Event Comment: Newdigate newsletters (Folger Shakespeare Library), 10 Sept. 1674: This Evening their Maty & Court are diverted by a play Acted by his Royall Hss Servants at Whitehall. [Transcribed by Professor John Harold Wilson.

Event Comment: The Bulstrode Papers (1, 274): The first of January ye young Princes are to divert their Maties and Court wth a play & an opera in whch ye splendour of ye English monarchy will be seen

Event Comment: [Evelyn, Diary: [I] was at the repetition of the Pastoral, on which [occasion] my friend Mrs Blagg, had about her neere 20.000 pounds worth of Jewells, of which one she lost, borrowed of the Countesse of Suffolck, worth about 80 pounds, which the Duke made good; & indeede the presse of people was so greate, that it was a wonder she lost no more. There is some doubt that this was a full performance of the work, for Evelyn refers to it as "the repetition" and other evidence points to 15 Feb. 1674@5 as the first complete production. See Boswell, Restoration Court Stage, pp. 180-81. It is probable that Mrs Blagge's loss of jewels occurred, not on this date, but on 15 Feb. 1674@5. For a more complete account of that incident, see The Life of Mrs Godolphin by John Evelyn of Wotton, ed. Samuel Lord Bishop of Oxford (London, 1874), pp. 97-101. See also 15 Feb. 1674@5

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 216: Sr Martin Marall K & Q. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 348. It is possible that this performance was at court

Event Comment: [Newdigate newsletters (Folger Shakespeare Library), 4 Feb. 1674@5: Tuesday night after Counsell their Maties & Court were present at the Rehearsal of the great Maske wch is to be publiquely acted on Shrove Tuesday; by wch tyme her Royall Highness will be able to be present at it, being already very well after her Lying in, as is also ye young princess (Wilson, Theatre Notes, p. 79). The Bulstrode Papers (1, 277): 8 Feb. 1674@5: On Wed night after Councell their Maties and Royal Highnesses were present at the rehearsall of the Great Maske wch will be publiquely acted on Tuesday 7 night next. [The two sources agree on the intended date of the performance but disagree upon the date of the rehearsal.

Event Comment: John Verney to Sir Ralph Verney, 25 April 1675: The King on Saturday night sent for the keys from the Earl of Clarendon--'tis said the reason is, that last Thursday a play was acted at court, and after orders given that no more should be let in, his lordship came to the door, which the guard refused to open, tho' he told them who he was, on which he broke it open and struck a yeoman of the guard. Some say a chamberlain was never before turned out for beating a yeoman of the guard (HMC, 7th Report, Appendix, [1879], p. 464)

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 215. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 345. Marquis of Worcester to the Marchioness, 8 June 1675: I sate up last night at the play in Court--which was to entertaine the Prince of Newbough--till one of the clock in the morning (HMC, 12th Report, Appendix, Beaufort MSS., IX, 65)

Event Comment: Andrew Marvell to William Popple, 24 July. Scaramuccio acting dayly in the Hall at Whitehall, and all Sorts of People flocking thither, and paying their Money as at a common Playhouse; nay even a twelve-penny Gallery is builded for the convenience of his Majesty's poorer Subjects (Marvell's Works, ed. H. M. Margoliouth, [Oxford, 1927], II, 320). For a warrant to Nicholas Staggins for writing "a chaccon" for "Scaramoucha" see Boswell, Restoration Court Stage, p. 122

Event Comment: Evelyn, Diary: [I] saw the Italian Scaramucchio act before the King at White-hall; People giving monye to come in, which was very Scandalous, & never so before at Court Diversions: having seene him act before in Italy many years past, I was not averse from seeing the most excellent of that kind of folly

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@142, p. 81: At the Man of Mode. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 348. Nell Gwyn also attended this performance. See VanLennep, Nell Gwyn's Playgoing, p. 407. It is uncertain whether this is the premiere, but the licensing date of 3 June 1676 suggests that the first production may have occurred at this time. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 36): This Comedy being well Cloath'd and well Acted, got a great deal of Money. One song, As Amoret with Phyllis sat, the words by Sir Car Scroope and the music by Nicholas Staggins, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Second Book, 1679; another, When first Amintas charmed my heart, the music by Staggins, is in the same collection, Fifth Book, 1684. John Dennis: I remember very well that upon the first acting this Comedy, it was generally believed to be an agreeable Representation of the Persons of Condition of both both Sexes, both in Court and Town; and that all the World was charm'd with Dorimont (A Defence of Sir Fopling Flutter, 1722, p. 18). For the full text of Dennis' discussion of this play, see The Critical Works of John Dennis, ed. E. N. Hooker (Baltimore, 1943), II, 241-50

