Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Mrs Moss, who performed Peggy in February and October 1776. [Author of Prologue unknown.

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Farrell. Public Advertiser, 9 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Farrell, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #266 3s. 6d. (135.1.6; tickets: 131.2.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wrighten. Public Advertiser, 9 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Wrighten, No. 56, Drury-Lane. Receipts: #273 11s. 6d. (64.13.0; 7.9.6; 1.1.0; tickets: 200.8.0) (charge: #68 18s. 6d.)

Event Comment: [The playbill retains Mrs Hartley as Imoinda, but she "being taken suddenly ill, Mrs Jackson, though at a very short notice, will appear in the character of Imoinda this Evening" (printed slip attached to BM playbill).] Afterpiece: With Alterations and Additions [P 3. This was originally entitled The Mirror; it is billed, correctly, as the 16th time. Synopsis of this alteration in London Chronicle, 28 Dec.]. Receipts: #191 3s. (188.8; 2.15)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. [In mainpiece the playbill does not list the Child; for the assignment see Morning Post, 10 Oct., and edition of 1787 (Rachael Randall).] "[Mrs Siddons's] merit in the character was infinite, and the applause she received unbounded. In various of her scenes the plaudits were repeated . . . During the fourth and fifth acts there was almost an incessant clapping, and when Isabella expired her death was rendered glorious by the theatre's resounding with thundering applause for more than a minute" (Morning Chronicle, 11 Oct.). "L'actrice la plus noble dans ses manieres, madame Siddons, ne perd rien de sa dignite quand elle se prosterne contre terre . . . Enfin, il arriva ce moment terrible ou Isabelle, s'etant echappee des mains des femmes qui veulent l'empechcr de se tuer, rit, en se donnant un coup de poignard, de l'inutilite de leurs efforts. Ce rire du desespoir est l'effet le plus difficile et le plus remarquable que le jeu dramatique puisse produire; il emeut bien plus que les larmes: cette amere ironie du malheur est son expression la plus dechirante. Qu'elle est terrible la souffrance du coeur, quand elle inspire une si barbare joie, quand elle donne, a l'aspect de son propre sang, le contentement feroce d'un sauvage ennemi qui se serait venge!" (Mme de Stael: Corinne, livre XVII, chapitre iv). Receipts: #181 11s. (147/0; 34/6; 0/5)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Martyr. Receipts: #202 0s. 6d. (60/16/6; tickets: 141/4/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wells [whose 1st appearance in tragedy was at this theatre, 30 Apr. 1783]. Public Advertiser, 29 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Wells, No. 5, York-street, Covent-garden. Receipts: #143 17s. (33/4/0; 24/0/6; 0/10/6; tickets: 86/2/0) (charge: #114 8s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Never acted here. Benefit for Mrs Wells [whose 1st appearance in tragedy was as Jane Shore at DL, 30 Apr. 1783; her 2nd was as Isabella at DL, 30 Apr. 1784, on which night she spoke the Address noted above]

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Part of the Pit [6 rows (Public Advertiser, 6 Mar.)] will be laid into the Boxes. To prevent Confusion Ladies are desired to send their Servants by half past Four o'clock. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Orestes to Smith, but he "was indisposed . . . Throughout the whole [of his part] Kemble's skill was apparent. In the last scene he displayed as fine a picture of horror as was ever given from the stage" (Morning Chronicle, 6 Mar.).] Morning Herald, 24 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. Receipts: #293 11s. (122/17/0; 10/1/6; 1/2/6; tickets: 159/10/0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Pope. [Author of Epilogue unknown.] Public Advertiser, 25 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Pope at her house, Half-moon-street, Piccadilly. Receipts: #312 12s. 6d. (216.12.6; 9.8.0; tickets: 86.12.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mr and Mrs Bernard. 2nd piece [1st time in London; M. INT 2, by John Bernard, 1st acted at Bath, 18 Apr. 1786. Music by William Boyton. Larpent MS 732; not published]: By Permission of the Bath Managers [William Keasberry and William Wyatt Dimond]. Receipts: #189 15s. (76.9; 1.16; tickets: 111.10)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wilson and Williames [who is named in the Account-Book, but not on the playbill]. [The monologue refers to a criminal, Rynwick Williams, popularly known as "The Monster," who with a knife had recently attacked many women on the streets of London (see An Authentic Account of the Barbarities..(S. Bladon, 1790); World, 5 May, et seq.).] Gazetteer, 1 and 6 May : Tickets to be had of Williames and Mrs Wilson, No. 19, Great Piazza, Covent-garden. Receipts: #225 5s. (40.13; 21.14; 2.16; tickets: 160.2) (charge: #108 2s. 3d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Fawcett and Mrs Hedges. Receipts: #195 15s. (20.16; 12.2; 1.4; tickets: 161.13) (charge: #109 15s. 4d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. A new and accurate Edition of the Tragedy to be had at the Theatre. "[Mrs Siddons's] eyes possess a peculiar brilliancy and animation...Her voice is sonorous and variable" (Candid Strictures, 33). Receipts: #311 13s. (296.3; 13.0; 2.10)

