Event Comment: 1st piece: In one Act [i.e. reduced from the original two]. 2nd piece: Compressed into four Acts by the Author [James Boaden]. Receipts: #217 0s. 6d. (210.19.6; 6.1.0)

Event Comment: [First two pieces in place of The Regent, advertised on playbill of 18 Feb.] The Publick are most repectfully informed that on account of Mrs Siddons's illness The Regent cannot be acted this evening, and that the Performances will be [as above]. 3rd piece [1st time; MF 2, by James Cobb. Larpent MS 1111; not published]: Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Receipts: #398 8s. 6d. (275.5.6; 115.14.6; 7.8.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 6 years [acted 7 Oct. 1791]. Middleton, after performing the first scene of Nerestan, retired abruptly into the wardrobe, pulled off his coat, and telling the dresser he should be back in ten minutes, left the theatre; he did not return, however, according to his appointment, and Davenport read the remainder of the character: a fit of insanity is supposed to have seized him" (Monthly Mirror, Jan. 1797, p. 55). [Middleton did not appear on the stage again until 27 Feb. 1797.] Afterpiece [1st time: P 2 (?), by James Wild and John Follett. MS of Songs only: Larpent MS 1148; synopsis of action in Pocket Magazine, Dec. 1796, p. 412]: With entire new Scenery, Machinery, Music, Dresses. The Overture and Music by Reeve. The Scenery painted by Phillips, Blackmore, Hollogan, Thorne, Byrn. The Machinery, Trick and Changes of Scenery invented and executed by Cresswell and Sloper. The Dresses by Dick, Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "Among the changes are a trunk into a gingerbread nut-man's wheel-barrow--a poor man's hut into an old oak, with a group of Gypsies boiling their kettle under it--one of the clowns into a thick candle, and the candle afterwards into a green-house tub, with a large shrub in it" (Oracle, 20 Dec.). Receipts: #193 5s. 6d. (183.4.6; 10.1.0)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; MD 3, by James Boaden]: With new Musick, Scenery, Dresses, and Decorations. The Overture and Musick by Dr Arnold. The Scenery by Marinari, Rooker, &c. Morning Herald, 26 Aug. 1797: This Day is published The Italian Monk (2s.)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; F 2, by Samuel Birch, based on James Powell's unacted play, The Narcotic, 1787; incidental music by Thomas Attwood (see 28 Nov.). Larpent MS 1182; not published; synopsis of plot in Morning Chronicle, 30 Oct.]. Receipts: #309 19s. 6d. (222.7.6; 86.1.0; 1.11.0)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; MD 3, by James Boaden; some of the songs written by George Colman, ynger]: With new Musick, Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. The new Musick by Dr Arnold. With an appropriate Overture, accompanied by two Pedal Harps and the Union Pipes, by Weippert, C. Jones, and Murphy. The Scenery by Marinari. The Dresses and Decorations designed by A. Johnston, and executed by him and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "Any exertion of impartial criticism to check the prevalent taste for the marvellous and the horrific which so wantonly conjures up the spirit (it was once thought had been for ever laid) of gross superstition and Gothic barbarism must, we fear, prove at present unavailing" (Times, 23 July). Morning Chronicle, 30 July 1798: This Day is published Cambro-Britons (2s.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by James Cobb. Text: T. N. Longman and O. Rees, 1800. Miss Waters is identified in the Songs]: The Scenes, Music, Machinery, Dresses, and Decorations are all entirely new. The Music composed by Mazzinghi and Reeve. The Scenery painted by Richards, Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Backmore, &c. [based on drawings of Indian scenery by Thomas Daniell]. The Machinery and Decorations by Cresswell, Sloper, Goostree, &c. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs, also describing the Scenes and Spectacle of the Return from the Tiger Hunt, to be had at the Theatre, price six pence. "The whole [forms] an exhibition of the utmost grandeur...The expense attending the decoration must have been immense...The dailogue is certainly not of the first description of writing, but it forms, on the whole, a very safe vehicle for some of the best music the English stage has for some time been able to boast"(Morning Herald, 13 Nov.). Account-Book, 27 Dec.: Paid Cuthbert for Wheels, &c. for the Elephants #13 18s. Receipts: #364 7s. 6d. (363.19.6; 0.8.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time: MD 5, by James Boaden]: With new Musick [by Michael Kelly], Dresses, and Decorations. [Scenery by Capon (Theatre Notebook, XIX, 14).] Morning Chronicle, 16 Jan. 1799: This Day is published Aurelio and Miranda (2s.). Receipts: #271 16s. (218.15.0; 51.19.6; 1.1.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Henry James Pye. Prologue by William Sotheby; Epilogue by John Taylor (see text)]: With new Dresses and Decorations. "From the first drawing up of the curtain, till its final fall, we could not discover one single flight of fancy, one solitary scene of woe...It is but justice to add that for a first night the performers, with the exception of Barrymore, were very perfect in their respective parts [and see 27 Jan.]" (Dramatic Censor, I, 175, 181). Receipts: #309 13s. (246.4.6; 61.0.6; 2.8.0)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; MF 2, by James Cobb. Text (unauthorized), Dublin: P. Byrne [1800]; synopsis of plot in Dramatic Censor, II, 135-36]: With new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. The Overture composed by Mazzinghi, and the Music by Mazzinghi and Reeve. The Scenes painted by Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Hodgins, &c. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Receipts: #132 17s. (128.7.6; 4.9.6)

