Event Comment: Afterpiece: Written by the Author of The Son-in-Law [John O'Keeffe]. The Overture and New Musick composed by Dr Arnold. "The same person who, in the play, performed the school-fellow of the Nabob with a great deal of nature, and original humour, here acted the part of the school-master; his name is Edwin, and he is, without doubt, one of the best actors of all that I have seen ... [He], in all his comic characters, still preserves something so inexpressibly good tempered in his countenance, that notwithstanding all his burlesques, and even grotesque buffoonery, you cannot but be pleased with him . . . Nothing could equal the tone and countenance of self-satisfaction, with which he answered one who asked him whether he was a scholar? 'Why, I was a master of scholars.' A Mrs Webb represented a cheesmonger, and played the part of a woman of the lower class, so naturally, as I have no where else ever seen equalled. Her huge, fat, and lusty carcase, and the whole of her external appearance seemed quite to be cut out for it" (Carl Philipp Moritz, Travels in England in 1782, London, 1924, pp. 73-74)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Part of the Pit will be laid into Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by Half past Four o'clock. Public Advertiser, 10 Dec: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, No. 149 in the Strand. [The most famous "point" in this play was the parting of Belvidera and Jaffier in Act III, and her words, "Remember twelve!" Boaden, Siddons, 1, 354, refers to Mrs Siddons's "querulous melancholy of tone, partaking of doubt, though still hoping for the best," in uttering these words.] Receipts: #335 5s. (157/15/0; 4/0/6; 0/12/6; tickets: 172/17/0) (charge: free). [Thus, officially, the Account-Book, but Mrs Siddons's total profit, from presents and from additional sums being added by her admirers to the usual price of her tickets, was, according to Public Advertiser, 25 Dec, over #800. This figure is almost certainly an accurate reckoning.]

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Webb. Morning Chronicle, 17 July: Tickets to be had of Mrs Webb, No. 22, corner of Broad Court, Bow-street, Covent Garden. "Old Jack, instead of appearing with all that easy, flowing, negligent facetiousness which the poet has so inimitably pourtrayed, assumed the part of moral solemnity, and every joke was delivered with a sort of sententious dignity that destroyed its natural impression" (General Advertiser, 22 July)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons [whose 1st appearance as Imogen was at Bath, 15 Apr. 1779]. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion, Ladies are desired to send their Servants at half past Four o'Clock. Public Advertiser, 13 Jan.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. "The exact receipts of Mrs Siddons's house on Monday were #332 [actually #335 5s., excluding the 2nd account and after-money], which, with bank notes for side-boxes, and gold tickets through all the boxes, raise the total to about #650 or #700. This benefit is clear of the nightly charges of the house" (Morning Chronicle, 1 Feb.). Receipts. #344 17s. 6d. (161.10.0; 9.11.6; 0.1.0; tickets: 173.15.0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons [whose 1st appearance as Alicia was at York, 26 Apr. 1777]. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion, Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'Clock. Public Advertiser, 27 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street. [In the interim she changed the play. The Announcement of 27 Apr. advertises Romeo and Juliet, by Kemble and Mrs Siddons, in which play she did not appear until May 1789.] Receipts: #337 16s. 6d. (146.1.0; 8.7.6; 0.14.0; tickets: 182.14.0) (charge: #105 16s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Brooks. Public Advertiser, 18 July: Tickets to be had of Mrs Brooks, at Mr Woodmason's, No. 68, Pall-mall

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Bannister. 2nd piece: Never acted here. Public Advertiser, 17 Aug.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Bannister, Frith-street, Soho

Event Comment: [Adams was from the Crow Street Theatre, Dublin; Mrs Henry's 1st appearance on the stage was at cg, 25 Jan. 1788.

Event Comment: The Play and Farce designed for this Evening [The Constant Couple and The Romp, both advertised on playbill of 23 Sept.] are changed on Account of Mrs Jordan's Indisposition. Receipts: #170 4s. (124.19; 44.8; 0.17)

Event Comment: Benefit for Dignum and Mrs Powell. [Afterpiece in place of The Devil to Pay, advertised on playbill of 23 May.] Morning Herald, 23 May: Tickets to be had of Dignum, No. 25, New North-street; of Mrs Powell, No. 22, Henrietta-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #510 1s. (54.13.6; 26.7.6; 3.17.0; tickets: 425.3.0) (charge: #160 5s. 10d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Bellamy

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 16 Years. [See 27 Dec. 1746.] Benefit for Shuter. Receipts: #173 16s. 6d. Tickets #150 13s. (boxes 272; pit 551). Charges: #63 (Account Book), [#325 9s. 6d. marks the largest house in money value this season. Shuter advertised his benefit early, then on 28 March inserted this puff in the Public Advertiser: [Mrs Centlivre's Comedies have a vein of pleasantry in them that will always be relish'd. She knew the Genius of this nation, and she wrote up to the spirit of it; her Bold Stroke for a Wife, was a masterpiece that much increased her reputation: it establish'd that of Kit Bullock, a smart sprightly actor. His performance of Col. Feignwell was greatly applauded. Shuter has judiciously chosen to play to at his own benefit, and everyone that knows his powers, knows he will play it at least with drollery and justice equal to him."