Event Comment: "When [Mrs Siddons's] approach was known from the words of the play, and almost before she was within view of the audience, the applause commenced on all sides, and continued for some minutes" (London Chronicle, 23 Jan.). "The same bold, nervous articulation, with the same violent bursts of passion--bursts that confound criticism, though they harrow up the soul...There is a dignified deportment even in her shocks of surprise--her starts of horror--her agonies of death. She never descends to a superfluous motion" (Morning Chronicle, 23 Jan.). Receipts: #432 8s. 6d. (393.12.6; 35.8.0; 3.8.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Goodall. [In mainpiece the playbill retains King as Trappanti, but "King being indisposed, Trappanti...was represented by Benson" (unidentified clipping on playbill of 27 Apr., BM: Harris, Vol. III).] Morning Herald, 9 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Goodall, No. 13, Great Russell-street, Covent-garden. Receipts: #364 8s. 6d. (125.13.6; 36.15.0; 4.7.0; tickets: 197.13.0) (charge: #157 11s. 2d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. A new and accurate Edition of the Tragedy to be had at the Theatre. "[Mrs Siddons's] eyes possess a peculiar brilliancy and animation...Her voice is sonorous and variable" (Candid Strictures, 33). Receipts: #311 13s. (296.3; 13.0; 2.10)

Event Comment: On account of the Indisposition of Parsons, HEIGHO FOR A HUSBAND! [advertised on playbill of 6 Jan.] is obliged to be postponed till Saturday next. [In 1st piece the playbill retains Mrs Bland, but she "being indisposed her part in The Mariners was given to Miss De Camp" (Thespian Magazine, Jan. 1794, p. 30). It is not stated who took Miss De Camp's place.]

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. 2nd piece: Not acted these 10 years [acted 25 Apr. 1788]. 3rd piece [1st time; M 1, altered by John Gretton from his Ode performed at the Pantheon, 4 May. Larpent MS 1087; text printed in Morning Chronicle, 2 May 1795, with parts as above]: The Words by John Gretton, Esq. The Music by Spofforth; the Dances by Byrn. Books containing the Words of the Masque will be delivered gratis at the different Doors. Morning Herald, 5 June: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 13, King-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #204 5s. (72.17; 7.15; tickets: 123.13)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Gibbs. Afterpiece: Not acted these 6 years

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Mrs Wilson, widow of Richard Wilson, lately of the Theatre-Royal, Covent-Garden and Haymarket [whose 1st appearance on the stage was at Manchester, 26 Feb. 1796]. Tickets to be had of Mrs Wilson, No. 239, Piccadilly, near the Haymarket

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: Mainpiece: In I a Grand Masqueradev. [For Mrs Higginson see 11 Nov.] Receipts: #293 9s. (287.6; 6.3)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Atkins, 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1]: To conclude with the Storming the City of Acre, as 7 May. Morning Chronicle, 19 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Atkins, No. 31, Bow-street, opposite the Box Door. Receipts: #236 13s. 6d. (94.17.0; 11.17.0; tickets: 129.19.6)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. lists at Harvard. See VanLennep, "Plays on the English Stage", p. 15. The play was not printed, and the only source of information concerning it is in Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, p. 30: The Woman made a Justice: Wrote by Mr Betterton: Mrs Long, Acting the Justice so Charmingly; and the Comedy being perfect and justly Acted, so well pleased the Audience, it continu'd Acting 14 Days together: The Prologue being spoke to it each Day. [It is possible that this date represents the premiere, since Saturday was frequently a day on which plays were first acted, but there is no certainty on this point.