The Independent - London, May 29th, 2002
WHEN SHE got the chance, Jane Austen went to the theatre two or three times a week. She preferred comedy to tragedy, though she felt like swearing when the tragic actress Sarah Siddons failed to appear in King John. Her lifetime, 1775 to 1817, saw England's second great age of theatre, which flourished in the provinces as well as London. Drama criticism became an art form and a common topic of conversation. Competing for audiences with revivals of Shakespeare and Sheridan were dozens of now-forgotten playwrights whose work Austen knew well, including some women.
Successful actors were celebri...
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