Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. 1st piec : Written by George? Lillo, reduced into Three Acts with material Alterations [by Joseph George Holman (World, 15 Apr.)]. [Prologue by Robert Merry (World, 16 Apr.).] Gazetteer, 2 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 2, Tavistock-row, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #278 11s. (185.2.6; 1.8.6; tickets: 92.0.0)

Event Comment: About Ten o'clock this Morning Orders came from the Lord Chamberlain to Shut up the House on Account of the Death of the Princess Dowager of Wales who died this Morn[in]g between 6 & 7 o'clock (Hopkins Diary). [Closed through Sat., Feb. 15. No record in Treasurer's Book save "The Princes Dowager of Wales died this Morning."] Theatres clos'd on 8 Feb. and reopen'd on 17th Feb. for Augusta Princess Dowager of Wales (Winston MS 10). Paid salary list, at #83 9s. 9d. per diem, #500 18s. 6d.; Mrs Abington's Cloaths acct, #2; Mr S. French, 1 1!2 days 7s. 6d.; Mr Weston's note to Mr Holman, #8 3s. (Treasurer's Book). [The cast scheduled for mainpiece was that of 4 Feb.; for afterpiece that of 30 Dec. 1771. The dance between was to have been Sailor's Revels of 8 Oct. 1771.

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. In IV a Grand Banquet. Morning Herald, 28 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman at his chambers, No. 14 John-street, Adelphi. "There is a deficiency in the length of [Holman's] upper lip that continually exposes his teeth to the audience...He has a method of hurrying over the latter part of a sentence, as if to give it more effect, but in reality destroys the intention and solemnity of the scene" (Candid Strictures,45-46). Receipts: #280 11s. 6d. (188.10.6; 3.16.0; tickets: 88.5.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. 2nd piece [1st time; D 5, by Joseph Trapp, adapted from Siri Brahe; oder, Die Neugierigen, by J. A. Gruttschreiber, itself a translation of Siri Brahe, by Gustavus III. Larpent MS 1206; not published. Prologue and Epilogue by John Taylor (Poems, I, 56-57)]: Written by the Late King of Sweden. Times, 28 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 73, New-street, Hanover-square. Receipts: #231 16s. (138.12.0; 4.10.6; tickets: 88.13.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Wild, prompter. 1st piece: Not acted these 20 years; altered from Dryden (by Joseph George Holman (Not. Dram.)]. 2nd piece [Ist time; M.INT 1, probably by John Cartwright Cross. MS: Larpent 1028; not published]. 3rd piece: In which an Engagement between an English and a French Man of War, a Shipwreck, and a Grand Military Procession as it pass'd, when the French Colours taken by the British Army were conveyed from St. James's to St. Paul's Cathedral [on 17 May 1794]. The above Procession is represented by Moving Figures, in which the Horse and Foot Guards, the Band of Music, the French Colours, &c. are seen to pass in the exact order they appeared on that memorable occasion. Morning Herald, 17 May: Tickets to be had of Wild, No. 46, Drury-lane. Receipts: #293 2s. 6d. (112/17/6; 14/2/0; tickets: 166/3/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Morning Herald, 29 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 24, Bedford-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #282 2s. 6d. (153/2/0; 5/0/6; tickets: 124/0/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Public Advertiser, 28 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 24, Bedford-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #241 8s. (126.17; 7.9; tickets: 107.2)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Ode: The music by Dr Arne. Afterpiece: Not acted these 3 years. [acted 16 June 1790]. Public Advertiser, 28 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 2, Tavistock-row, Covent Garden. Receipts: #217 2s. 6d. (121.11.0; 6.15.6; tickets: 88.16.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. 2nd piece: Not acted these 6 years [not acted since 10 May 1786]. Morning Herald, 27 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 14, John-street, Adelphi. Receipts: #273 1s. 6d

