Event Comment: Benefit Mrs Brett and Mrs Campbell. Written by Mr Shadwell, late Poet Laureat. Daily Journal, 25 May: Yesterday Morning died Mrs Bicknell (an eminent Actress in the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane) of a Consumption. Her Parts will be very well supply'd by her Sister Mrs Younger, a Person of a very promising Genius

Event Comment: Note in General Advertiser: For the Benefit of the Author's Sisters, Box and Pit Tickets for Coriolanus, a Tragedy written by the late Mr Thomson, and now acting at Covent Garden Theatre, are to be had of A. Millar, opposite to Catherine Street in the Strand; J. Davidson in the Poultry; and R. Dodsley in Pall Mall

Event Comment: Benefit for the Unhappy Sufferers by the late Dreadful Fire in King's Stredt, Covent Garden (playbill). We gave our Night's pay for ye Sufferers by the fire in King's Street Covent Garden Sun: ye 23d. of Dec. (Cross). Sisters diner at Mrs B's. I slept [slipt?] in after the play at Drury Lane & see them in the Gallery, where I had a few words with Mr Williams (Hailey, "Brietzcke Diary," Vol. 197, p. 69). Receipts: #200 (Cross)

Event Comment: Receipts: #224 18s. 6d. Advanc'd to Mrs Ward #20. Paid Sarjant on acct of salary #5; Paid Ridout one third of the surplus of this night's receipt being #144 18s. 6d. than the #80 allow'd for the charge: #48 2s. 6d. This morning I was at Mr Shadwell's for his Orders [for free theatre tickets] & took all my sisters to Covent Garden Gallery to see the Jovial Crew & Rape of Proserpine, which was full of noisy holiday people (Hailey, Brietzcke Diary, Vol. 197, p. 544)

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, author unknown. MS: Larpent 651; not published]. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Rice at the Theatre; and Tickets to be had of Mrs Williams, the Artificial Flower Warehouse, Store-street, Bedford-square. [Mrs Williams is identified in Morning Post, 11 Feb.]

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Trevor [who had 1st appeared at this theatre, as a chorus singer, on 16 Jan. 1800]. "A settled, preconcerted plan was evidently laid to injure the lady who came forward in double capacity, not merely as a candidate for public favour, but in the responsible situation of a performer taking a benefit...The moment the lady made her appearance on the boards, before she even opened her mouth, before a single note furnished an opportunished an opportunity of appreciating her abilities, opposition began to manifest itself in all the various forms which malice on such occcsions is wont to resort to. The Hisses grew louder and louder,...the theatre absolutely assumed the appearance of a riot, rather than that of a civilized company, assembled for the purpose of amusement" (Dramatic Censor, II, 212-13). Morning Chronicle, 19 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Trevor, sister to Mr Kelly of Drury-lane Theatre, No. 31, Bedford-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #268 12s. (124.13; 4.8; tickets: 139.11)

Event Comment: Benefit Schoolding and Mrs Rogers. At the Desire of several Ladies of Quality. Receipts: #59 10s

Event Comment: Benefit for the Sisters of the deceased Author. [Same advertisement for tickets that appeared 17 Jan., with the additional statement: "Tickets given out, mark'd for the Benefit of the deceased Author's sisters, 3rd night, will be receiv'd this day."

Event Comment: [Benefit for Dibdin, but not acted,] Princess Louisa Anne, sister to His Majesty died in the morning. All Theatres and Gardens closed for 8 days. Rec'd of Mrs Squibb for her deficiency the 10th Inst. #11 5s. Rec'd of Davis for his deficiency the 4th inst. #4 12s. Received of Perry for his deficiency the 4th inst. #4 12s. (Account Book).*c1768 05 13 cg [Benefit for Dibdin, but not acted,] Princess Louisa Anne, sister to His Majesty died in the morning. All Theatres and Gardens closed for 8 days. Rec'd of Mrs Squibb for her deficiency the 10th Inst. #11 5s. Rec'd of Davis for his deficiency the 4th inst. #4 12s. Received of Perry for his deficiency the 4th inst. #4 12s. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by Henry Knapp; music by Samuel Arnold. Author of Prologue unknown. London Chronicle, 24 Aug., states that this was based on a French comedy of the same title.]

