Event Comment: Benefit for Carlton Jr, Berrisford and Kaygill. Tickets delivered by Burroughs, The Widow Veal, and for King Richard III, will be taken. Receipts: #211 16s. Charges: #84. Profits to beneficiaries: #127 16s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Afterpiece: A New Pantomime Entertainment, never performed. With New Music, Scenes, Dresses, and Machinery. The Overture composed by Fisher. The scenes painted by Messrs Dahl and Richards. Nothing under FULL PRICE will be taken. The Words of the songs to be given at the Doors. [This information included in all subsequent bills for the pantomime this season, until 25 March when the half-price practice is announced. Full account of the content of the afterpiece is given in The Westminster Magazine for Dec. The reviewer was delighted with the adherence to the classical myth in the first and last scenes, and with the variety of action and excellence of the machinery and painting in the interventing comic portion.

Event Comment: House (Hopkins Diary). Afterpiece: For the last time this season. [Public Advertiser, 20 April: The following Accident happened at Drury Lane on Thursday in the Entertainment of the Jubilee. As Mr Hurst and Mr Palmer were representing the characters of Posthumus and Iachimo in the Fighting Scene where they were engag'd with extreme violence, the former narrowly escaped losing his eye from a severe wound in the temple."] Paid Richard Barnard for detecting a pickpocket 10s. 3 extra trumpets #1 2s. 6d. Receipts: #121 5s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With a New Scene and New Dresses. Afterpiece [1st time; CO 2, by Charles Dibdin and Edward Thompson. Thompson's name does not appear on the title-page of the text; it has been added by J. P. Kemble on the half-title of his copy now in the Huntington Library]: The Music chiefly composed by Dibdin [Public Advertiser, 15 Nov.: Three of the airs and the finale were composed by Samuel Arnold; one air by John Abraham Fisher]. With New Scenes [ibid: by Dall, Richards, and Carver], Dresses and Decorations. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Account-Book, 7 Feb. 1777: Paid Dibdin in full for copyright of the Seraglio #20; ibid, 2 June 1777: Received of Cooper for Songs & Books sold of The Seraglio #19 10s. 9d. [Mrs Ward was from the Birmingham theatre]. Receipts: #221 11s. 6d. (219.7.0; 2.4.6)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2 (?), author unknown]: An Alteration of Prometheus. The Overture and Music composed by Fisher. The Scenes painted by Dall and Richards. Books of the Songs, Masque, &c. to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #208 3s. 6d. (205.14.6; 2.9.0)

Event Comment: [Extra night] By Permission [of the Lord Chamberlain]. Benefit for Mrs Jewell. The Out-standing Tickets of Mr Jewell [from his benefit on 3 Sept.], and those issued for King Richard III will be admitted

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by William Shirley. Not in Larpent MS; not published; synopsis of plot in London Chronicle, 19 Dec. Prologue by the author (London Chronicle, 23 Dec.). Epilogue by Richard Cumberland (Collection...of English Prologues and Epilogues, IV, 194]: With New Scenes and Dresses. "I have been at another new play, The Roman Sacrifice. It is the old story of Junius Brutus, without a tolerable line. I went to see it, as I had never seen Henderson, and thought I could Judge him better in a new part; but either the part was so bad, or he wants to copy, that I should not have found out he was at all superior to all other actors" (Walpole [23 Dec. 1777], X 170). Receipts: #2223s. 6d. (207.8.0; 13.13.6; 1.2.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 7 years [acted 16 May 1772]. [Epilogue by Richard Cumberland.] Afterpiece: Never acted here. Receipts: #165 6s. (161.12.6; 3.13.6)

Event Comment: 1st piece [1st time; CO I, by Charles Dibdin, based on Rose et Colas, by Michel Jean Sedaine]. 3rd piece [1st time; CO I, by Charles Dibdin, based on Les Femmes Vengees, by Michel Jean Sedaine]: With new Scenery [Public Advertiser, 19 Sept.: by Richards] and Decorations. Both the Musical Pieces, with new Overtures, composed by Dibdin. Books of the new Musical Pieces to be had at the Theatre. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Brandon (only) at the Stage Door. No Money to be taken at the Stage Door, nor any Money to be returned after the Curtain is drawn up. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. 1st Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. The Doors to be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15 [see 21 Sept.]. Public Advertiser, 18 Sept.: This Afternoon at Three will be published Rose and Colin and The Wives Revenged (each 6d.). "At this season of the year the little company upon the Ton, who are in town, seldom rise from the table till after the beginning of the play; in order, therefore, to obviate the disturbance that the fracas in the boxes usually makes towards the close of the first act, or the beginning of the second, this comic opera [Rose and Colin] was prefaced. It at the same time affords these late comers an opportunity of seeing the play [i.e. the mainpiece] complete" (Town and Country Magazine, Sept. 1778, p.453)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of King Richard the Third, announced on playbill of 2 Jan.] Receipts: #148 13s. (119.12.0; 28.18.6; 0.2.6)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 3 (and see 18 Jan.), by Charles Dibdin, with one scene by Hannah Cowley. Synopsis of action in Public Advertiser, 5 Jan.]: A Speaking Pantomime, in 3 parts. With new overture, airs, duets, chorus, &c. With new Dresses, Scenes [by Richards, Carver, Garvey and Hodgins (Public Advertiser, 2 Jan.)], Machinery and Decorations. The Music entirely new, composed by Dibdin. Nothing under Full Price will be taken. Public Advertiser, 4 Jan. 1779: This Afternoon at Four will be published the Songs in The Touchstone (6d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With alterations by the author [William Mason]. The Overture and all the new Music composed by Giardini.[On playbill of 27 Feb.: With a New Scene painted by Richards.] Public Advertiser, 23 Feb. 1779: This Day at Noon is published Elfrida (price not listed). [Afterpiece: Prologue by the author (New Spouter's Companion, c. 1798, p. 59).