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. In Act IV a Grand Banquet. Morning Chronicle, 14 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 14, John-street, Adelphi. Receipts: #316 11s. 6d. (202/15/0; 8/3/0; tickets: 105/13/6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Mainpiece: Never [previously] acted here. In Act V the Funeral Procession of a Roman Commanderv. Morning Chronicle, 11 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 14, John-street, Adelphi. Receipts: #263 3s. (130.16; 22.17; tickets: 109.10)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Afterpiece : Not acted these 8 years [not acted since 16 sar. 1786]. Oracle, 16 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 14, John-street, Adelphi. Receipts: #318 19s. (205.3.6; 5.11.0; tickets: 108.4.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Mainpiece: Acted but once [28 Mar. 1795] these 5 years. In IV a Grand Banquet. Morning Chronicle, 1 Apr.: Tickets to he had of Holman, No. 73, New-street, Hanover-square. Account-Book: Paid George? Papendick for [unspecified] Manuscript Plays of Kotzebue #200. Receipts: #350 2s. (257.6; 6.1; tickets: 86.15)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by Joseph George Holman]: The Overture and the whold of the Musick by Davy. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. [Miss Wheatley was from cg.] Morning Chronicle, 20 Aug. 1800: This day at twelve o'clock is published What a Blunder! (2s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman

Event Comment: Afterpiece: Not acted these 4 years [acted 28 May 1784]. "We see the present rising theatrical generation swinging back with a vengeance to rant and mouthing. The natural and just medium introduced by Garrick seems already forgotten, and speaking no longer deemed a requisite for the stage . . . But last night in Richard Holman was not more violent than the character required him to be" (Public Advertiser, 6 Dec). Receipts: #147 1s. 6d. (143/14/6; 3/7/0)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Polonius to Wilson, but "Previous to the play an apology was made by Farren, for the absence of Wilson [see 2 Nov.], and requesting the Audience to accept of Munden in Polonius, which they chearfully assented to, and his performance justified their opinion" (Thespian Magazine, Dec. 1792, p. 153). "Hamlet is perfectly within the scope of [Holman's] powers; but his performance last night did not exhibit one discriminate feature of the character. He 'out Heroded Herod' throughout, with more than his usual perseverance. The praise of the evening rests with Munden, who laudably endeavoured to rescue Polonius from the buffoonery which has hitherto disgraced him" (Morning Herald, 6 Nov.). Afterpiece in place of Oscar and Malvina, advertised on playbill of 3 Nov.] Receipts: #319 2s

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With new Scenery, Dresses and Decorations. [This was the version, altered probably by Joseph George Holman, in which he appeared in Dublin on 29 July 1794, on which occasion the playbill reads, "Dressed in the Habits of the Times, and with other Alterations, adopted in its Representations 19 [recte 11] Nights last Winter, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden." It further states that the part of Ophelia would be performed "without the Airs, and with a considerable Restoration of the Text." No record of what these alterations consisted of has come to light. In III.iv Hamlet's father was represented by a life-sized portrait that hung over the chimney, and the Queen wore a large miniature of Claudius on her arm as a bracelet (London Chronicle, 10 Oct.). The words of the Dirge are printed in European Magazine, Nov. 1793, p. 393; they are stanza X of Shakespeare's Passionate Pilgrim. Miss Poole had appeared as a singer at king's and at Vauxhall in 1787 and at the cg oratories in 1791.] Afterpiece: Not acted these 2 years [and in place of The Prisoner at Large, advertised on playbill of 8 Oct.]. Receipts: #332 4s. (330.3; 2.1)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Pope. Mainpiece: Not acted these 6 years. In I a Grand Banquet Scene. A Procession from the Abbey at the Coronation of Queen Anne Bullen. The Piece to conclude with the ceremony at the Royal Christening. [Holman's 1st appearance as King Henry was at this theatre, 24 May 1793.] Morning Chronicle, 27 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Pope, Half Moon-street, Piccadilly. Receipts: #391 0s. 6d. (299.15.6; 2.9.0; tickets: 88.16.0)