Event Comment: [Mrs Esten's 1st appearance as Juliet was at Edinburgh, 19 Jan. 1790.] In Act I of mainpiece a Masquerade Scene incident to the Play. Afterpiece: The Overture and the rest of the Music composed new by Baumgarten. Receipts: #340 9s. 6d

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. At the Special Desire of his Excellency the Turkish Ambassador [see 7 May]. 3rd piece: Engagement, etc. as 26 May, but Moving Figures not specified. Morning Herald, 26 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 5, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #301 10s. (136/3; 6/12; tickets: 158/15)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of The Merry Wives of Windsor, advertised on playbill of 10 Feb.] Afterpiece [1st time; BALL. P 1 (?), by John Cartwright Cross. Airs (T. Woodfall, 1798)]: The Scenery, Machinery, Dresses and Decorations entirely new. The Music by Reeve. The Scenery painted by Richards, Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, and Blackmore. The Machinery by Cresswell, Sloper, Goostree, &c. The Dresses by Dick, Mrs Egan, &c. Receipts: #294 0s. 6d. (270.16.6; 23.4.0)

Event Comment: Paid 3 day's salary at #100 12s. 6d. per diem #301 17s. 6d. Salaries short-paid last week #168 8s. 6d.; Tabor and Pipe #3 13s. 6d. Louchre [Lauchery] #8 8s. Mr Abington #2; Mr King #3; (Treasurer's Book). [The payment to King was the first of 37 similar ones for extra salary amounting to #111. That to Mrs Abington was the first of weekly payments for her clothes account, amounting to #60 for the season. No further mention will be made of these items.] Receipts: #265 9s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book). [From the Middlesex Journal (7-9 Oct.) quoted by Hampden, Eighteenth Century Journal: "The Way of the World, though confessedly replete with wit and character, is not the most entertaining play in representation. It is so full of plot and intrigue, that it demands an Unusual degree of attention in the performers and audience to excite admiration. On Saturday they seemed averse to assist the author. Mr King in Witwou'd was as entertaining and full of spirits as usual. Mr Jefferson in the gay admired Mirabel (independent of the antique mode of his wig, and formal cut of his clothes, which surely were both uncharacteristic) seemed in attempting to be quite natural, to keep the entire plot of the play in his own bosom, looked more like the father than the Mirabel of Congreve. Mr Reddish was a contrast to his friend Mirabel; he seemed attentive nervous, and played the latter part of his character well....Mrs Abington's person, manner and dress were fashionable and elegant; but though the character was certainly a fine one, there was a want of that spirit best calculated to call her powers into action: her delivery was tediously formal; and had the audience been deprived of their sight they would conclude that Capt. Bobadill had got into petticoats. Her dress was no more decent than Madam Hidou's was on her first appearance last year; stays so low cut before puts modesty to the blush; and will not be countenanced by an English audience, though made after the French fashion....Mrs Greville, to convince the town that she could keep a secret, whispered it to only a few friends in the Pit....her indifference is intolerable, and should be noticed by her employer."

Event Comment: [The following letter appeared in the General Advertiser]: To Mr Ryan, Sir: As the Author whom you have judiciously, I think, call'd in to your Assistance on your Benefit Night is little known; his Name not having appeared upon the Stage in our Days; and from whence some may be apt to think it scarce worth while to produce him now;--it was thought advisable by many of your Friends, of which Number I profess myself, to draw up the following Account of him and his Dramatic Works, that such as are Strangers to him may have some further Inducement to favour you with their Company. Mr Thomas Randolph lived in the Reign of King Charles I, was Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; but died young. He was a Man of pregnant Wit, gay Humour and of excellent Learning; which gain'd him the Esteem of the Polite Part of the Town, and particularly recommended him to the Favour of Ben Johnson, who adopted him one of his Sons, and held him in equal Esteem with the ingenious Mr Cartwright, another of the Laureat's adopted Sons:--The Plays he wrote were: [he lists 5 plays, commenting from Cokayne and Rich of Christ's Church College, Oxon, and West on the ethical quality of the last one, The Muses' Looking Glass]. In short, Sir, I doubt not but his old nervous Wit will still please, and join'd with the New Masque you have added, excite Curiousity enough to answer your Design; since by your Steadiness it was absoluteley necessary you should hava Novelty, as well as Interest, to procure half so good a House, as we all wish you, and especially, Your Humble Servant, I. M. [See 14 March afterpiece.

Event Comment: Post Boy, 2-4 Feb. 1696@7: On Monday the King visited the Princess of Denmark and invited her to Whitehall on Saturday next, it being her Royal Highnesses Birth Day, and his Majesty has been pleased to give the Right Honourable the Lord Chamberlaine Orders to have the Play called Love for Love, written by Mr Congreve, Acted there the better to Celebrate the Day. Post Boy, 6-9 Feb. 1696@7: Last Saturday being the Anniversary of her Royal Highness the Princess Ann of Denmark's birth...at night the King was pleased to Entertain her with a fine Comedy, call'd Love for Love, Written by Mr Congreve, Acted by his Majesty's servants at Whitehall, where the Court appeared very gay and splendid, suitable to the occasion. [Somewhat similar references appear also in Luttrell, A Brief Relation, IV, 180, and The Flying Post, 6-9 Feb. 1696@7.