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With a New Scene painted by Richards. Afterpiece: With a New Scene painted by Carver

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 3, by Richard Paul Jodrell. Prologue by Edward Topham (see text)]

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Never acted here; written by Massinger [with alterations by Richard Cumberland. Author of Prologue unknown]. With New Dresses and Decorations. Receipts: #195 1s. 6d. (193.3.6; 1.18.0)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2, by Charles Dibdin. After being altered and enlarged this was billed as Harlequin Every-where (see 27 Dec.)]: With entire new Music; new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. The Music composed by Dibdin; the Scenes designed and executed by Richards, Carver, Hodgins, Cipriani. Nothing under Full Price will be taken. The Orphan [announced on playbill of 29 Nov.] is deferred on account of Mrs Hartley's Indisposition. Account-Book, 13 Nov.: Paid Hodgins, painter, 14 weeks salary #36 15s. Public Advertiser, 1 Dec. 1779: This Afternoon is bublishpublished The Mirror (1s.). Receipts: #180 18s. (168.1; 12.17)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 5, by Richard Cumberland. Larpent MS 508, which also lists the following parts: Marsyas, Gumias, Chloris. Text not published; synopsis of plot in London Chronicle, 2 Feb. Songs published, without listings parts (G. Kearsley, 1780)]: With new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. The Songs set to music and a new Overture by Butler. Book of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Public Advertiser, 1 Feb. 1780: This Afternoon is published the Songs in The Widow of Delphi (6d.). Receipts: #228 4s. 6d. (227.4.6; 1.0.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Wilson. 1st piece [1st time; PREL I, probably by Richard Wilson, altered from Illumination, by Frederick Pilin. Author of Epilogue unknown]. 2nd piece: Not acted these 28 years [acted 9 May 1763]. 3rd piece [1st time; F 2, by Henry Man. Text 1st published in his Miscellaneous Works, 1802, Vol. II, which does not assign the parts, and also lists Mr Carlton, Ralph, Butler. Prologue by the author (London Chronicle, 3 May)]. Public Advertiser, 15 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Wilson, at Stars Acres, upper end of Bow Street. Receipts: #277 19s. 6d. (13.4.6; tickets: 140.15.0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of Fatal Falshood, announced on playbill of 24 Apr.,] Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by Frederick Pilon]: The new Songs and Overture composed by Shield. The new Scenes by Richards and Carver. With a view of the English and Spanish Fleets entering the Bay. [This notice is included in all subsequent playbills.] Public Advertiser, 25 Apr. 1780: This afternon is published the Songs in The Siege Of Gibraltar (6d.). Ibid, 3 May 1780: This morning is published The Siege Of Gibraltar (1s.). Receipts: #168 5s. (166.4; 2.1)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2 (?), by Charles Dibdin and James Messink; synopsis of plot in London Chronicle, 30 Dec.]: To conclude with a Procession of the principal Grand Masters, from the Creation to the present Century, dressed in the Habits of their respective Ages and Countries. With new Music [by Charles Dibdin], Scenes, Dresses, Pageants, and Decorations. The paintings executed by Richards, Carver, Hodgins, and assistants. Books of the Songs, with an Explanation of the Pageants, to be had at the Theatre. Nothing under full Price will be taken. "To give magnificence a meaning, and unite antiquarian knowledge with polite entertainment, was a task hitherto unattempted by the contrivers of our Pantomime exhibitions. Such praise, however, the acting manager of Covent Garden theatre may justly claim, on the score of Harlequin Free-Mason, which is now representing before greater crowds than perhaps were ever attracted by Perseus and Andromeda [in 1730], the Rape of Proserpine [in 1727], or the celebrated Sorcerer [i.e. The Magician, in 1721]. The beauty of the first scene, in which a setting sun is admirably contrived, the Dutch winter piece, with numberless skate[r]s moving in the most natural attitudes, and, above all, the imperfect building, finished in a moment at the command of Harlequin, can be exceeded only by the pomp of the historic procession which closes the whole, and offers the richest and most intelligent spectacle that ever yet appeared on an English stage" (Gentleman's Magazine, Feb. 1781, pp. 58-59, which also prints a detailed description of the pageant). Account-Book, 1 Feb.: Paid Dibdin for music of Harlequin Free-Mason #70. Receipts: #236 2s. (230.3; 5.19)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Hannah Cowley. Larpent MS 548; not published. On 24 Mar. altered by the author as Second Thoughts are Best. Prologue by Richard Josceline Goodenough (Public Advertiser, 8 Mar.). Author of Epilogue unknown]: With New Scenes and Dresses. Receipts: #226 15s. 6d. (224.3.0; 2.12.6)

