Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and ffower in the Box at Loves last Shift #1

Event Comment: Rich's Company. The date of the first performance is not known. A contract between Cibber and Rich was signed on 29 Oct. 1696 (L. C. 3@73, in Nicoll, Restoration Drama, pp. 381-82), with an agreement that it was not to be printed until a month after it was acted. Since the play was advertised in the Post Man, 20-23 March 1696@7, it may have been acted as early as January 1697, certainly not later than February 1697. Possibly Leveridge set the music for a song, Tell me, Belinda, prithee do, which is in A New Book of Songs by Mr Leveridge, advertised in the London Gazette, No. 3293, 3 June 1697. A Comparison Between the Two Stages (1702), p. 18: Lady in Fashion, by a Player, Damn'd. Preface, Edition of 1697: Not to miss the Advantage of Mr Doggett's Excellent Action; I prepar'd a low Character

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was advertised in the Post Boy, 21-23 Jan. 1696@7, suggests that it was first acted not later than early January 1697. The Preface to the edition of 1697 implies that it met with a cold reception and had no more than three performances

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and three in the Box at Timon of Athens. 16s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and two in the box at Esop. 12s

Event Comment: It is not certain what company produced this play, if it was acted; and it may not have been staged. A manuscript note on Bodleian Malone 116 attributes it to Southby. As the play was advertised in the Post Boy, 2-4 March 1696@7, and as a copy in the Library of Congress bears the manuscript date of 10 March 1696@7, the play, if produced, was probably first acted not later than February 1696@7

Event Comment: Rich's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was advertised in the Post Boy, 17-20 April 1697, suggests a premiere preceding Easter; in addition, the large number of minor actors suggests a Lenten performance, possibly in February, certainly no later than early March. One song, So fair young Caelia's Charms, the music by Daniel Purcell and sung by Mr Magnus's Boy, was printed separately in 1697. A Comparison Between the Two Stages (1702), p. 18: Triumphs of Vertue, tho' I think this no ill Play, yet 'twas Damn'd

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. The date of the first performance is not certain, but the evidence points to this day as a strong Possibility. Downes, Roscius Anglicanus (p. 44) states that it was given thirteen days consecutively, and John Coke (see 16 March 1696@7) states that it was acted "till Saturday" (16 March 1696@7). If the tragedy was acted on Wednesdays but not Fridays, as was often the practice in Lent, and if the farce alluded to for Saturday, 16 March 1696@7, comprised the entire program, this day was probably the premiere. The following sequence of performances is based on these premises. Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, p. 44: The Mourning Bride...had such Success, that it continu'd Acting Uninterrupted 13 Days together. Gildon, English Dramatick Poets, p. 23: This Play had the greatest Success, not only of all Mr Congreve's, but indeed of all the Plays that ever I can remember on the English Stage, excepting some of the incomparable Otway's. Aston, A Brief Supplement (in Cibber, Apology, II, 302): His [Betterton's] Favourite, Mrs Barry, claims the next in Estimation. They were both never better pleas'd, than in Playing together.--Mrs Barry outshin'd Mrs Bracegirdle in the Character of Zara in the Mourning Bride, altho' Mr Congreve design'd Almeria for that Favour

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. Possibly Edmund Warcup attended this performance: Soe to the play with Dr Needham (The Journals of Edmund Warcup, 1676-1684, ed. Keith Feiling and F. R. D. Needham, English Historical Review, XL [1925], 241)

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. James Brydges, Diary: About 2. I came home to dinner, where I found Lady Hussy, & Cozzen Betty, & Mrs Howard, about 5. After dinner I went to Lord Pembroke's who being abroad, I went to Lord Arundell of Treryce, who not being at home, I went to Ld. Allinton's, but he not being within, I went to Mr Pitts, who being abroad, I went to ye Dean of Peterborough's but he being at church I went to ye playhouse in Lincolns inn fields, where I met Dr Davenant & Ld. Rumny (Huntington MS St 26)

Event Comment: Rich's Company. The date of the first performance of Part II is not known, but the fact that it was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1697, suggests that it was probably acted before Easter

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. James Brydges, Diary: To ye playhouse in Lincolns inn fields, where I met Lds Henry Cavendish, Grey of Ruthia, & Abergavenny (Huntington MS St 26)

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. James Brydges, Diary: About 4: we went to ye playhouse in Lincolns inn fields, and meeting Sr John Cope here, after having Put ye Ladies in box kept for them, I went with him to Hyde Park, & from thence came again to ye play (Huntington MS St 26)

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this Performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and one att the Prophetesse 10s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and two at the Indian Queen 15s

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. John Coke (see below), writing on 16 March 1696@7, referred to a "new farce" appearing at this theatre on this day, but no "new farce" is known at this period; on the other hand, an edition of Mountfort's farce published in 1697 indicates a revival in this season and is a likely possibility for this date. John Coke to Thomas Coke, 16 March 1696@7: Saturday a new farce was acted at the new house, which did not take. The Mourning Bride was acted till Saturday, and was full to the last (HMC, 12th Report, Part II, Cowper MSS., II, 368). Robert Shirley to Thomas Coke, 13 March 1696@7: I am, dear Sir, indebted to you in sending me so ingenious an account of Mr Congreve's tragedy, which I hear on all sides far exceeded what the world expected from him in that part of dramatic poetry (ibid)

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and two in the Box at the Libertine 12s. [This play was reprinted in 1697, but the edition has no actors' names.

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was advertised in the Post Boy, 11-13 May 1697, suggests that it was first acted about mid-April, a month before publication. For an account of the history of the play before its production, see Cibber, Apology, I, 217-18

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and Three in the Box at Cinthia and Endimion 16s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and two in the Box at Psyche 15s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and one in the Box at Oroonoko 8s

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was advertised in the Post Man, 24-26 June 1697, suggests that it was probably first acted not later than May 1697, and there is no specific indication of a premiere earlier than May. In Songs Compleat, 1719, the music for one song is attributed to Croft

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and two in the Box at Esopp 12s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and one in the Pitt att the Tempest 3s

Event Comment: Rich's Company. Lady Morley attended this performance. Hotson, Commonwealth and Restoration Stage, p. 377: Lady Morley and ffour in the Box att Don Sebastian #1