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by William Henry Ireland; incidental music by William Linley. Prologue by Sir James Bland Burges; Epilogue by Robert Merry (see text)]: With new Scenes, Dresses & Decorations. The Scenes designed and excuted by Greenwood and Capon. The Dresses by Johnston, Gay & Miss Rein. Printed slip attached to Kemble playbill: A malevolent and impotent attack on the Shakspeare MSS. [i.e. those forged by W. H. Ireland, of which this play was one] having appeared, on the Eve of representation of Vortigern, evidently intended to injure the interest of the Proprietor of the MSS., Mr Samuel? Ireland [W. H. Ireland's father] feels it impossible, within the short space of time that intervenes between the publishing and the representation, to produce an answer to the most illiberal and unfounded assertions in Mr Malone's enquiry [i.e. Edmond Malone, An Inquiry into the Authenticity of certain Papers attributed to Shakspeare, Queen Elizabeth, and Henry, Earl of Southampton, 1796]. He is therefore induced to request that Vortigern may be heard With that Candour that has ever distinguished a British Audience. The Play is now at the Press, and will in a very few days be laid before the Public. [But it was not issued until 1799 (see below). See also Bernard Grebanier, The Great Shakespeare Forgery, London, 1966.] 4 Apr., states that the first three acts were listened to with patience, but beginning with the fourth act the play was damned, when "one tremendous yell of indignation from the pit burst simultaneously." "At four o'clock the doors of the theatre were besieged; and, a few minutes after they were opened, the pit was crowded solely with gentlemen. Before six not a place was to be found in the boxes, and the passages were filled...The audience betrayed symptoms of impatience early in the representation; but, finding its taste insulted by bloated terms, which heightened the general insipidity, its reason puzzled by discordant images, false ornaments, and abortive efforts to elevate and astonish, pronounced its sentence of condemnation at the conclusion of the play" (Gentleman's Magazine, Apr. 1795, pp. 346-47). "Irelands play of Vortigern I went to. Prologue spoken at 35 minutes past 6 [see 29 Mar.]: Play over at 10. A strong party was evidently made to support it, which clapped without opposition frequently through near 3 acts, when some ridiculous passages caused a laugh, mixed with groans-Kemble requested the audience t o hear the play out abt. the end of 4th act and prevailed.-The Epilogue was spoken by Mrs Jordan who skipped over some lines which claimed the play as Shakespeares. Barrymore attempted to give the Play out for Monday next but was hooted off the stage. Kemble then came on, & after some time, was permitted to say that "School for Scandal would be given," which the House approved by clapping. Sturt of Dorsetshire was in a Stage Box drunk, & exposed himself indecently to support the Play, and when one of the stage attendants attempted to take up the green cloth [i.e. a carpet which, by custom, was laid on the stage during the concluding scene of a tragedy], Sturt seized him roughly by the head. He was slightly pelted with oranges" (Joseph Farington, Diary, 1922, I, 145). Account-Book, 4 Apr.: Paid Ireland his share for the 1st Night of Vortigern #102 13s. 3d. Morning Chronicle, 29 Mar. 1799: This Day is published Vortigern and Henry the Second (4s.). Receipts: #555 6s. 6d. (528.6.0; 26.9.6; 0.11.0)

Event Comment: [P$Potter reprinted his letter of 18 Jan., and added the footnote: "The person who took the House was a man of genteel appearance, said his name was William Nicholls, and directed letters to be left for him at the Bedford Coffee House, Covent Garden."] [The Prologue and Epilogue spoken by the children of the Prince of Wales on their performing Cato at Leicester House, printed in the General Advertiser.] [This day published] A Letter to Mr G-k, relative to his treble Capacity of Manager, Actor, and Author; with some remarks upon Lethe. All Three! All three! Gay. Sold by W. Reeve in Fleet St.; and A. Dodd, at the Peacock opposite St. Clements Church in the Strand (General Advertiser). [This day published] Lethe, A Dramatick Satire, by David Garrick as it is perform'd at Drury Lane. Printed for P. Vaillant, facing Southampton Street in the Strand. Receipts: #140 (Cross); #144 17s. 6d. (Powel)

Event Comment: At Shuter's Booth, George Yard. At Shuter's Warehouse [in advance notices]; At Shuter's Theatrical Microcosm. [The English Mirror is not the name of a play.] Mr Shuter begs leave to acquaint the Public that his English Mirror is highly polished, and he hopes it will give the greatest Satisfaction, especially as it is the true English Manufacture reflecting the most striking Views of Modern Times and National Glory. He would be very far from imposing upon the Inhabitants of this great Metropolis, and, unconscious of a Puff, he takes upon him to say that the Gay and Learned will find his Piece ornamented with a Festoon of Flowers gathered by an admitted Genius on the Banks of Avon and enriched with Wreaths twined by the Fingers of the Muses. Here it may be said Pomona has given the Apple Wit, in which every agreeable Flavour is combined, and Bacchusr has sent a Store of genuine Falernian from a Receipt which anciently belonged to Homer, and has lately been discovered with the Ruins of Herculaneum. In fact we shall give a new Exhiliration to Mirth, and dilate the Sides of Laughter, make Vice bleed under the corrective Lash, and give a Lecture that shall stimulate Virtue to pursue the Road of Happiness. [Repeated.

