Marriott played Hamlet "thousands of times."
On the first occasion, her "leading man disappointed her", she stepped in successfully: an encouraging start.
She was not the only woman to play Hamlet.
Other Women in Black who played the part in the 19th century were Winetta Montague, Clare Howard, Louise Pomeroy, Charlotte Compton, Millicent Bandmann-Palmer, Julia Seaman and Oliph Webb, to name a few.

She is first recorded as playing Hamlet in an 1859 tour of Glasgow, Bath, Birmingham, Dublin and Liverpool, three years after marrying Robert Edgar, and one year after giving birth to Grace Marriott, of whom Edgar was not the father.
Following this, she played the same Prince of Denmark at the Theatre Royal, Marylebone, in 1861.

After taking over Sadler's Wells Theatre with her husband Robert Edgar in 1863, she first played Hamlet there on 22 February 1864, the tricentenary of Shakespeare's birth.
Samuel Phelps had already begun a tradition there for "scrupulous productions of Shakespeare for working and lower middle-class audiences", and Marriott and Edgar developed this further with an "archaeologically correct production, with new and characteristic scenery, new and appropriate costumes, new and elaborate machinery and correct armour," all directed and superintended by Marriott.
The theatre advertised that "medieval documents, weapons and architecture have been copied with exactness ... the result of long and anxious deliberation on the subject, assisted by such evidence as may be deemed authentic."
Nevertheless, this was still a play with "Shakespeare's fluidity" and a cross-dressing woman at the heart of it, so at the same time she had to make it work.
She played the part four nights a week - 50 nights altogether - to enthusiastic reviews: "It is the Hamlet of Miss Marriott that will attract the Shakespeareans in the Shakespearean year."
This success may have been helped - or hindered - by her being "tall, massive and middle-aged at that time."

She was back in Liverpool playing Hamlet by 22 April 1864, where the theatre doors were thrown open and she played for free."
In 1887 she played Hamlet at Her Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen.
Marriott played Hamlet "thousands of times." On the first occasion, her "leading man disappointed her", she stepped in successfully: an encouraging start. She was not the only woman to play Hamlet. Other Women in Black who played the part in the 19th century were Winetta Montague, Clare Howard, Louise Pomeroy, Charlotte Compton, Millicent Bandmann-Palmer, Julia Seaman and Oliph Webb, to name a few.
She is first recorded as playing Hamlet in an 1859 tour of Glasgow, Bath, Birmingham, Dublin and Liverpool, three years after marrying Robert Edgar, and one year after giving birth to Grace Marriott, of whom Edgar was not the father. Following this, she played the same Prince of Denmark at the Theatre Royal, Marylebone, in 1861.
After taking over Sadler's Wells Theatre with her husband Robert Edgar in 1863, she first played Hamlet there on 22 February 1864, the tricentenary of Shakespeare's birth. Samuel Phelps had already begun a tradition there for "scrupulous productions of Shakespeare for working and lower middle-class audiences", and Marriott and Edgar developed this further with an "archaeologically correct production, with new and characteristic scenery, new and appropriate costumes, new and elaborate machinery and correct armour," all directed and superintended by Marriott. The theatre advertised that "medieval documents, weapons and architecture have been copied with exactness ... the result of long and anxious deliberation on the subject, assisted by such evidence as may be deemed authentic." Nevertheless, this was still a play with "Shakespeare's fluidity" and a cross-dressing woman at the heart of it, so at the same time she had to make it work. She played the part four nights a week - 50 nights altogether - to enthusiastic reviews: "It is the Hamlet of Miss Marriott that will attract the Shakespeareans in the Shakespearean year." This success may have been helped - or hindered - by her being "tall, massive and middle-aged at that time."
She was back in Liverpool playing Hamlet by 22 April 1864, where the theatre doors were thrown open and she played for free." In 1887 she played Hamlet at Her Majesty's Theatre, Aberdeen.
Alice Marriott (actress)