Event Comment: Benefit for Master Welsh. Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by Samuel Birch]: The Music principally new, composed by Attwood, with a few selections from Mozart. Books of the Songs to be had hn the Theatre. Morning Chronicle, 21 May 1795: This Day is published The Adopted Child (1s.). Ibid., 21 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Master Welsh, No. 9, Margaret-street, Westminster. Receipts: #226 10s. (87.13.6; 43.3.6; 17.7.0; tickets: 78.6.0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Thomas Holcroft, based partly on The Fashionable Lover, by Richard Cumberland. Authors of Prologue and Epilogue unknown]. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30, for the remainder of the Season. Morning Chronicle, 13 May 1795: This Day is published The Deserted Daughter (2s.). Receipts: #210 2s. (205.12.6; 4.9.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Richard Cumberland. Prologue and Epilogue by the author (Knapp, 269, 221)]: With new Dresses, &c. Morning Chronicle, 12 Oct. 1795: This Day is published First Love (2s.). Receipts: #266 7s. 6d. (205.4.0; 52.2.0; 9.1.6)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; MD 3, by Thomas Morton]: With new Scenery, Dresses and Decorations. The Overture, Chorusses, and new Musick by Dr Arnold. The new Scenery by Rooker, Marinari, &c. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Morning Chronicle, 1 July 1795: This Day is published Zorinski (2s.)

Event Comment: [Afterpiece in place of The Wedding Day, advertised on playbill of 17 Sept.] Receipts: #383 3s. 6d. (288.1.6; 91.8.6; 3.13.6)

Event Comment: "The represention announced for last night at this Theatre was Twelfth Night; but as Mrs Jordan found herself too ill to perform, new bills were issued, and the substitute was to be The Siege of Belgrade. About the middle of the day, however, Mrs Jordan found herself well enough to perform, and the other bills were circulated, importing that the play was to be Twelfth Night. But, in the afternoon, Mrs Jordan found herself too ill to perform, and a message was sent again to the theatre, signifying the melancholy disappointment. It was then too late to make any other change, and Twelfth Night was represented, Mrs Goodall reading the part of Viola. There was considerable difficulty in collecting the performers, after these repeated changes. Barrymore could not be found, and Caulfield dressed for Orsino; but when he was ready to appear Barrymore arrived, and took the part. It was then discovered that Phillimore was absent, and Caulfield was doomed to dress once more, for Phillimore's character; but soon after Phillimore came to the house. Mrs Kemble being indisposed, Miss Mellon undertook her part of Maria ...The Audience (a large one) indeed grumbled a little at this kind of dramatic hocus pocus, but on the whole, were not churlish in their testimonies of satisfaction" (True Briton, 13 Jan.). Receipts: #222 19s. (160.4.0; 58.11.6; 4.3.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; MD 3, by George Colman, ynger]: The Scenery and Dresses are entirely new. The Musick composed by Storace.The Scenes designed and executed by Greenwood and Capon [the Gothic library was painted by Capon (Oracle, 21 Mar. 1796)]. The Dresses by Johnston, Gay and Miss Rein. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. [When Colman published his play he prefaced it with an acrimonious attack on Kemble, in which he accused him of deliberately trying to make the play a failure. But almost without exception the contemporary reviews excused Kemble's performance on the grounds of his obvious indisposition, and agreed that the play itself was unsatisfactory. "The play failed, and we are sorry to say did not merit to succeed...Kemble, who was tormented With an incessant cough, said he could not but be sensible that much of the displeasure of the house proceeded from his deficiency in a principal character...The whole audience with one voice cried out, 'No, no, Kemble-it is not your fault'" (Oracle, 14 Mar.). "The dialogue is extremely heavy, and there is little or no incident to relieve the tedium of more than four hours representation...Sir Edward Mortimer is a being distracted, with no adequate cause; a prey to remorse, which he of all men was the last to feel from the principles that make up his being. This therefore is the radical moral defect of the piece. But there is another which, though not equally strong, is equally fatal: there is no progression of interest, there is no involution of plot, there is no development of character" (Star, 14 Mar.). Other notices of the opening night were much in the same vein. Subsequently Colman revised the play, and it held the stage for many years. "The curtailments which have been made shorten the representation near an hour and a half, and the alterations are many and judicious" (Morning Herald, 21 Mar. 1796). Morning Herald, 23 July 1796: This Day is published The Iron Chest (2s.). Receipts: #471 9s. (468.13; 2.16)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; MD 3, by Prince Hoare. Larpent MS 1126; not published; synopsis of plot in Monthly Magazine, May 1796, p. 320]: With new Scenes, Dresses, Decorations, &c. The Musick principally composed by the late Mr Storace [who had died on 19 Mar.], with a few Selections from Paisiello, Haydn and Sarti. [Grove, under Storace, states that the music was completed and prepared for the stage by Kelly and Sga Storace.] The Scenes designed and executed by Marinari and assistants. The Dresses by Johnston, Gay and Miss Rein. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. "It was exceedingly tedious the first night, not being over till eleven o'clock. Since, it has been prudently cut down, and yet has lost nothing. A prologue, written on the very morning of representation, deploring the loss of the composer, was spoken (perfectly) by the last unfortunate Benson [for whom see 9 June. It was written by Hoare (Universal Magazine, May 1796, p. 362), and Was perhaps spoken only on the 1st night; it is not listed on any playbill]" (Monthly Magazine, May 1796, p. 320). "In short, possessing all the science of Harrison, the melody of Incledon, and the pleasing articulation of the late Mrs Kennedy, we have no hesitation in pronouncing [Braham] the first public singer of the present day. He was three times encored. His action is indifferent, and his dialogue scarcely audible" (Morning Herald, 2 May). Receipts: #297 14s. (258.10.6; 38.19.6; 0.4.0)

Event Comment: [1st piece in place of Bannian Day, advertised on playbill of 16 July.

