Event Comment: The Doors will be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15 [see 2 May 1785]. Receipts: #216 13s. 6d. (193/4/0; 22/19/6; 0/10/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. 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. Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years [acted 15 May 1782]. Afterpiece: Not acted these 5 years [not acted since 25 Mar. 1775]. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Banquo to Bensley, but "Poor Bensley's illness last night took him off; but on another night he will give and take in the triumph" {Public Advertiser, 4 Feb.). In afterpiece he is assigned to The Guardian. On the Kemble playbill in both cases his name is deleted and MS annotations substitute Hull's.] "Macbeth at Drury-lane will. . . gag the drivellers who, on the failure of Constance [in King John], ventured a sweeping prophecy of condemnation that 'the Siddons never could play Shakespeare.' Would it not have been better to have borrowed Farren, rather than Hull, for Banquo?" (Public Advertiser, 4 Feb.). "'Why,'say some of the critics, 'should Mrs Siddons wear a white dress in her last scene of Lady Macbeth? She is supposed to be asleep, not mad.' What reason except custom can be given for a mad heroine appearing in white we know not [and see DL, 20 Dec. 1782]. Yet there is an obvious reason why a person walking in their sleep should wear a white dress of the loose kind worn by Mrs Siddons ... It [is] the nearest resemblance which theatrical effect will admit, to the common sort of night-dresses" (Public Advertiser, 7 Feb.). Receipts: #346 16s. (198/10/0; 7/2/6; 0/8/6; tickets: 140/15/0) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for Edwin. Public Advertiser, 29 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Edwin, No. 19, Piazza, Covent Garden. Mainpiece: Altered from Beaumont and Fletcher [i.e. from Fletcher alone]. Afterpiece: Not acted these 6 years [acted 28 May 1782]

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Under the Direction of Delpini. 1st piece: With a Kitchen Scene. [The new pantomime is identified in Public Advertiser, 16 Apr. The same newspaper on 2 Apr. states that it was the same as that produced at DL for Delpini's benefit in 1782 [10 May].]

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Public Advertiser, 18 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, Gower-street, Bedford-square. 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. "The mournful tone, the pathetic countenance, and the long-drawn expression pervaded the sprightly scenes of Rosalind as effectually as if the play had been Isabella" (Public Advertiser, 2 May). Receipts: #327 8s. 6d. (150/1/9; 9/11/6; 0/6/0; tickets: 167/10/0) (charge: #106/15/10)

Event Comment: Benefit for Dignum and Mrs Wilson. Public Advertiser, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Dignum, Little Wild-street, Drury-lane; of Mrs Wilson, No. 2, Catherine-street, Strand. Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. Receipts: #301 19s. 6d. (33/5/0; 15/19/0; 1/2/6; tickets: 251/13/0) (charge: #108 15s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Chapman and Wright. Public Advertiser, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Chapman, No. 47, Carey-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields; of Wright, No. 21, Berner-street, Westminster. Receipts: #224 18s. 6d. (33/19/0; 10/11/0; 0/8/6; tickets: 180/0/0) (charge: #113 9s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Wild [prompter]. Public Advertiser, 7 May: Tickets to be had of Wild, No. 17, Bow-street, Covent Garden. The unfortunate circumstance of breaking his leg . . . has prevented his attending the theatre the whole season [and see 18 Apr.]

Event Comment: Tickets delivered by Lyon, Gardner, Leslie, Finney, Barthrope, Gilles, Sherratt for The Chances [announced on playbill of 20 May] will be admitted. Receipts: #130 3s. (23/18/0; 14/4/6; 0/8/6; tickets: 91/12/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Bellamy. Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. "Mrs Bellamy was too much frightened to speak the address [written by Charles Stuart (European Magazine, May 1785, p. 354)], and Miss Farren spoke it--Mrs Bellamy herself added some few words in prose" (Genest, VI, 342). But Stuart's address was abandoned, and in its place Miss Farren spoke one written by Alexander Bicknell (Gentleman's Magazine, June 1785, pp. 449-50). This occurred at the end of the play; following the address the curtain rose, and Mrs Bellamy "succeeded in muttering a few words, expressive of her gratitude" (Reynolds, I, 282-83). [This was Mrs Yates's last appearance in London. In July of this year she was acting in Birmingham (Morning Chronicle, 18 July). Mrs Bellamy's last appearance on the stage was at CG, 1 June 1780.] Receipts: #306 4s. (188/1/0; 13/3/6; 0/14/6; tickets: 104/5/0) (charge: #113 8s. 10d.)

Event Comment: Morigi's sudden Indisposition, together with Mlle Dorival's Illness, makes it necessary to postpone the Comic Opera [I Viaggiatori Felici, announced in Public Advertiser, 23 May] and Dances, advertised for this Evening

Event Comment: By Command of Their Majesties. [1st and 2nd pieces in place of Lord Russel, the Manager in Distress and The Son-in-Law, all three announced on playbill of 31 May.]