Event Comment: Afterpiece: A Comic Opera altered [by Colman] from Gay. The Music entirely new by Dr Arne. Now acted for the first time in 2 Acts. [The 1776 Edition in Bell's British Theatre lists: Achilles-Thetis-$Miss Catley. [$Miss Pearce">Mattocks; Peripas-$Reinhold; Lycomedes-$DuBellamy; Diphilus-$Dyer; Ajax-$Dunstall; Ulysses-$Owenson; Diomedes-$Fox; Argytes-$Baker; Deidamia-$Mrs Mattocks; Artemona-$Miss Brown; Philoe-$Miss Valois; Thetis-$Miss Catley. [$Miss Pearce may have played Lesbia).] Paid Banks for the Head of a Figure used in The Fair #1 1s.; Paid Mr Gard for performing 5 nights in the Fair and 3 in the Sorcerer #1. Paid Joseph Besford for performing 5 nights in the Fair 12s. 6d. (Account Book). [Afterpiece unfavorably reviewed in the Westminster Magazine.] Receipts: #149 18s. 6d. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Mrs Jewel from the Haymarket Theatre made her first appearance upon this stage in Lucinda and was receiv'd with great applause (Hopkins Diary). Paid 3 days salary list #134 15s. 6d.; Lampmen #2 12s.; Bill stickets #3 12s.; Handbills 8s.; Candlemen Bill #2 15s. 6d.; Taylor's Bill #13 16s. 3d.; Mantua Maker's Bill #8 12s.; Mr French #12 12s.; Painter's Bill #3 6s.; Heath andWife #2; Roye #4 1Os. (Treasurer's Book). [The following items among those listed in the Treasurer's Book were constant weekly expenditures. Their averages and totals appear in the following table and will not again be mentioned]: @Week's Average Total expense for season@Lampmen #4 5s. #171@Billstickers #2 14s. #92 12s.@Handbills 12s. #22 16s.@Tailors #8 10s. #323@Mant. Makers #2 5s. #85 2s.@Candlemen #12 #456@Mr French #10 10s. #388@Painters #7 #266@Mr Heath and Wife #2 #76 [A spectator writes to the Public Advertiser (to inform the country readers) about the changes in the interior of Drury Lane Theatre resulting from the remodeling by the Adams@brothers. They had managed to give the impression of greater magnitude to the house. They removed the old heavy square pillars at the side of the stage, raised the sounding board on the side next to the stage, greatly improving the sound of the music and the actors' voices. Much new decoration went into the boxes making them more light and gay. Much panel glass, ornamentation, and ceiling decoration, giving it the effect of a dome. The author believes the crimson drapery over the stage is too dark for the objects around it, and the gold fringe lacks the brilliant effect. The lobby behind the front boxes was remodeled and kept clear of servants, by means of an adjoining room prepared for the servants. New arches lead into the entrance from Brydges St. toward the boxes.] Receipts: #235 6s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; MD 3, by Prince Hoare. Larpent MS 1126; not published; synopsis of plot in Monthly Magazine, May 1796, p. 320]: With new Scenes, Dresses, Decorations, &c. The Musick principally composed by the late Mr Storace [who had died on 19 Mar.], with a few Selections from Paisiello, Haydn and Sarti. [Grove, under Storace, states that the music was completed and prepared for the stage by Kelly and Sga Storace.] The Scenes designed and executed by Marinari and assistants. The Dresses by Johnston, Gay and Miss Rein. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. "It was exceedingly tedious the first night, not being over till eleven o'clock. Since, it has been prudently cut down, and yet has lost nothing. A prologue, written on the very morning of representation, deploring the loss of the composer, was spoken (perfectly) by the last unfortunate Benson [for whom see 9 June. It was written by Hoare (Universal Magazine, May 1796, p. 362), and Was perhaps spoken only on the 1st night; it is not listed on any playbill]" (Monthly Magazine, May 1796, p. 320). "In short, possessing all the science of Harrison, the melody of Incledon, and the pleasing articulation of the late Mrs Kennedy, we have no hesitation in pronouncing [Braham] the first public singer of the present day. He was three times encored. His action is indifferent, and his dialogue scarcely audible" (Morning Herald, 2 May). Receipts: #297 14s. (258.10.6; 38.19.6; 0.4.0)