Event Comment: [Afterpiece in place of The Wedding Day, advertised on playbill of 28 Oct.] Ballet: (1st time), composed by Giacomo? Gentili [with music by Giuseppe Capelletti]. Receipts: #325 19s 6d. (222.15.6; 101.11.0; 1.13.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Thomas Morton. Prologue by William Thomas Fitzgerald; Epilogue by Miles Peter Andrews (see text)]: With new Scenes and Dresses. True Briton, 19 Jan.: Morton was paid #400, and #150 "for the Copy-right, which Harris has purchased." Ibid., 27 Mar.: This Day was published A Cure for the Heart Ache (2s.). Receipts: #237 15s. (236.0; 1.15)

Event Comment: In consequence of the very frequent abuses discovered to be practised at this Theatre, in respect to transferable Tickets of Admission, it has become indispensably requisite to adopt the former Regulation of having those Tickets left at the Doors on the Evening of Performance, and returned next day to the Owners of them

Event Comment: True Briton, 20 Feb.: On Saturday Mme Banti "received that day an account of the death of her mother." She sang throughout Act I, but "was unable to appear in the second, and the audience concurred in the suppression, for the evening, of the Second Act.

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of The Mountaineers; afterpiece of The Follies of a Day, both advertised on playbill of 25 Mar.] Afterpiece: Engagement as 6 Mar. Receipts: #151 3s. 6d. (87.6.6; 60.5.0; 3.12.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. [1st piece originally acted in 1767 as Dido. Prologue by David Garrick.] 3rd piece [1st time; INT 1, consisting of 3 tales in verse inserted into a continuous verse narrative]: As intended for Representation at the Theatre Royal, Hay-market, by George Colman Ynger. Morning Herald, 3 Apr. 1797: This Day is Published My Nightgown and Slippers (2s. 6d.). True Briton, 25 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Palmer, No. 39, Great Pulteney-street, Golden-square. Receipts: #491 16s. (152.3; 77.16; 11.16; tickets: 250.1) (charge: #232 18s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for King. 2nd piece: Not acted for more than 20 years [acted 14 May 1782]. The Dialogue by Garrick and King. The Music by Michael Arne and Vernon. Tickets delivered for Friday May 5 [for which day the benefit was first announcedP will be admitted. True Briton, 6 May: Tickets to be had of King, No. 56, New Store-street, Bedford-Square. Receipts: #290 9s. 6d. (111.5.6; 58.4.6; 4.16.0; tickets: 116.3.6) (charge: #211 18s.)

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: Hamlet [advertised on playbill of 26 Sept.] is obliged to be deferred for a few days, on account of Kemble's Hoarseness. Receipts: #310 14s. (209.14; 100.18; 0.2)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1, by Andrew Franklin. It refers to the King's departure from Greenwich on the Royal Charlotte yacht, 30 Oct. 1797, to visit Lord Duncan's fleet at the Nore. The visit was subsequently cancelled because of inclement weather]: With new Scenery, and Machinery. The Music partly new [by William Linley] and partly compiled; with an introductory Full Piece. In the course of the Piece a View of Greenwich Hospital, and an exact Representation of the Departure of the Royal Yatch [sic]. To conclude with a View of the British Fleet, and the Dutch Prizes [taken at Camperdown. 11 Oct.]. [These were included in all subsequent performances.] Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Morning Herald, 16 Nov. 1797: This day is published A Trip to the Nore (1s.). Receipts: #317 5s. 6d. (234.8.6; 76.10.6; 6.6.6)

Event Comment: By Command of Their Majesties. This Evening the Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30. Account-Book: Paid the Duke of Bedford one years rent for the Theatre, the back of the Theatre, the houses in Bow Street, Hart Street, the Piazza, and Playhouse Passage, as expressed in the Receipt, due Lady Day 1796, #456 4s. Receipts: #459 9s. 6d. (452.5.6; 7.4.0)

Event Comment: On account of Mrs Jordan's indisposition the new Drama of The Castle-Spectre [advertised on playbill of 9 Dec., and originally announced for 2 Dec., but deferred for the same reason] is again obliged to be deferred for a few days. Afterpiece [in place of The Virgin Unmask'd, advertised on playbill of 9 Dec.]: The Musick by Attwood. Receipts: #237 9s. 6d. (173.8.6; 62.13.0; 1.8.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; MD 5, by Matthew Gregory Lewis; incidental music by Michael Kelly (see 2 Feb. 1798), with one selection from Jomelli. Prologue and Epilogue by the author (Monthly Mirror, Dec. 1797, pp. 357-58)]: With new Dresses, Scenery, and Decorations. The Scenery designed by the late Mr Greenwood [who died on 1 Nov.], and executed by his Son, Pugh, and others. Times, 15 Jan. 1798: This day is published The Castle-Spectre (2s.). "There is a sufficient number of Ghosts, Hobgoblins, Cells and Trap-doors to serve for a pantomimical exhibition of the most extravagant nature, and the whole may, with no breach of propriety, be termed a Speaking Pantomime, of which Kemble is made the Harlequin and Mrs Jordan the Columbine" (Morning Herald, 16 Dec.). Receipts: #316 18s. 6d. (257.6.6; 58.17.0; 0.15.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Thomas Morton. Prologue by William Thomas Fitzgerald (his Miscellaneous Poems, 1801, p. 88). Epilogue by Miles Peter Andrews (London Chronicle, 12 Jan.)]: With new Scenes and Dresses. Morning Herald, 14 Apr. 1798: This Day is published Secrets Worth Knowing (2s.). Receipts: #311 6s. (307.9; 3.17)