Event Comment: [The playbill lists Wilson as Justice Shallow in mainpiece, and as Father Luke in afterpiece. On the Kemble playbill his name is deleted, but the substitute name has been cut by the binder. "It is necessary to inform those who may have read a long criticism on Wilson's performance of Justice Shallow, on Tuesday evening [in Public Advertiser, 2 Nov.], that Wilson did not perform that or any other character, as he is laid up, or rather down, with a violent fit of the gout" (General Advertiser, 3 Nov.). For Fearon as Justice Shallow see 30 Apr. 1785, 29 Nov. 1786; for Booth as Father Luke see 25 Nov. 1785.] Receipts: #139 6s. (134/5; 5/1)

Event Comment: In Act I of mainpiece a Masquerade Scene. [This was included in all subsequent performances.] Afterpiece: Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. The Doors to be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15 [see 1 May 1786]. Receipts: #326 9s. 6d. (324/0/6; 2/9/0)

Event Comment: The Doors to be opened at 5:15. To begin at 6:15 [see 2 May 1786]. Receipts: #142 11s. 6d. (113/15/0; 28/9/6; 0/7/0). Orders and Free #76 12s

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years [acted 8 May 1784. Mrs Abington's 1st appearance as Lady Sadlife was at DL, 16 Jan. 1770]. Receipts: #193 9s. (189/15; 3/14)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years [so stated on playbill of 6 Jan.; acted 26 May 1784]. Receipts: #200 17s. (196/16; 4/1)

Event Comment: "[Mrs Jordan] plays Miss Hoyden with great effect . . . but the character in her hands is only the Romp in other situations . . . We never saw anything more naturally assumed, or more agreeably wicked, if we may so phrase it, than the whole of [Miss Farren's] deportment in her scenes with Loveless" (Morning Chronicle, 11 Jan.). Receipts: #215 3s. (212/9; 2/14)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 6 years [acted 1 May 1781]. Receipts: #164 5s. (156/14; 7/11)

Event Comment: A new Comic Opera [in 2 acts]; the Music entirely new by Paisiello, under the direction of [i.e. with additions by] Cherubini. Public Advertiser, 26 Jan.: "Il Marchese Tulipano was in its original state a petite piece [in 1 act] of Paisiello [entitled Le Finte Contesse; performed at this theatre on 26 Mar. 1778 as Il Marchese Villano], enlarged to the size in which it is now before us by Cherubini." By Their Majesties Command no Person can be admitted behind the Scenes. Pit 10s. 6d. 1st Gallery 5s. 2nd Gallery 3s. The Doors to be opened at 6:30. To begin exactly at 7:30 [same throughout season]. Subscriptions are received at Messrs. Ransom, Morland and Hammersley's, Bankers, No. 57, Pall-mall, who will deliver the Subscription Tickets. The Nobility and Gentry, Subscribers to the Opera-house, are respectfully entreated to send for them, in order to prevent future mistakes, as nobody can be admitted without producing a ticket. N.B. To prevent Inconvenience to the Nobility and Gentry in getting to their Carriages they are most respectfully entreated to give positive Orders to their Servants to set down and take up with their Horses Heads towards Pall-Mall. The Doors in Market-Lane for Chairs only. All Persons claiming free Admission into this Theatre by Renters' Shares or otherwise are requested to bring their Titles to the Office every Day, from Eleven to Twelve o'clock in the Forenoon, in order that they may be registered previous to the opening of the House

Event Comment: Benefit for Quick. Mainpiece: Altered from Shirley. Never acted here. With proper Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. [Epilogue by Edward Topham (European Magazine, May 1786, p. 368).] Afterpiece: In 2 Acts; written by Addison. Public Advertiser, 29 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Quick, No. 99, High Holborn. Receipts: #281 17s. 6d. (153/14/6; 4/4/0; tickets: 123/19/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Benefit for Chapman and Williames. Morning Chronicle, 2 May: Tickets to be had of Chapman, No. 5, Prince's-street, Drury-Lane; of Williames, No. 2, Duke's Court, Bow-street. Receipts: #283 6s. (59/4/0; 16/11/6; 0/18/6; tickets: 206/12/0) (charge: #109 5s. 7d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Martyr. 1st piece: Never performed here. [Miss Thornton is identified by MS annotation on Kemble playbill. Address by Horatio Edgar Robson (European Magazine, May 1786, p. 369).] 2nd piece: Not acted these 7 years. 3rd piece: Written by Henry Fielding. Morning Herald, 19 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Martyr, No. 31, Tavistock-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #280 6s. 6d. (138/15/6; 3/6/0; tickets: 138/5/0) (charge: #105)