Event Comment: ctually no play. Death of George II closed theatres three weeks.] Mainpiece: Not acted in 2 years. [See 28 April 1759. There was no income this night, but the play list had to be met. The house carried a profitable balance of #318 16s. 5d. The payroll plus other expenses came to #284 12s. 9d., leaving a thin balance of #34 3s. 8d. (Account Book). Other bills included #14 17s. to Luppino for making dancing dresses; Robertson 10s. for attendance four nights in The Rape; Miss Ibbott #5 5s. for performing the part of Queen Elizabeth in the Earl of Essex; Marenesi and wife advanced weekly #2 2s. till the Theatre opened again (Account Book)

Event Comment: Benefit for Baddeley. Miss Sherry made her first appearance upon this Stage in Lady Macbeth, a Sensible Speaker pretty good voice Short Clumsy Figure met with Applause--The Farce very well receiv'd (Hopkins Diary). Afterpiece: A Farce by George Downing. Paid 6 day's salary at #82 19s. 9d., #497 18s. 6d.; Mrs Abington on Cloaths acct, #2; Mr S. French 6 days #1 10s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #135 1s. 6d. Charges: #68 12s. Profits to Baddeley: #66 9s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by John O'Keeffe, based on Le Rival Suppose, by Germain Francois Poulain de Saint-Foix. It was written in honor of the 21st birthday, 12 Aug., of the Prince of Wales. Prologue by George Colman, the elder (Colman, Prose, m, 248)]: The Overture by Dr Arnold. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Public Advertiser, 2 Oct. 1783: This Day is published The Birth Day (1s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Jones. Tickets to be had of Jones at the White Horse, Parson's Green; at the King's Arms, Fulham; Ship, Fulham; and the George, Walham Green. Afterpiece: It is hoped that the greatest Attention will be paid, as it is impossible for the Company to cogitate throughtout the Cogibundity of Cogitations, unless the most profound Profundity of Thought is observed. Pit 2s. Gallery 1s. Good Fires in the Pit

Event Comment: [Afterpiece by George Farquhar. Advertised as "the last new Farce," it probably had its premiere in Jan.

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Written by George Duke of Buckingham. Admission: 5s., 3s., 2s., 1s. 6 p.m. Receipts: #89 11s. (Account Book); #100 (Rylands MS.)

Event Comment: Benefit Berkley, Bride, Pritchard, Saunders, and Keisher. Tickets for Lawley, Lathbury, George will be taken

Event Comment: Afterpiec : A New Burletta [by George Colman]. The Characters New Dress'd. The Music entirely New composed by Mr Arnold. Books of the Burletta to be had at the Theatre. [Books sold at each subsequent performance this season. See Town and Country Magazine (from Theatre No. XII, p. 593) for comment on the afterpiece.

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P I, by George Colman, the elder. His authorship has hitherto been questioned, but for its authentication see Peake, II, 54. Larpent MS 532; not published]: An Original, Whimsical, Operatical, Pantomimical, Farcical, Electrical, Naval, Military, Temporary, Local Extravaganza.The Overture and new Musick by Dr Arnold. With new Scenes [by Canter (Public Advertiser, 5 Sept.)], Dresses and Decorations. The Views of the Temple of Health and the Camp in St. James's Park designed and executed by Rooker. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre

Event Comment: Afterpiece: An Original, Whimsical, Operatical, Pantomimical, Farcical, Electrical, Naval, Military, Temporary, Local Extravaganza. 12th time [i.e. in continuation of the reckoning for the previous season]. The views of the Temple of Health, and the Camp in St. James's Park designed and executed by Rooker. [Prologue by George Colman elder (Colman, Prose, III, 229). Miss Lyon is identified in playbill of 11 June. Delpini was from dl.] The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin at 7:00 [same throughout season]. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Rice at the Theatre

