Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 12 years. [See 24 Jan. 1758.] Prologue written by Paul Whitehead. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. First Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Mr Sarjant (only) at the Stage-Door. No persons can be admitted behind scenes, nor any Money returned after curtain is drawn up. To begin exactly at 6 o'clock. [Customary note in succeeding bills.] Receipps: #190 14s. (Account Book). @The New Occasional Prologue@As when the merchant to increase his store@For Dubious seas, advent'rous quits the shore;@Still anxious for his freight, he trembling sees@Rocks in each buoy, and tempest in each breeze@The curling wave to mountain billow swells,@And every cloud a fancied storm fortells:@Thus rashly launch'd on this Theatric main,@Our All on board, each phantom gives Us pain;@The Aatcall's note seems thunder in our ears,@And every Hiss a hurricane appears;@In Journal Squibs we lightning's blast espy,@And meteors blaze in every Critic's eye.@Spite of these terrors, still come hopes we view,@Hopes, ne'er can fail us--since they're plac'd--in you.@Your breath the gale, our voyage is secure,@And safe the venture which your smiles insure;@Though weak his skill, th' adventurer must succeed,@Where Candour takes th' endeavor for the deed.@For Brentford's state, two kings could once suffice;@In ours, behold! four kings of Brentford rise;@All smelling to one nosegay's od'rous savor@The balmy nosegay of--the Public favor.@From hence alone, our royal funds we draw,@Your pleasure our support, your will our law.@While such our government, we hope you'll own us;@But should we ever Tyrant prove--dethrone us.@Like Brother Monarchs, who, to coax the nation@Began their reign, with some fair proclamation,@We too should talk at least--of reformation;@Declare that during our imperial sway,@No bard shall mourn his long-neglected Play;@But then the play must have some wit, some spirit,@And We allow'd sole umpires of its merit.@For those deep sages of the judging Pit,@Whose taste is too refin'd for modern wit,@From Rome's great Theatre we'll cull the piece,@And plant on Britain's stage the flow'rs of Greece.@If some there are, our British Bards can please,@Who taste the ancient wit of ancient days,@Be our's to save, from Time's devouring womb,@Their works, and snatch their laurels from the tomb.@For you, ye Fair, who sprightlier scenes may chuse,@Where Music decks in all her airs the Muse,@Gay Opera shall all its charms dispense,@Yet boast no tuneful triumph over sense;@The nobler Bard shall still assert his right,@Nor Handel rob a Shakespear of his night,@To greet the mortal brethren of our skies [upper galleries]@Here all the Gods of Pantomime shall rise:@Yet midst the pomp and magic of machines,@Some plot may mark the meaning of our scenes;@Scenes which were held, in good King Rich's days,@By sages, no bad epilogues to plays.@If terms like these your suffrage can engage,@To fix our mimic empire of the stage;@Confirm our title in your fair opinions,@And crowd each night to people our dominions.@--(Poems and Miscelaneous Compositions, Ed. Capt. Edward Thompson, 1777) Covent Garden opened with the Rehearsal with alterations. I was in the Pit. Powell, from Drury Lane, one of the new managers who have bought the patent from Rich's heirs, spoke an occasional Prologue. Shuter did Bayes pretty much to my liking, adding many crochets of his own.... Entertainment The Mock Doctor,...Young Jasper pretty well by one Massey, being his first appearance on that stage (Neville MS Diary)

Event Comment: At Shuter's Booth, George Yard. At Shuter's Warehouse [in advance notices]; At Shuter's Theatrical Microcosm. [The English Mirror is not the name of a play.] Mr Shuter begs leave to acquaint the Public that his English Mirror is highly polished, and he hopes it will give the greatest Satisfaction, especially as it is the true English Manufacture reflecting the most striking Views of Modern Times and National Glory. He would be very far from imposing upon the Inhabitants of this great Metropolis, and, unconscious of a Puff, he takes upon him to say that the Gay and Learned will find his Piece ornamented with a Festoon of Flowers gathered by an admitted Genius on the Banks of Avon and enriched with Wreaths twined by the Fingers of the Muses. Here it may be said Pomona has given the Apple Wit, in which every agreeable Flavour is combined, and Bacchusr has sent a Store of genuine Falernian from a Receipt which anciently belonged to Homer, and has lately been discovered with the Ruins of Herculaneum. In fact we shall give a new Exhiliration to Mirth, and dilate the Sides of Laughter, make Vice bleed under the corrective Lash, and give a Lecture that shall stimulate Virtue to pursue the Road of Happiness. [Repeated.

Event Comment: Mainpiece: A New Comedy [by R. B. Sheridan] never perform'd. New Scenes and Dresses. [Gentleman's Magazine for Jan. states: "Tuesday 17, Was performed for the first time at Covent Garden a comedy call'd The Rivals, said to be written by Mr Sheridan. Some objections being made both to language and character, the author has thought proper to withdraw his piece for correction, and it has since been played with applause." See 18 and 28 Jan. The Westminster Magazine, Jan., remarked: "This comedy was acted so imperfectly, either from the timidity of the actors on a first night's performance, or from an improper distribution of parts, that it was generally disapproved....The author promised some alterations, which implied that he would be glad the Town would suspend judgment till a farther hearing" See 28 Jan. John Hampden quotes from Lloyd's Evening Post, 18 Jan., the Morning Chronicle and Morning Post of the same date, and the London Chronicle of 19 Jan. articles damning the casting and the imperfectness of the actors, the impudence of Shuter in particular, and the fatigue of the audience.

Event Comment: SShuter having engag'd with Mr Rich Garrick in Bayes said you are a good Actor & I am sorry you have left me-a Clap (Cross). Both plays put up for last time of performing this season. Full prices throughout performance. No money returned after curtain is up. Tis hoped no gentlemen will take it ill that they cannot possibly be admitted behind the scenes or into the orchestra, the Entertainment depending chiefly upon the Machinery and Music. Receipts: #180 (Cross)