Event Comment: [Fennell had acted Douglas at Edinburgh on 5 July 1788, and perhaps Previously.] Afterpiece [1st time: P 2, by Charles Bonnor and Robert Merry. Larpent MS 886; not published. Synopsis of action in Universal Magazine, Dec. 1790, pp. 321-23. Author of Prologue unknown]: Interspersed with Dialogue, Airs, Duettos, Chorusses, Dances, &c. &c. &c. The Scenery, Machinery, and Decorations entirely new, and painted by Richards, Carver, Hodgins, Pugh, Malton, with many Assistants [including W. Hamilton (European Magazine, Dec. 1790, p. 468]. Among others will be exhibited the following Scenes taken from accurate Drawings made on the Spot: The Jacobines Convent, Rue St. Honorie; Places de Greve; Inside of the Hotel de Ville; View of the New Bridge called Pont Louis Seize; Fountain des Innocens; Palais Bourbon; View of the Champ de Mars, with the Grand Pavillion preparatory to the Festival; A Grand Assembly; View of the Triumphal Arch, prepared for the Procession to the Champ de Mars; Perspective View of the Champ de Mars, with the Bridge of Boats. With an exact Representation of the Banners, Oriflammes, &c. &c. in the Grand Procession to the Champ de Mars. The Whole to conclude with a Representation of the Grand Illuminated Platform, as prepared by the City of Paris, on the Ruins of the Bastille, for the Entertainment of the Provincial Deputies, and the Public. [The above has reference to the "Grand National Fete" held in Paris, 14 July 1790, in commemoration of the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. It is included in all subsequent playbills.] The Dances [composed] by Byrn. The Music composed and compiled [from Reeve and Naumann] by Shield. The Dresses all Characteristically French and New. Books of the Songs, &c. with a short Description of the Performance [T. Cadell, 1790] to be had at the Theatre. Nothing under Full Price will be taken. Account-Book, 11 Jan. 1791: Paid Bonnor #200. Receipts: #316 16s. (296.14; 20.2)

Event Comment: [Fennell had acted Douglas at Edinburgh on 5 July 1788, and perhaps Previously.] Afterpiece [1st time: P 2, by Charles Bonnor and Robert Merry. Larpent MS 886; not published. Synopsis of action in Universal Magazine, Dec. 1790, pp. 321-23. Author of Prologue unknown]: Interspersed with Dialogue, Airs, Duettos, Chorusses, Dances, &c. &c. &c. The Scenery, Machinery, and Decorations entirely new, and painted by Richards, Carver, Hodgins, Pugh, Malton, with many Assistants [including W. Hamilton (European Magazine, Dec. 1790, p. 468]. Among others will be exhibited the following Scenes taken from accurate Drawings made on the Spot: The Jacobines Convent, Rue St. Honorie; Places de Greve; Inside of the Hotel de Ville; View of the New Bridge called Pont Louis Seize; Fountain des Innocens; Palais Bourbon; View of the Champ de Mars, with the Grand Pavillion preparatory to the Festival; A Grand Assembly; View of the Triumphal Arch, prepared for the Procession to the Champ de Mars; Perspective View of the Champ de Mars, with the Bridge of Boats. With an exact Representation of the Banners, Oriflammes, &c. &c. in the Grand Procession to the Champ de Mars. The Whole to conclude with a Representation of the Grand Illuminated Platform, as prepared by the City of Paris, on the Ruins of the Bastille, for the Entertainment of the Provincial Deputies, and the Public. [The above has reference to the "Grand National Fete" held in Paris, 14 July 1790, in commemoration of the first anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. It is included in all subsequent playbills.] The Dances [composed] by Byrn. The Music composed and compiled [from Reeve and Naumann] by Shield. The Dresses all Characteristically French and New. Books of the Songs, &c. with a short Description of the Performance [T. Cadell, 1790] to be had at the Theatre. Nothing under Full Price will be taken. Account-Book, 11 Jan. 1791: Paid Bonnor #200. Receipts: #316 16s. (296.14; 20.2)

Event Comment: [Dedication signed by John James Heidegger.] By Subscription. Never Perform'd before. Colman's Opera Register: Monr John James Heidegger managed both this & ye former Opera for ye Singers & ye Subscription was for Six Nights paying 10 Guin for 3 Tickets each Night, they not to give out above 400 Tickets a Night

