Event Comment: [Mrs Siddons's 1st appearance as Mrs Lovemore was at Bath, 31 Oct. 1778. Afterpiece in place of The Humourist, announced on playbill of 25 Nov.] "[Mrs Siddons's] retort courteous, mimicry of laugh, and listless indifference of Lovemore were truly excellent . . . [Miss Farren's] descriptions of Ranelagh Ladies meeting, &c. were highly seasoned, and had an excellent counterpart in Smith's appendix" (Public Advertiser, 28 Nov.). Receipts: #232 2s. 6d. (219/3/0; 12/17/0; 0/2/6)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Charles to Bannister Jun., but he "being suddenly taken ill, Barrymore was under the necessity of reading the part" (Morning Herald, 2 Oct.).] Error Smith, pit office-keeper, #2 11s. Receipts: #219 15s. (169.7; 49.15; 0.13)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Powell. 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1, author unknown. MS not in Larpent MS; not published]: Founded on a recent fortunate Event [the escape of Sir William Sidney Smith from The Temple, Paris, on 24 Apr. 1798 (European Magazine, June 1798, p. 395)]. With appropriate Scenery, and Machinery. [3rd piece in place of The Children in the Wood, advertised on playbill of 19 May.] Times, 15 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Powell, No. 43, Craven-street, Strand. Receipts: #548 17s. (233.4.6; 61.4.6; 0.17.0; tickets: 253.11.0) (charge: #214 12s. 1d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 9 years. [Miss Smith is identified by MS annotation on Kemble playbill.

Event Comment: Christopher Rich's Company. The date of this revival is not certain. Apparently the revival was in preparation before the division of the company, but the publication of the Songs in 1695 confines the production to the period between mid-April and the late autumn. For the opera, see The Works of John Dryden, Vol. VIII: The Plays, edited by John Harrington Smith and Dougald MacMillan (Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1692), pp. 325-30; Moore, Henry Purcell and the Restoration Theatre, Chapter VI;and Purcell's Works, Purcell Society, Vol. XIX. The Songs (1695), the music by Henry Purcell, lists the following pieces and singers: I, Wake, wake, Quivera, sung by Freeman. I, Why shou'd men quarrel, sung by The Boy, with Flutes. Their looks are such that mercy flows, sung by Freeman. II, I come to sing, sung by Freeman. Scorn'd Envy here's nothing, sung by Freeman. Begone, curst Feinds of Hell, sung by Freeman. III, Ah, how happy we are, sung by Freeman and Church. I attempt from Love's sickness to fly, sung by Mrs Cross. IV, They tell us that you mighty powers above, sung by Mrs Cross. In addition, other parts of the opera appeared elsewhere: Act V, a Masque, set by Daniel Purcell, O Bless the Genial Bed with chast delights, in Deliciae Musicae, First Book of the Second Volume, 1696. [The others, since they do not name the performers, are omitted here.

Event Comment: Christopher Jeaffreson to Colonel Hill, 29 Oct. 1684: Sir James Hackett, lieutenant-colonell to the Lord Dunbarton's regiment, was wounded in the thigh by one Mr Potter in the Playhouse; of which woud he has since died. He is much lamented by his Majesty, and all that knew him (J. C. Jeaffreson, A Young Squire of the Seventeenth Century [London, 1878], II, 143-44)

Event Comment: Christopher Rich's Company. The date of the resumption of playing is not certain, for Cibber (see below) beclouds the issue by referring to Easter-Monday in April, whereas the first Monday following Easter fell on 25 March 1694@5. Nevertheless, Monday 1 April 1695 seems the likely date of the resumption of playing, with Rich's Company ready to perform before the seceding company under Thomas Betterton was fully organized. A new song for Abdelazar, Lucinda is bewitching fair, the music by Henry Purcell and sung by "the Boy" (Jemmy? Bowen), is in Thesaurus Musicus, The Fourth Book, 1695. Cibber, Apology, I, 195: [The Patentees] were not able to take the Field till the Easter-Monday in April following. Their first Attempt was a reviv'd Play call'd Abdelazar, or the Moor's Revenge, poorly written, by Mrs Behn. The House was very full, but whether it was the Play or the Actors that were not approved, the next Day's Audience sunk to nothing. However, we assured that let the Audiences be never so low, our Masters would make good all Deficiencies, and so indeed they did, till towards the End of the Season, when Dues to Ballance came too think upon 'em. [See I, 195-96, for Cibber's account of his Prologue.] A Comparison Between the Two Stages, 1702, p. 7: But in my Opinion, 'twas strange that the general defection of the old Actors which left Drury-lane, and the fondness which the better sort shew'd for 'em at the opening of their Newhouse, and indeed the Novelty it self, had not quite destroy'd those few young ones that remain'd behind. The disproportion was so great at parting, that 'twas almost impossible, in Drury-lane, to muster up a sufficient number to take in all the Parts of any Play; and of them so few were tolerable, that a Play must of necessity be damn'd that had not extraordinary favour from the Audience: No fewer than Sixteen (most of the old standing) went away; and with them the very beauty and vigour of the Stage; they who were left behind being for the most part Learners, Boys and Girls, a very unequal match for them who revolted. According to a statement made in litigation, the company in Drury Lane acted 84 times between 25 March 1694@5 and 7 July 1695; and the Young Actors played 68 times from 6 July 1695 to 10 Oct. 1695 to 10 Oct. 1695. See Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 308