A parody on MacBeth's soliloquy at Convent Garden Theatre

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Charles Williams
1796-1866
A parody on MacBeth's soliloquy at Convent Garden Theatre
hand colored etching
image: 159 x 234 mm; sheet: 346 x 248 mm
Peel 1928
Published: 
[London] : Pubd, Octor 1809 by Walker No. 7 Cornhill, October 1809.
Provenance: 
Formerly owned by Sir Robert Peel.
Notes: 

Lettered with title, verses and publication line "Pubd, Octor 1809 by Walker No. 7 Cornhill."
The title, verses, and publication line are etched.

Summary: 

Heading to (etched) verses. Kemble as Macbeth, in Highland dress, declaims before the footlights; holding out a coin in his left hand, he staggers back, left leg forward. The seats of the orchestra are deserted, but the candles are lit, music-books are open, and a violin lies on a bench. Behind, and on the extreme right, is a corner of the pit with men blowing trumpets or flourishing rattles, and waving placards spiked on canes. A stage-box and the adjoining box are the only other part of the auditorium within the design. The occupants behave like the men in the pit; they have placards inscribed 'Old Prices No Jews'; one man beats a drum, another waves a paper on which a key is depicted. All are standing. Below: 'Is this a "seven shilling piece" I see before me? ... And add new horrors to th' infernal din which now appals me!--'

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