Event Comment: [Dedication by John James Heidegger.] By Subscription. Stage Boxes 15s. Gallery 5s. Colman's Opera Register: By subscription for six times at ye usuall rate of 10 Guin for 3 Tickets

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; T 3, by Henry James Pye. Authors of Prologue and Epilogue unknown]: With new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. Morning Chronicle, IO June 1794: This day is published THE SIEGE OF MEAUX (1s. 6d.). Receipts: #125 9s. (117/2; 8/7)

Event Comment: [1st piece in place of THE FLITCH OF BACON, advertised on playbill of 25 July.] 3rd piece [1st time; CO 2, by Samuel James Arnold]: The new musick, with a Scottish Medley Overture, by Dr Arnold. New Scenery by Rooker. New Dresses and Decorations. Morning Chronicle, 28 Aug. 1794: This Day is published AULD ROBIN GRAY (1s)

Event Comment: 3rd piece [1st time: MF 2, by Samuel James Arnold. Larpent MS 1176; not published; synopsis of plot in Morning Herald, 27 June]: The Musick, with an Hibernian Medley Overture, by Dr Arnold. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre

Event Comment: [Cambray was the stage name of James Fennell; he was from the Edinburgh theatre (and see 16 Oct. 1789). Ryder's 1st appearance as Iago was at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, 14 Jan. 1767.] "Ryder wore his villainy on his sleeve, and evinced nothing of the insidiousness ordinarily expressed by other representatives of the part" (Public Advertiser, 13 Oct.). Receipts: #196 7s. (195.16; 0.11)

Event Comment: "...Richard III, which I saw performed at Drury-lane theatre at the beginning of the present season...The dresses of the characters which here make their appearance are in the usual half-and-half mode, made up from portraits of Charles I's reign, and from unrestrained fancy. Richard's habit, indeed, shews a faint hint, at the costume of his day; but how modernized! A fancy cap and feather,with a milliner's white-ribband rose, sewed thereon. A deep ruff, of that make not known until the reign of James I From the neck depends a ribband With the George: this decoration never seen in paintings till about the fashions of the abovementioned monarch's court. On his legs and feet, white silk stockings, white shoes, and red roses. These latter ornaments unknown before Elizabeth or James I's modes of dress prevailed; at any rate, they should have been white ones to have accorded with the party-badge in his cap." Writer signing himself "An Artist and an Antiquary" in Gentleman's Magazine, Apr. 1800, p. 319. Receipts: #225 16s. 6d. (178.3.6; 47.12.0; 0.1.0)

Event Comment: [The King's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but a letter--see 2 Jan. 1670@1--indicates that the first part had been acted before that date and that Part II was to be shortly staged. The point of the Prologue spoken by Ellen Gwyn seems to have derived from an incident at Dover (see Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, p. 20) in May 1670, when James Nokes attired himself in a ridiculous fashion, including "Broad wast Belts." The speakers of the Epilogue and the Prologue to the Second Part are mentioned in Sir William Haward's MS (Bodl. MS Don. b., pp. 248-49); see The Poems of John Dryden, ed. James Kinsley (Oxford, 1958), IV, 1848-49. In Part I a song Beneath a myrtle shade, with music by John Bannister, is in Choice Songs and Ayres, First Book, 1673. Another, Wherever I am, with music by Alphonso Marsh, is in the same collection, as is also How unhappy a lover am I, the music by Nicholas Staggins. Mrs John Evelyn to Mr Bohun, ca. Jan. 1670@1: Since my last to you I have seen The Siege of Grenada, a play so full of ideas that the most refined romance I ever read is not to compare with it; love is made so pure, and valour so nice, that one would image it designed for an Utopia rather than our stage. I do not quarrel with the poet, but admire one born in the decline of morality should be able to feign such exact virtue; and as poetic fiction has been instructive in former ages, I wish this the same event in ours. As to the strict law of comedy I dare not pretend to judge: some think the division of the story is not so well if it could all have been comprehended in the day's actions (The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn, ed. William Bray, IV, 25). According to John Evelyn--see 9 Feb. 1670@1--Robert Streeter did some of the scenes for this play. In the Preface to The Fatal Discovery, ca. February 1697@8, George Powell, in discussing revivals of Dryden's plays, stated: In relation to our reviving his Almanzor...very hard crutching up what Hart and Mohun could not prop

Event Comment: Benefit Boaman, James, Mrs James.Mainpiece: Written by Shakespear

Event Comment: Benefit James and Dupre

Event Comment: Benefit James, Mrs James, Goodall. Afterpiece: By Desire

Event Comment: 2 Benefit James and Rosco

Event Comment: Benefit for James and Mathews. No tickets bought at the door will be admitted. Receipts: #190 (Cross); house charges, #63. (Powel)