Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Mrs Cuyler. [Kean is identified on HAY playbill of 26 Aug. 1784.] 1st and 2nd pieces: Both written by George Colman, Esq. 3rd piece: Written by the late David Garrick. Not acted these 12 years. Tickets to be had of Mrs Cuyler, No. 7, St. Alban's-street; at the bar of George's Coffee-house; and of Rice, at the Theatre, where places for the boxes may be taken. Tickets delivered for the 15th will be admitted

Event Comment: Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. 1st Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Brandon at the Theatre. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30 [see 13 Nov.]. [Macready was from the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin. In mainpiece the playbill assigns Miss Ogle to Mrs T. Kennedy, but on the Kemble playbill her name is deleted, and a MS annotation substitutes Mrs Lewis's.] "The dress worn by Lewis, with small buttons innumerable, that gave it the air of a Hussar's jacket lengthened, was lately a coat won by the Prince of Wales" (Morning Chronicle, 20 Sept.). Receipts: #242 5s. 6d. (239.19.6; 2.6.0)

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Mrs Greville and Mrs Hunter. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30. Tickets delivered for the 7th and by L'Estrange will be taken

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Taylor. Mainpiece: Not acted these 12 years. Public Advertiser, 9 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Taylor, No. 10, Charles-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #173 (50.17; 23.17; 0.10; tickets: 97.16) (charge: #109 11s. 11d.)

Event Comment: Tickets delivered for this Evening [Account-Book: by Brady, Dale, the D'Egvilles, Jones, Lyons, Powell, Sherratt, Smith, Whittow, Mrs Heard, Mrs Haskey, Mrs Mills, Miss Palmer, Mrs Shaw] will be admitted. [Miss Davies's 1st appearance, billed as "A Young Lady," was at the hay, 28 July 1786.] Receipts: #279 12s. 6d. (16.1.0; 10.8.6; 0.6.0; tickets: 252.17.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Lewis. 2nd piece [1st time; C 3, by John O'Keeffe. Not in Larpent MS; not published. This is an unusual instance of the playbill containing, on the 1st night of a new play, the full cast]: Taken from Mrs Centlivre's Gamester. Receipts: #345 13s. (256.2.6; 4.3.6; tickets: 85.7.0)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of The Provok'd Husband, advertised on playbill of 12 Sept. In it the playbill assigns Millamant to Miss Farren, but "Miss Farren ill, Mrs Goodall played Millamant" (Kemble Mem.). Miss Hagley's 1st appearance was at this theatre, 28 May 1789.] Receipts: #112 16s. 6d. (70.15.0; 39.13.6; 2.8.0)

