In the opening scene in the 1950 Academy Award winning film of All About Eve, an award – the Sarah Siddons Award – is presented to the young and beautiful Miss Eve Harrington.

In the film Joseph L Mankiewicz depicts the Sarah Siddons Award as the ultimate symbol of thespian success and “the highest honour theatre knows”. The allure and desire for this award sets the scene of All About Eve; a tale which lifts the curtain on the theatre world, exposing its dark underbelly of jealousy and ambition.

In 1952 the fictional Sarah Siddons Award was made a reality and has since been awarded to some of the best actors and actresses over the years, including Julie Andrews, Bette Davis, Lily Tomlin, and Liza Minnelli.

This award, sought after in fiction and by thespians today, was inspired by the one of the most renowned actresses of the 18th century. However, many people don’t realise that this astounding actress was born here, in mid Wales, in Brecon, in a market tavern once known as The Shoulder Of Mutton, of course, now known as The Sarah Siddons Inn.

The eldest of 11 children, Sarah Siddons had acting in her blood.

Her mother and father were part of a nomadic theatre company travelling through Brecon when Sarah was born and her grandmother was the famous Fanny Kemble.

She later married actor William Siddons and went on to be one of the most renowned actresses of her day, most famous for her powerful performances of Lady Macbeth where is it claimed that audiences often had to be escorted out of theatres in distress!

All About Eve, and it’s nod to our local born superstar of her day, Sarah Siddons, was recently an NT Live screening at Theatr Brycheiniog. Tonight (Thursday, April 25) it is being screened live direct from the West End to Richard Booth’s Bookshop Cinema in Hay-on-Wye.

Adapted and directed by Ivo Van Hove, and staring Gillian Anderson and Lily James, this fantastic new production of the 1950s classic explores the television generation’s fascination with celebrity, youth and identity that never seems to get old.

All About Eve – Encore (12A), with original music by P J Harvey, is being screened at Booth’s Bookshop Cinema in Hay from 7pm on Thursday, April 25. For tickets go to https://tickets.boothbooks.co.uk/.