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mattocks. Mainpiece: By Particular Desire. Afterpiece: Never perform'd there. Tickets delivered by Barrington will be taken

Event Comment: Benefit for Smith. Part of Pit laid into Boxes. To prevent confusion Servants are desired to be at the theatre by 4 o'clock. Charges #73 19s. Balance to Smith #62 3s. plus income from tickets #141 9s. (Box 413; Pit 162; Gallery 139). Paid Miss Potts for walking 12 nights in Man and Wife #1 10s. and Mrs Morris for walking 26 nights in Harlequin's Jubilee #3 5s. (Account Book). Receipts: #136 2s. 6d

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 20 years. [See 16 April 1751.] With the Decorations prescribed by Shakespeare. The Characters new Dressed in the Haibts of the Times. [The reviewer for Town and Country Magazine preferred Mrs Hartley's acting in Jane Shore to that in Henry VIII, where she frequently sunk into a whining monotony which from the length of some of the speeches became very disagreeable.' She did, however, he thought, do the last scene well.] Receipts: #223 13s. 6d. (Account Book)

Event Comment: [Henderson's 1st appearance as Richard was at Bath, 20 Oct. 1772. Mrs Massey was from the Norwich theatre.

Event Comment: [For Henderson as King Richard see hay, 7 Aug. 1777.] Afterpiece: The Music composed by Dibdin. With New Scenes and Dresses. Books of the Songs, &c. to be had at the Theatre. [The text erroneously assigns: Gillian-$Mrs Wrighten; Floretta-$Miss Walpole, but see Public Advertiser, 8 Oct., which in a review, gives the correct assignment; see also 6 Oct. 1778.] Receipts: #260 7s. (241.14; 17.17; 0.16)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Ward. [Afterpiece in place of Who's the Dupe?, announced on playbill of 1 May.] Receipts: #165 12s. (48/1; 17/7; 0/13; tickets: 99/11) (charge: #110 12s. 7d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Mainpiece: Not acted these 10 years [on playbill of 23 Apr.]. Part of the Pit will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. [Mrs Siddons's 1st appearance as Sigismunda was at Manchester, 10 Jan. 1778.] Public Advertiser, 20 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, No. 7, Leicester-fields. Receipts: #324 1s. (146/2/0; 8/1/6; 0/2/6; tickets: 169/15/0)(charge: #106 10s. 1d.)

Event Comment: "The great powers of Mrs Jordan cannot be better displayed than in the wonderful contrast of her Country Girl and Viola. In one all archness and vivacity; in the other serious, gentle, tender and sentimental" (Public Advertiser, 16 Nov.). [In afterpiece the playbill retains Parsons as Sir Anthony Halfwit, but on the Kemble playbill his name is deleted and a MS annotation substitutes Wilson's. "Parsons was taken suddenly ill & J. Wilson read his part" (MS annotation on British Museum playbill, in Harris, 11).] Receipts: #108 12s. (79/11/0; 28/13/6; 0/7/6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wilson. Public Advertiser, 1 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Wilson, No. 13, King-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #196 4s. 6d. (30.13.0; 22.10.6; 1.5.0; tickets: 141.16.0) (charge: #106 6s. 11d.)

Event Comment: [Wroughton was from cg. This was his 1st appearance as a regular member of the dl company; he had previously acted at this theatre on one occasion, 1 Apr. 1780. Mrs Taylor was from the York theatre.] "On every first appearance, it falls to a performer to chuse their own parts. They do that part once, and in all probability they never do it again. We fear this will happen to Mrs Taylor. In Elwina there was nothing to recommend [but see 4 Oct., 27 Nov.]" (World, 1 Oct.). Receipts: #189 0s. 6d. (134.4.0; 53.9.0; 1.7.6)

Event Comment: Tickets delivered for this Evening [Account-Book: by Appleby, Bayne, Dale Jun., Daglish, Douglas, Gardiner, Gillis, Kirk, Lyon, Standen, Pilsbury, Mrs Lewis] will be admitted. Receipts: #192 1s. (7.11.0; 2.14.6; 0.15.6; tickets: 181.0.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 20 years [not acted since 2 Nov. 1761]. With new Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. In Act I a Grand Banquetv. In Act II the Trial of Queen Katharinev. In V a Procession to the Christening of Princess Elizabethv. [These were included in all subsequent performances.] Mrs Siddons's Queen Katharine was "too laboured -particularly the Trial Scene, where the words came so slow and measured that they seemed to be distilled" (Public Advertiser, 29 Nov.). Receipts: #260 11s. (248.12; 11.6; 0.13)