“To read as a poet”: Major performances of Edith Sitwell

Abstract

Edith Sitwell, a figure surrounded by controversy during her lifetime and after, was a prolific writer who frequently lectured about literature and performed her own works. Her writing, personality, physical appearance, and vocal characteristics were unique and combined to make her both an interesting and worthwhile subject for the student of performance. Her landmark performance was of Facade, a program which consisted of her poems set to music. Other well‐documented major performances by Sitwell include one at Shakespeare and Company in Paris, the reading in 1943 attended by royalty, a memorable recitation of “Still Falls the Rain” during World War II, several tours of America during which she made an infamous interpretation of Lady Macbeth, a tumultuous time at the Edinburgh Festival, and her final public reading at the celebration of her seventy‐fifth birthday.