The Sorrowful Tale of Sleeping Sidney
''The Sorrowful Tale of Sleeping Sidney'' is a puppet show, by Daisy Jordan , based on a notorious Victorian poisoning case, which took place in my home town, Brighton, in 1871. Christiana Edmunds ('The Chocolate Cream Poisoner'), romantically obsessed with Doctor Charles Izard Beard, made an unsuccessful attempt to murder his wife with poisoned sweets. When the doctor grew suspicious, she went on a chocolate poisoning spree to divert the blame onto a local confectioner, Mr Maynard. Although people all over town fell ill with strychnine poisoning there was only one fatality – four year old Sidney Albert Baker (Sleeping Sidney, above left). In Daisy's reshaping of the story, Christiana’s obsession with Dr Beard begins when he treats her for hysteria with 'a unique form of muscular massage suited exclusively to the fairer sex '. You'll know about this therapy if you've ever read or seen The Road to Wellville . Here’s Daisy's hand-dra...