Event Comment: Afterpiece: To conclude with a Procession of the principal Grand Masters, from the Creation to the present Century, dressed in the Habits of their respective Ages and Countries. With new Music [by Charles Dibdin], Scenes, Dresses, Pageants, and Decorations. The Paintings by Richards, Carver, Hodgins. The Pantomime by Messink. Books of the Songs, with an Explanation of the Pageants, to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #224 0s. 6d. (223/5/6; 0/15/0)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; past 2, by Richard Tickell]: Altered from [the same, by] Allan Ramsay. [MS not in Larpent; not published.] With the original Airs, new Accompaniments, and a new Overture [by Thomas Linley, Sen.]. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "The above Opera, written by Allen Ramsay, has been long and justly admired, but by those only whose knowledge of the Scottish dialect has enabled them to judge of its excellencies. That an English audience might become partakers of this entertainment seems to have been the laudable design of the Dramatist, Mr Tickel, in now divesting it of its numerous provincialities, grown almost obsolete, even in Scotland, at this distant period . . . The characters were drest with a rustic simplicity, which, tho' not exactly characteristic of the Highland manner, were perfectly Pastoral" (Universal Magazine, Nov. 1781, p. 237). Receipts: #202 9s. 6d. (167/18/0; 33/3/0; 1/8/6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Robert Jephson. Prologue by the author (Gentleman's Magazine, Jan, 1782, p. 36). Another Prologue, by the Right Hon. Luke Gardiner, "not arriving in London time enough for the first exhibition of the Count of Narbonne, was not spoken" (ibid.). Epilogue by Richard Josceline Goodenough, but beginning with 20 Nov. it was superseded by a new Epilogue written by Edmond Malone (see text)]: With new Scenery and Dresses. Public Advertiser, 1 Nov.: The Management of The Count of Narbonne is . . . under very good Care: Mr Horace Walpole, with a Fondness nothing less than fatherly, directs that part of the Affair which respects the Scenes and Dresses, while Henderson takes Charge of the Rehearsals and the casting of inferior Parts... [Henderson] is to wear a Dress which is lent him from among the Antiquities at Strawberry Hill. "I have been at the theatre, and compromised the affair of the epilogues: one is to be spoken to-morrow, the friend's on the author's night. I have been tumbling into trap-doors, seeing dresses tried on in the green-room, and directing armour in the painting-room" (Walpole [16 Nov. 1781], XII, 95). "I never saw a more unprejudiced audience, nor more attention. There was not the slightest symptom of disapprobation to any part ... It is impossible to say how much justice Miss Younge did to your writing. She has shown herself a great mistress of her profession, mistress of dignity, passion, and of all the sentiments you have put into her hands. The applause given to her description of Raymond's death lasted some minutes, and recommenced; and her scene in the fourth act, after the Count's ill-usage, was played in the highest perfection. Mr Henderson was far better than I excepted from his weakness, and from his rehearsal yesterday, with which he was much discontented himself. Mr Wroughton was very animated, and played the part of the Count much better than any man now on the stage would have done. I wish I could say Mr Lewis satisfied me; and that poor child Miss Satchell was very inferior to what she appeared at the rehearsals, where the total silence and our nearness deceived us. Her voice has no strength, nor is she yet at all mistress of the stage. I have begged Miss Younge to try what she can do with her by Monday. However, there is no danger to your play: it is fully established" (Walpole [to the author, 18 Nov. 1781], XII, 95-96). Public Advertiser, 28 Nov. 1781: This Day is published The Count of Narbonne (price not listed). Receipts: #164 10s. 6d. (163/0/6; 1/10/0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by John O'Keeffe; MS: Larpent 577; not published. The following season this was altered, and acted successfully as The Castle of Andalusia]: With new Scenes, Dresses and Decorations. A new Overture, and the whole of the Music under the Direction of Dr Arnold. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Public Advertiser, 29 Nov.: The admirable first scene, the subterraneous Receptacle of the Banditti, is the production of the ingenious Mr Richards. Receipts: #182 10s. (180/12/6; 1/17/6)