falstaff 1802. Photo lithograph from original drawing 1837, Published Londion.
In 1806 Kemble moved from Newcastle to Durham, and lived in semi-retirement. In later life, he took on less responsibility in management and made only occasional appearances on the stage. At this time he was a close friend of another famous Durham resident, the 3 ft 3 inch tall Polish dwarf, Józef Boruwlaski. When these two friends - one little and one large - strolled along the wooded paths of the city, they were reported to be an interesting sight for the people of Durham.
Kemble's last performance at Durham was in May 1822, a fortnight before his death. He was fondly remembered by the natives of Durham, and was honoured with a burial in the Chapel of the Nine Altars in the Durham Cathedral. His close friend Józef Boruwlaski was buried beside him.
Durham residents and performers remembered Stephen fondly. John Taylor of 'The London Express' wrote that he was an intelligent and humorous man who was received with respect in the best company wherever he worked. After the death of Stephen Kemble, theatre in Newcastle and Durham began to decline.
Kemble was also famous for playing Falstaff. Kemble also played Hamlet, King Lear, Othello and many other roles.
Contemporary critics claimed that in the role of Falstaff, Kemble achieved the 'optimum balance between comedy and gravity,' After his performance in London at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in 1802, the Morning Chronicle wrote that 'It is to be regretted that his associations in the country prevent him from accepting a permanent engagement in London.'
Kemble would return to play Falstaff in London at Covent Garden (1806) and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane (1816), for which he received great acclaim. After Kemble's death, The Edinburgh literary journal wrote, 'Kemble was perhaps the best Sir John Falstaff which the British stage ever saw.'
His acting career was limited by his excessive weight; Stephen Kemble was far more successful as a theatre manager.
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Stephen Kemble ('Hamlet in Scotland') by and published by Robert Dighton. Hand-coloured etching, published 6 December 1794, 223 mm x 160 mm plate size; 286 mm x 207 mm paper size.
From 1791 until 1806, Kemble managed the original Theatre Royal, Newcastle. During his years there, he brought many of the country’s top performers, including members of his famous family, from London. His wife Elizabeth was a particularly popular performer in his theatres.
Edinburgh Theatre Management 1793-1800
In 1792, Stephen Kemble lost the management position at Edinburgh’s Theatre Royal. Undeterred, he opened a new venue called a Circus, with the comedy of manners, The Rivals. Mrs. Esten, an admired actress who held the Royal Theatre lease, took legal steps to prevent Kemble’s production of plays. Unable to compete with the more elegant and commodious venue, Mrs. Esten ceded the Theatre Royal to him 'for a consideration'.
In 1792, Stephen Kemble’s nephew Henry Siddons (eldest son of renowned actress Sarah Kemble Siddons), joined his acting company. Formerly a child actor, Henry (1774-1815) made his debut as an adult actor at Sheffield in The Revenge. An audience favourite, Siddons performed with Stephen and Elizabeth Kemble on the Newcastle circuit and with his mother, Sarah Siddons, at Covent Garden and Drury Lane.
Frances and Henry Kemble on Stage.
Stephen and Elizabeth’s two children made their debuts at early ages with their father’s company. Frances (1786-1849) made her first appearance as the Prince of Wales in The Battle of Hexham at age five. In 1805, following her marriage to Capt. Robert Arkwright, she retired from the theatre.
Henry Stephen Kemble (1789-1836) made his debut at age four as the Duke of York in Richard III, at Theatre Royal, Edinburgh. Educated at Winchester and Trinity College, Henry left school after two years to become an actor. In 1816, the Bristol press reported, 'that he met with peals of derision, although entitled to shouts of disgust'. Henry Kemble drank himself into obscurity, and died at age 46.
Text based on Essays on the Eighteenth-Century English Stage (1972), Richards, K. and Thomson, P. (eds) and A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 8
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