Event Comment: Benefit for Palmer. Mainpiece [1st time; C 3, by George Colman, the elder, altered from The Mutual Deception, by Joseph Atkinson, which was based on Le Jeu de l'Amour et du Hasard, by Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, and 1st acted at the Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin, 2 Mar. 1785. Prologue by the author (.European Magazine, Sept. 1786, p. 166). Author of Epilogue unknown]. Afterpiece: Never acted at this Theatre. [Prologue and Epilogue by David Garrick.] "This play, originally French, was translated by an Officer (the plot of which may be found in The Man's the Master, as well as in many other English plays and farces) who, with some few additions, changed it into five acts, and called it The Mutual Deception (which is now in print), but was represented in Ireland with little or no success. This Comedy, however, has undergone many very masterly alterations, and received many additions by the able hand of the attentive Manager of this Theatre" (Public Advertiser, 30 Aug.). Public Advertiser, 6 May 1788: To be published May 7, Tit for Tat (1s.)

Event Comment: 3rd piece [1st time; F 2, author unknown, based on Der Postzug; oder, Die nobeln Passionen, by Cornelius Hermann von Ayrenhoff. Larpent MS 834; not published. Prologue by George Colman elder (Public Advertiser, 19 June)]

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: By Permission of the Proprietor of the Theatre Royal Haymarket. [Epilogue by George Colman, ynger.] Receipts: #138 0s. 6d. (134.10.6; 3.10.0)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MD 2, by George Colman, ynger, based on Raoul Barbe Bleue, by Michel Jean Sedaine (although, in the 1st edition of the play, this denied by Colman). Text (Cadell and Davies, 1798)]: The Scenery, Machinery, Dresses, and Decorations entirely new. The Musick composed and selected [from Paisiello] by Kelly. The Scenes designed and executed by Greenwood? Jun, Chalmers, and others. The Machinery, Decorations, and Dresses designed and under the direction of Johnston, and executed by him, Underwood, Gay, and Miss Rein. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Times, 8 Feb. 1798: This Day is published Blue Beard (1s. 6d.). "In the course of the representation, many blunders in working the scenery, which are unavoidable in a first representation of this nature, occurred, and the delays which took place were frequently very great...It was twelve o'-clock before the curtain dropped...The Expense of getting it up is said to be not less than #2,000" (London Chronicle, 18 Jan.). Proud swells the tide, with loads of capering heels, And vacant Folly shouts applause in peals; Hoards, even beyond th miser's wish, are thrown, To deck some sham farago for the town...Money for dresses, money for new scenes, New music, decorations, and machines; The cost of these, including every freak, Would pay ten decent players four pounds a week. Anthony Pasquin (pseud. for John Williams), "Innovation," in The Devil [1787], II, no. 2, 46. Receipts: #319 14s. 6d. (216.17.6; 102.2.0; 0.15.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Fawcett. 3rd piece [1st time; F 1, by George Colman, ynger, based on L'Anglais; ou, Le Fou Raisonnable, by Joseph Patrat]. Times, 6 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Fawcett, No. 41, Frith-street, Soho, and at Brook-Green, Hammersmith. Receipts: #501 18s. (226.13.0; 3.0.6; tickets: 272.4.6)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece: Epilogue by George Colman, ynger.

Event Comment: [Mainpiece: Epilogue by George Colman, ynger.

Event Comment: 3rd piece [1st time; CO 2, by Henry Heartwell and George Colman, ynger, based on Le Prisonner; or, La Ressemblance, by Alexandre Vincent Pineu Duval]: With new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. The Musick composed and selected by Attwood. Books of the Songs, &c. to be had at the Theatre. Morning Chronicle, 9 Aug. 1799: This day is published The Castle of Sorrento (1s.)

Event Comment: [Emery was from cg. Mainpiece: Epilogue by the younger George Colman.] Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. 1st Gallery 2s. 2nd Gallery 1s. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin precisely at 7:00 [same throughout season]. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Rice, at the Theatre. Printed by T. Woodfall, No. 1, Cross Court, Russel Court, Drury Lane

Event Comment: Not Acted these Twelve Years. Written by the late Mr George Farquer

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Written by George Duke of Buckingham. Receipts: #75 9s. 6d. (Account Book); #60 (Rylands MS.)