Event Comment: At the Desire of several Ladies of Quality. Mainpiece: Written by Shakespear

Event Comment: A new Musical Drama. [By John Lockman. Set to Music by Mr John Christopher Smith.] 5s. To continue for twenty consecutive Fridays

Event Comment: By His Majesty's Command. Afterpiece: a New Dramatick Entertainment of Musick and Grotesque Dancing. Edition of 1740: Set to Musick by Mr John-Frederick Lampe. [For further letters concerning John Hill and Rich, see London Daily Post and General Advertiser, 11 and 12 Feb.

Event Comment: The Proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre having receiv'd letters from several Gentlemen pressing him to revive the Tragedy of King John; to comply with this request (as he shall always make it his business to oblige the Publick) he immediately put the play in rehearsal; but upon information that the author of a Play on the same subject, had insinuated that this was calculated only to prejudice him, the Revival was intended to be deferr'd till the run of his play should be over; but upon perusal of the Bills he finds this is no Alteration, as was thought, but a new Tragedy founded only upon that plan; therefore in compliance with the above request, and at the same time to take off all imputation of an injury to this author, the Proprietor has deferr'd the bringing it on till Tuesday next, the day after the author's benefit, when will be exhibited the Historical Play of King John, as written by Shakespear

Event Comment: Benefit Mrs Pritchard. Mainpiece: Written by Shakespear. Servants admitted to keep places on the stage, which will be fram'd into Front and side boxes, and entirely enclosed after the manner of an Oratorio. Ladies are desired to send servants to keep places to prevent mistakes. Tickets and places to be had at Mrs Pritchard's in Duke's late Earl's Court, Bow St.; At Mr Vaughan's, the Royal Exchange, Cornhill, and at the stage door

Event Comment: The Characters all New Dress'd. A new Comedy [by Dr Benjamin Hoadly] never before acted. [The previous July Garrick had been entertained by the Rev. Dr John Hoadly at Alresford and carried on a pleasant correspondence with him afterwards. In his letter 19 Aug. 1746 (Folger) he wrote]: I had the pleasure of the Doctor's company [brother Benjamin Hoadly] to supper at my lodgings the night before I set out for this place; we talk'd about Ranger, but whether he will appear next winter or sleep forever in ye scritore, is not yet determined: 'tis pit, faith. [That this friendship was exceedingly profitable to Garrick is indicated by the fact that Benjamin Hoadly seems to have turned over the profits from the three author's nights to Garrick. (1) Garrick by a bargain with John Rich received #80 advance cash and promised to pay nightly charges (3rd, 6th, & 9th nights) of #60, and (2) to divide equally the remaining profits on those nights. The agreement was drawn 27 Dec. 1746. Garrick noted on this document]: N.B. the copy of the play is my own, and the profit arising from the printing of it. [Hoadly seems to have received only the #100 given him by George II for dedicating the printed copy to him.] [Settlement for the three performances was made 6 April. Total receipts for those nights (14, 18, 21 Feb.) was #570 11s. Total expenses were #182 2s. (including #2 2s. for the licensing). The profit of #388 9s. was equally divided and Garrick received his #194 4s. 6d. on that day. He had received the other #80 the day before the play opened, 11 Feb. 1747. See documents in Folger, Holograph Letters of David Garrick, p. 38, seemingly Edmund Malone's copy, of BM Add MSS 21508.] Receipts: #205 9s. 6d

Event Comment: Gift for ye Sufferers by ye fire in Cornhill (Cross). [A column and a half "Letter to the Author" appeared in the General Advertiser this day, laying historical background for Ford's Lover's Melancholy]. The history of the stage before the Restoration is like a Foreign Land, in which no Englishman had ever travelled; we know there were such things as Playhouses, and one Shakespear a great writer, but the historical traces of them are so imperfect, that the manner in which they existed is less known to us, than that of Eschylus or the theatres of Greece. For this reason, 'tis hoped that the following Gleaning of Theatrical History will readily obtain a place in your paper. 'Tis taken from a Pamphlet written in the reign of Charles I, with this quaint title, "Old Ben's Light Heart made heavy by young John's Melancholly Lover"; and as it contains some historical anecdotes and altercations concerning Ben Johnson, Ford, Shakespear, and the Lover's Melancholy it is imagined that a few extracts from it at this juncture, will not be unentertaining to the Public. [The substance of the remainder retails Jonson's critical cantankerousness and his wounded pride at the failure of the New Inn, quoting some epigrams made at Jonson's expense on his allegation that Ford was a plagiary. This second "puff" for the play, presumably also written by Macklin, formed the basis for a Steevens-Malone controversy late in the century, centering on the existence or nonexistence of the pamphlet referred to by Macklin as "Old Ben's Light Heart made Heavy, &c." A summary account of the evidence appears in the Dramatic Works of John Ford, by Henry Weber (Edinburgh, 1811) I, Intro. XVI, XXXI.] Receipts: #210 (Cross); #208 1s. (Powel)