Event Comment: Tickets delivered for this Evening [Account-Book: by Alfred, Benson, Kirk, Maddocks, Walker, Whittow, Whitmell, Mrs Booth, Miss Daniels, Mrs Davies, Mrs Edwin, Mrs Gaudry, Mrs Jones] will be admitted. Receipts: #69 9s. (47.0; 19.12; 2.17; tickets: none listed)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Pope. Mainpiece: Not acted these 20 years [not acted since 12 Mar. 1771]. Afterpiece [1st time; F 2, by Andrew Franklin]. Morning Chronicle, 5 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Pope at her house, Half-Moon-street, Piccadilly. Receipts: #272 14s. (151.14; 5.3; tickets: 115.17) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mattocks. [1st piece: Epilogue by Miles Peter Andrews.] 3rd piece [1st time; F 2, by Eliza Parsons, based on Monsieur de Pourceaugnac, by Moliere]. Morning Herald, 27 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mattocks, No. 8, Great Russel-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #269 11s. 6d. (174.14.0; 4.16.6; tickets: 90.1.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: [In afterpiece the playbill assigns Euphrosyne to Mrs Crouch, but "illness prevented, and Mrs Bland...undertook the part" (Thespian Magazine, Nov. 1792, p. 125). Mrs Crouch is also listed as one of the Bacchants.] Receipts: #225 8s. 6d. (167.5.6; 57.7.0; 0.16.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Arthur Murphy. Prologue by John Philip Kemble (see text). Author of Epilogue unknown; European Magazine, Apr. 1793, p. 306, prints two Epilogues: the one spoken by Mrs Siddons, and the one "as originally written by Thomas? Vaughan"]. Morning Herald, 20 Mar. 1793: This day is published The Rival Sisters (1s. 6d.). Morning Herald, 25 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, No. 49, Great Marlborough-street. Receipts: #451 6s. 6d. (243.1.0; 21.18.0; 1.18.0; tickets: 184.9.6) (charge: #154 9s. 8d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With new Dresses and Decorations. "[Miss Wallis] does not seem to have chosen any particular model to govern her acting, like most of the female candidates of late years, who have generally founded their manner upon the style of Mrs Siddons" (London Chronicle, 9 Oct.). Receipts: #228 1s. 6d. (224.5.0; 3.16.6)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of The Cherokee, advertised on playbill of 24 Feb. In it the playbill retains Mrs Booth as Mrs Over-done, but "Mrs Over-done Mrs Maddocks, Mrs Booth ill" (Powell).] Powell, 25 Feb.: New Comedy, viz. The Wheel of Fortune, rehearsed at 11; Alexander the Great (by order of Mr Sheridan) at 1; 26 Feb.: Wheel of Fortune rehearsed at 12. Receipts: #406 19s. (337.10.6; 63.18.0; 5.10.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Kemble, being the last Time of her Appearing on the Stage. 1st piece [1st time; T 2, by John Philip Kemble, altered from the same by Philip Massinger. Larpent MS 1040: not published]: In Act I the Triumphal Entry of Domitian into the Capitolv. 2nd piece [1st time; C 3, by John Philip Kemble, altered from The Comical Lovers, by John Dryden and Colley Cibber. Larpent MS 1133: not published. Genest, VII, 243: C. Kemble on being asked, in 1821, if the above cast was right, said that he believed it was, but that he was ill and did not act]. [Address by Bertie Greatheed (European Magazine, June 1796, p. 397).] Morning Herald, 10 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Kemble, No. 13, Caroline-street, Bedford-square. Account-Book: Paid H. S. Hargraves, Box No. 95, his Servant being turn'd out by Force, #1 4s. Receipts: #190 9s. 6d. (130.9.0; 59.10.0; 0.10.0; tickets: none listed; odd money: 0.0.6) (charge: #216 17s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Burton, Miss Heard, Miss Tidswell, & Mrs Bramwell. [2nd piece: With alterations by John Philip Kemble.] 3rd piece: Not acted these 6 years. "Of [Wroughton's] comedy something favourably must be said. His personations are usually natural, easy, and spirited; he is perhaps too locomotive: he cannot bear to stand still...To this peculiar bustle of his motion may be attributed much of his success in Sir John Restless [in All in the Wrong]...For the same reason, no man can play Ford with half the effect Wroughton does" (Monthly Mirror, Mar. 1796, p. 304). Morning Herald, 30 May: Tickets to be had of Miss Heard, No. 43, Haymarket [others not listed]. Receipts: #337 6s. 6d. (30.13.0; 40.16.6; 3.4.6; tickets: 260.10.0; odd money: 2.2.6) (charge: #202 11s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mountain. 2nd piece [1st time: CO 2, by James Hook Jun. Larpent MS 1172; not published]: With appropriate Scenery, Dresses, and Decorations. The Overture and Music by James Hook? Sen.. True Briton, 16 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mountain, No. 28, Maiden-lane, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #287 3s. (86.4.6; 14.6.0; tickets: 186.12.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mr and Mrs Follett. [Egerton was from the hay (see 23 Jan.).] 2nd piece: In one Act. 3rd piece: Two new Scenes, as 17 Apr.; Procession, as 26 May. Morning Herald. 5 June: Tickets to be had of Follett, No. 46, Drury-lane. Receipts: #360 18s. (116.13.6; 3.11.0; tickets: 240.13.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Abington. 1st piece: By Permission of the Author. 2nd piece [1st time; C 1, attributed to Frances Abington. Larpent MS 1209; not published]: From La? Somnambule; or, Sleep Walker [by Antoine deFeriol, comte de Pont-de-Veyle]. Receipts: #303 12s. (176.1.6; 4.1.0; tickets: 123.9.6)

