Event Comment: "A Gentleman who is as mad as myself about the School remark'd that the Characters upon the Stage at the falling of the Screen stand too long before they speak-I thought so too the first Night-he said it was the same on the 2d & was remark'd by others-tho they should be astonish'd & a little petrify'd, yet it may be carry'd to too great a length" (David Garrick to R. B. Sheridan, 12 May 1777, in The Letters of David Garrick, ed. D. M. Little and G. M. Kahrl, 1963, III, 1163). Receipts: #195 13s. (184.7; 10.19; 0.7)

Event Comment: [Henderson's 1st appearance on the stage was as Hamlet, at Bath, 6 Oct. 1772. In I.iv "after the short ejaculation of 'Angels and ministers of grace, defend us!' he endeavoured to conquer that fear and terror into which he was naturally thrown by the first sight of the vision, and uttered the remainder of the address calmly, but respectfully, and with a firm tone of voice, as from one who had subdued his timidity and apprehension" (Davies, III, 30). "Palmer's Ghost would have been more in character had he given less into the rant of declamation and the bustle of stage action, which accord not with our ideas of a supernatural being; his crying, likewise, at the recital of his murder, was childish, and destroyed the solemnity of the scene' (Morning Post, 27 June).

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wells. [Miss Davies is identified in European Magazine, July 1786, p. 122. Address by William Upton (.Morning Chronicle, 29 July).]

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. The date of the first performance is not certain, but the evidence points toward this day. On Thursday 19 Nov. 1696, Robert Jennens reported that the two pieces had been acted four or five days together. If that day saw the fifth performance, the premiere probably occurred on 14 Nov. 1696. The Single Songs and Dialogue in Mars and Venus, set by John Eccles (Acts I and II) and Godfrey Finger (Act III), was published separately in 1697. The pieces for whom a performer is indicated are as follows: Prologue. The first Song Sung by Mrs Hudson, set by Finger: Come all, with moving songs [it is reproduced opposite page 300 in Wiley, Rare Prologues and Epilogues]. Love alone can here alarm me, sung by Mrs Ayloffe. Scorn tho' Beauty frowns to tremble, sung by Mrs Hudson. To double the sports, sung by Mrs Ayloffe. To treble the pleasures with regular measures, sung by Mrs Ayloffe. To meet her, May, the Queen of Love comes here, set by John Eccles and sung by Mrs Hudson. See Vulcan, Jealousie, Jealousie appears, set by Finger and sung by Mrs Hudson. Yield, no, no, sung by Mrs Bracegirdle and Bowman. Gildon, English Dramatick Poets, p. 115: This Play met with extraordinary Success having the Advantage of the excellent Musick of The Loves of Mars and Venus perform'd with it. Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, pp. 44-45: The Anatomist, or Sham Doctor, had prosperous Success, and remains a living Play to this Day; 'twas done by Mr Ravenscroft. A Comparison Between the Two Stages (1702), p. 20: I remember the success of that was owing to the Musick

