Stephen Kemble

George Stephen Kemble (21 April 1758 in Kington, Herefordshire – 5 June 1822 near Durham, County Durham) was a theatre manager, British actor, writer, and a member of the famous Kemble family.

Kemble as Falstaff

He was the second son of Roger Kemble, brother of Charles Kemble, John Philip Kemble and Sarah Siddons. His niece was the actress and abolitionist Fanny Kemble. He married prominant actress Elizabeth Satchell (1783).

Manager

Similar to his father, Stephen Kemble became a very successful theatre manager of the Eighteenth-Century English Stage. He managed the original Theatre Royal, Newcastle for fifteen years (1791-1806). He brought members of his famous acting family and many other actors out of London to Newcastle. Kemble guided the Theatre through many celebrated seasons. The Newcastle audience quickly came to regard itself, that is, as "in a position of great theatrical privilege."(Robsinson, p.142). While in Newcastle he lived in a large house opposite the White Cross in Newgate Street.

Stephen Kemble quickly branched out and began to manage other theatres: Theatre Royal, Edinburgh (1794-1800), Theatre Royal, Glasgow (eventually replaced by Tivoli Theatre (Aberdeen)), Chester, Lancaster, Sheffield, Berwick-upon-Tweed (where he built the theatre), theatres in Northumberland, Alnwick (where he builds a theatre) and rural areas on the theatre circuit. From Newcastle, Kemble ran a circuit which included Durham, Northallerton, North Shilds, Morpeth, Sunderland, South Shields and Scarborough (opening for the Stockton Races).

In the Assembly Room of the Lygon Arms (formerly known as the White Hart Inn) in Broadway.1

He supported the careers of many leading actors of the time such as Master Betty, his wife Elizabeth Kemble, his sister Elizabeth Whitlock, George Frederick Cooke, Mrs. Esten, his brother Phillip Kemble, John Edwin, Joseph Munden, Grist, Elizabeth Inchbald, Mrs. Hall, Wilson, Charles Incledon, Egan. His nephew Henry Siddons (Sarah Siddons' son) made his first appearance on stage in Sheffield (October 1792), his younger brother Charles Kemble, Thomas Apthorpe Cooper, Liston, Emery (q.v.)

Stephen presented London stars such as Mr. and Mrs. Pope, Mrs. Dorothea Jordan, John Philip Kemble, Bowden, Mrs. Siddons, Mrs. Elizabeth Billington, Kelly and Mrs Crouch, and Charles Lee Lewes.

Actor

He was also famous for playing Falstaff. Contemporary critics acclaimed that in this role 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"(8 October 1802).

Writer

He also published a dramatic play The Northern Inn (1791). The Play was also known as The northern lass, or, Days of good Queen Bess, The good times of Queen Bess. The play was first produced Aug. 16, 1791, as The northern inn, or, The good times of Queen Bess, at the Haymarket Theatre (i.e. Little Theatre or Theatre Royal, Haymarket).

Stephen also published a collection of his writings Ods, Lyrical Ballads and Poems (1809)

Stephen published a play with his son Henry Kemble entitled Flodden Field (1819) based on the Battle of Flodden (1513). Sir Walter Scott was a joint author (See Marmion: a tale of Flodden field. In six cantos By Sir Walter Scott). The play was first performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on Thursday evening, December 31, 1818.

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).

Soon after 1800, Kemble moved from Newcastle to Durham, and lived in retirement after 1806. He was buried in the Chapel of the Nine Altars in the Durham Cathedral.

References

• Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

K. E. Robinson (1972). "Stephen Kemble's Management of the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne" in Richards, K. and Thomson, P. (eds). Essays on the Eighteeenth-Century English Stage

1 THE OLD WAKEFIELD THEATRE BY

WILLIAM SENIOR WAKE FIELD PRINTED AT THE RADCLIFFE PRESS BY W. H. MILNES 1894 p. 6

A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Volume 8, Hough to Keyse: Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800 ... Dictionary of Actors & Actresses, 1660-1800)by Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans Published in August 2, 1982, Southern Illinois University