Event Comment: By Desire of his Excellency the Turkish Ambassador [see 9 May]. Benefit for Mrs Mountain. 1st piece: In Act II a Grand Procession representing the ceremonies attending the Sacrifice of an Indian Woman on the Funeral Pile of her deceased Husband. 2nd piece [1st time; CO 2, by Henry Heartwell]: The Overture and Music composed by Attwood. Monologue: The whole of the apparatus painted and designed by Cresswell. Morning Herald, 8 Oct. 1798: This Day is published Reformed in Time (1s.). Ibid, 16 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mountain, No. 28, Maiden-lane, Covent-garden. Receipts: #370 18s. (90.17; 4.3; tickets: 275.18)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill retains Mrs Pope, but she "was suddenly taken ill on Monday evening, in consequence of which the part of that interesting and favourite actress, in Reynolds's new comedy, was undertaken at a few minutes notice by Mrs Litchfield" (Morning Herald, 19 Dec.).] Receipts: #274 10s. 6d. (265.5.0; 9.5.6)

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 359. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 346. There is no certainty that this performance is the premiere, but as the play was licensed for printing on 9 Jan. 1676@7, this performance may well be the first one. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, pp.9-10) lists the same cast except for the ommission of Letice. It is not certain which Mrs Knight played Letice. Possibly it was Frances Maria Knight (see Wilson, All the King's Ladies, where she is tentatively listed for that role), but the presence of Mrs Ursula Knight on an undated L. C. list, 3@24, with the date of her swearing into the company given as 12 March 1676@7, it is quite likely that she played this role. (I owe this reference to Ursula Knight to Professor John Harold Wilson.) John Dennis: And when upon the first representations of the Plain Dealer, the Town, as The Authour has often told me, appeard Doubtful what Judgment to Form of it; the foremention'd gentlemen [The Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Rochester, Earl of Dorset, Earl of Mulgrave, Savil, Buckly, Sir John Denham, Waller] by their loud aprobation of it, gave it both a sudden and a lasting reputation (Defense and Defects of Dramatick Poetry, 1725, in The Works of John Dennis, ed. Hooker, II, 277)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@145, p. 120. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 349. There is no certainty that this is the first performance, but a licensing date of 28 Jan. 1677@8 and Mrs Behn's statement in the Preface that she hurried the play into print suggest a premiere not far from this date. Edition of 1678: To the Reader: I Printed this Play with all the impatient haste one ought to do, who would be vindicated from the most unjust and silly aspersion, Woman could invent to cast on Woman; and which only my being a Woman has procured me, That it was Bawdy, the least and most Excusable fault in the Men Writers, to whose Plays they all crowd, as if they came to no other end then to hear what they condemn in this: but from a Woman it was unnaturall. One song, Sitting by yonder river side, with music by Thomas? Farmer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Second Book, 1679

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, but as the play was licensed for printing on 27 March 1679, the premiere must have been no later than March 1679. It is possible that Midnight's Intrigue--see introductory note to the 1676-77 season-is an earlier version of this play. The Epilogue suggests that the players faced thin audiences during the spring and that Drury Lane had been closed for some time: So hard the Times are, and so thin the Town, @Though but one Playhouse, that must too lie down. It is possible that Mrs Behn's The Young King may have been acted at this time. See September 1679

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the premiere is not known. Pepys saw it on 6 March 1679@80, calling it a "New Play," and that may have been the first day. The Prologue alludes also to the Duke of York's triumphant return from Scotland on 24 Feb. 1679@80, and the play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1680. For Mrs Bracegirdle as the "little Girl," see Edmund Curll, History of the English Stage (1741), p. 26, and Lucyle Hook, Anne Bracegirdle's First Appearance, Theatre Notebook, XIII (1959), 134. For Betterton as Castalio and Mrs Barry as Monimia, probably as they performed in the next decade, see Cibber, Apology, ed. Lowe, I, 116, 160. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 37) gives the same cast except for omissions and except for Serina-Mrs Barry">Mrs Mountfort, who acted it later. Downes (pp. 37-38) adds: [Monimia, Belvidera in Venice Preserved, and Isabella in The Fatal Marriage] These three Parts, gain'd her the Name of Famous $Mrs Barry, both at court and City; for when ever She Acted any of these three Parts, she forc'd Tears from the Eyes of her Auditory, especially those who have any Sense of Pity for the Distress't. These 3 Plays, by their Excellent Performances, took above all the Modern Plays that succeeded. A song for this play, Come all the youths whose hearts have bled, the music by Forcer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book, 1681