Event Comment: [As afterpiece Public Advertiser announces The Rival Candidates, but see Hopkins Diary, 12 Oct.] The Managers met again to-day, but nothing settled. Hamlet was given out. I saw Mr Sheridan, he told me that Mr Lacy and he had agreed that no Play should be given out, nor any Bills put up, till they had settled this Affair, which was to be done to-Morrow at Mr Wallis's (the Attorney's) where they were all to dine. I waited on Mr Lacy, who agreed to the same, and no Bills or Paragraph were sent to the Papers. All the Business of the Theatre is at a Stand, and no Rehearsal called. Wed. 16th--Mr Sheridan, Dr Ford and Mr Linley dined today by Appointment with Mr Wallis where Mr Lacy was to have met them; about four o'clock he sent a verbal Message that he could not come to Dinner, but would wait upon them in the Evening, and about nine o'clock he came, and everything was settled to the Satisfaction (of them all) and a Paragraph sent to the Papers, and the Hypocrite and Christmas Tale was advertised for Friday, but no Play was to be done on Thursday--Covent Garden did not play on Friday (Hopkins Diary). Public Advertiser, 16 Oct., summarizes the proprietors' dispute: the Drury Lane patent had been purchased [in 1747] by David Garrick and James Lacy. On his death Lacy had devised his half-share to his son, Willoughby Lacy; on his retirement from the stage Garrick had sold his half-share to Sheridan, Ford and Linley. The original agreement between Garrick and Lacy, as recited in a document retained by the attorney Albany Wallis was that, in case of the sale of either share of the patent, or any part of either share, the seller was obligated to offer the first refusal to purchase to the other partner, and that this was to be done only when the theatre was closed for the summer. In selling one half of his share to Robert Langford and to Edward Thompson, Willoughby Lacy was--so argued his three partners--acting illegally: he had not offered to them the first refusal, and he was negotiating the sale at a time when the theatre was open. Public Advertiser, 17 Oct.. prints a statement from Lacy saying that he did not feel himself bound by the original agreement between his father and Garrick, but that, in the interest of the business of the theatre, he had asked Langford and Thompson to withdraw their claim to partnership, to which request they had acceded. Receipts: #130 9s. 6d

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first performance is not known; an entry in L. C. 5@145, p. 120, lists it for 1 March, but leaves the year in question. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 349. Because the Prologue upbraids the audience for deserting Dorset Garden to see The Female Prelate at Drury Lane (beginning 31 May 1680) and because the Epilogue refers to railing at the Penny Post, a service inaugurated on 1 April 1680, a performance in mid-June 1680 seems the likely first production. If so, the L. C. entry for 1 March probably represents a revival for 1 March 1680@1. A song, Bonny lass gin thou wert mine, with music by Thomas Farmer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book, 1681. For Leigh as Sir Jolly and Nokes as Sir Davy, see Cibber, Apology, ed. Lowe, I, 147-48. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 36): These two Comedies [The Soulder's Fortune and D'Urfey's The Fond Husband] took extraordinary well, and being perfectly Acted; got the Company great Reputation and Profit

Event Comment: Went off with applause (Cross). Afterpiece: a New Pantomime after the Manner of the Italian Comedy, with New Scenes, Habits, Decorations. Nothing under Full Prices will be taken. No Gentleman can possibly be admitted behind the Scenes or into the Orchestra, on account of the Machinery and Music. The Music composed by Dr Boyce. The Songs will be printed, and deliver'd at the doors. Receipts: #200 (Cross)

Event Comment: Full Prices. There will not be room behind the Scenes for more than the persons acting in the coronation, [Others] cannot possibly be admitted. The coronation of their Majesties was followed by a stage representation of it at both houses...Garrick knew that Rich would spare no expense in the presentation of his show; he knew too that he had a taste in the ordering, dressing, and setting out these pompous processions, superior to his own; he therefore was contented with the old dresses which had been occasionally used from 1721-1761. This show he repeated for near forty nights successively, sometimes at the end of a play, and at other times after a farce. The exhibition was the meanest, and the most unworthy of a theatre, I ever saw. The stage was...opened into Drury Lane; and a new and unexpected sight surprised the audience, of a real bonfire, and the populace huzzaing and drinking porter to the health of Queen Anne Bullen. The Stage in the meantime, amidst the parading of Dukes, duchesses, archbishops, peeresses, heralds &c. was covered with a thick fog from the smoke of the fire, which served to hide the tawdry dresses of the processionalists. During this idle piece of mockery, the actors, being exposed to the suffocations of smoke, and the raw air from the open street, were seized with colds, rheumatisms, and swelled faces. At length the indignation of the audience delivered the comedians from this wretched badge of nightly slavery, which gained nothing to the managers but disgrace and empty benches. Tired with the repeated insult of a show which had nothing to support it but gilt copper and old rags, they fairly drove the exhibitors of it from the stage by hooting and hissing, to the great joy of the whole theatre....Rich...fully satisfied [the publick's] warmest imaginations (Davies, Life of Garrick, I, 365 ff.)