Interview with Kitty Clive

Interviewer: Hello Cathrine its a pleasure to have you.

Mrs.Clive: Its a pleasure to be here but please call me Kitty.

Interviewer: Alright well lets get started. Tell us about where you are from and about you family.

Mrs.Clive: I was born in London, England in the year 1711. My father was William Raftor who was born in the town of Kilkenny, Ireland. My mother was Miss Daniel, her father was a distinguished citizen on Fish Street Hill. While neither of my parents was extremely wealthy both held a handsome fortune on the side of their fathers. I had a brother named James Raftor who traveled to Ireland in his adulthood in order to obtain the paternal estate left by my grandfather but he was unsuccessful. I thought it served him right not to get the estate because he was just being greedy.
    My father entered into the service of King James when he was in Ireland. My father was unhappily attached to King James and wanted to get out of his service. In 1690 after the Battle of the Boyne my father followed King James and his fortune to France where by his merit he got a captains commission in the service of King Louis the Fourteenth. He gained a pardon along with many other men who were in a similar condition and went to Ireland where he married my mother. (The Life of)

Interviewer: What events in your early life got you interested in the arts?

Mrs.Clive: With my fiery temper and my overall dramatic personality I showed a talent for the stage at a very young age. But when my father ran threw my mother's fortune when I was seventeen and I took on the responsibility of supporting my family I became a servant to Miss.Eleanor Knowels. Miss.Knowels but by that time Mrs.Young was the mother of Mr.Thomas Young who was a celebrated actor who performed first at Covent Garden Theatre where he was in Macheath. While I was a servant to Mrs.Young I lived with her at the home of Mr.Snell. Directly across from this house was the Bell Tavern kept by Mr.Watson and it was here where the Beefsteak Club was held(The Life of). The Beefsteak Club was an extremely exclusive club where only 24 members were allowed at one time no matter how important the aspiring member might be they must wait for someone to die. The club was devoted solely to how great steak was(Weird worm). How odd is that a club devoted to steak and an exclusive one at that.
     Oh but yes back to the question. One day while the club was being held across the street I was washing the steps and singing. The windows to the club room were open on this particular day and the members heard me singing and soon crowded the window. This was the event that ultimately led me to the stage. With the support of Mr.Beard and Mr.Dunstall I was able to truly recognize my talents and make a career as an actress and singer.(The Life of)

Interviewer: What role did your mentors play in helping you develop your talents and interests for the stage?

Mrs.Clive: I had a few mentors in my time as an actress and they helped in different ways. My first mentor was Colly Cibber. Mr.Cibber was the manager at Dury Lane when I first started acting there(Twickenham museum). Mr.Cibber was an English actor and playwright(theatre history). He was the first theatre manager I ever worked with and he was the one that began to shape me into the actress that I am. The next mentor I had was David Garrick he was a very famous actor in my time.
     I was one of the original members of Mr.Garrick's company(Twickenham museum). We didn't get along very well Mr.Garrick and I but there was a mutual respect there, there must have been or else he wouldn't have kept me in the company for 22 years until I retired(Twickenham museum). He helped to smooth out all the bumps in my acting and shape me into the comedic actress that everyone comes to know. My temper came out a lot with Mr.Garrick seeing as we did not always get along and I would often write him angry letters complaining of whatever might have irritated me that particular day(Twickenham museum). Now before you get any ideas i was not the only one who had a rocky relationship with Mr.Garrick almost all of the young members of the company and later the older members often had arguments with him as well.

Interviewer: What was the world of art like when you entered the stage?

Mrs.Clive: English theatre was going threw some changes in the early 18th century when I entered the world of theatre. While there were physical changes to stages and theatres like, theatres being built to seat more people and stages being built jutted out a bit to create a pit(nova online) there were also changes in the kind of talent being put on those new stages. Some of the new actors and actresses that were coming into the British theatre scene were Peg Woffington, Hannah Pritchard, George Ann Bellamy, and Spranger Barry(saskschools). One of my favorite changes that was taking place was that women were allowed in theatre.
      Along with those changes there were also changes in the kind of plays that were being written. There was a decrease in restoration comedy, a type of theatre that seemed to be indifferent to morals. The reason for the decrease in this type of theatre was the rise in the Puritan population. As restoration comedy was declining a different type of theatre was beginning, this type of theatre was called sentimentalism. Sentimentalism was characterized by arousing a sympathetic response to misfortune. Out of sentimentalism came sentimental comedies which were tearful comedies. Heroic tragedies also became popular in the 18th century. Heroic tragedies were written in iambic pentameter, this was mainly just an attempt to reproduce the french Alexandrian verse. Among the new forms of traditional theatre beginning in my time opera began growing popular in England by the time I became interested in theatre(nova online).