Event Comment: See a note from the Marquis Cattaneo to the Duke of Modena (in Campana de Cavelli, Les derniers Stuarts [Paris and London, 1871], I, 171), in which he states that the entire court went three or four times to see The Man of Mode

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. Nell Gwyn attended this performance. See VanLennep, Nell Gwyn's Playgoing, p.408. It is not certain that this was the premiere, but, as the play was licensed for publication on 20 Nov. 1676, the first performance may well have been on this day. A song, Away with the causes of riches and cares, with music by Matthew Lock, is in Catch that Catch Can, No. 64, 1685. Another, Beneath a shady willow, with music by William Turner, is in A New Collection of Songs and Poems...by Thomas D'Urfey, 1683. Edition of 1677: That its only good Fortune was, in being the Subject of the Courts Diversion, where their Noble Clemency and Good Nature were extremely requisite, in covering its defects from the too Censorious; His Majesty, according to His accustomed Royal and Excellent Temper, was pleas'd to descend so far, as to give it a particular Applause, which was seconded by your Grace [The Duke of Ormond]

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 359: The Rivall Queene. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 346. That this is the premiere is indicated by a letter from the Marquis of Worcester to the Marchioness, 17 March 1676@7: Sir Charles Sedley's Cleopatra has been acted often, and to-day a new play of the death of Alexander, but I have not been to see either, living a mighty drudging life (HMC, 12th Report, Appendix, Beaufort MSS., IX, 66). Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 11), has a cast which agrees (except for omissions) with that in the edition of 1677. Downes adds (p. 16): [Hart in] Alexander, towards the latter End of his Acting; if he Acted in any one of these but once in a Fortnight, the House was fill'd as at a New Play, especially Alexander, he Acting that with such Grandeur and Agreeable Majesty, That one of the Court was pleas'd to Honour him with this Commendation; That Hart might Teach any King on Earth how to Comport himself

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@143, p.162. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 349. The Diary of Edward Lake, 16 Nov. 1677: This day the court began to whisper the prince's sullennesse, or clownishnesse, that hee took no notice of his princesse at the playe and balle (Camden Miscellany, 1847, I, 9)

Event Comment: See L. C. 5@142, p. 160 (in Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 380) for an order for altering the stage for the French comedians. Boswell (Restoration Court Stage, p. 160) believes that the first performance by the French troupe occurred on 5 Dec. 1677

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the premiere is not known, but a licensing date of 18 Feb. 1677@8 suggests a premiere not later than January 1677@8. It is possible, however, that this play followed Sir Patient Fancy (17 Jan. 1677@8), as the licensing date of Timon follows that for Sir Patient Fancy. Part of the music for Timon was composed by Louis Grabu and was published, without the singers' names, in Choice Ayres and Songs, 1679. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 37): Timon of Athens, alter'd by Mr Shadwell; 'twas very well Acted, and the Musick in't well Perform'd; it wonderfully pleas'd the Court and City; being an Excellent Moral

Event Comment: On this date an order for the Customs Commissions to examine belongings of the French comedians and allow their free export suggests that they left London about this time. See Calendar of Treasury Books, 1676-1679, p. 962, and Boswell, Restoration Court Stage, p. 124

Event Comment: In November 1678 the Duke of Modena sent his troupe of comedians to London. They remained there until mid-February 1678@9 but apparently played only six times in three months. For an account of this troupe, see A. L. Bader, The Modena Troupe in England, Modern Language Notes, L (1935), 367-69, and I. K. Fletcher, Italian Comedians in England in the 17th Century, Theatre Notebook, VIII (1954), 86-91. See also Calendar of Treasury Books, 1676-1679, pp. 1160, 1230, and Boswell, Restoration Court Stage, p. 124

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the premiere is not known. Pepys saw it on 6 March 1679@80, calling it a "New Play," and that may have been the first day. The Prologue alludes also to the Duke of York's triumphant return from Scotland on 24 Feb. 1679@80, and the play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1680. For Mrs Bracegirdle as the "little Girl," see Edmund Curll, History of the English Stage (1741), p. 26, and Lucyle Hook, Anne Bracegirdle's First Appearance, Theatre Notebook, XIII (1959), 134. For Betterton as Castalio and Mrs Barry as Monimia, probably as they performed in the next decade, see Cibber, Apology, ed. Lowe, I, 116, 160. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 37) gives the same cast except for omissions and except for Serina-Mrs Mountfort, who acted it later. Downes (pp. 37-38) adds: [Monimia, Belvidera in Venice Preserved, and Isabella in The Fatal Marriage] These three Parts, gain'd her the Name of Famous $Mrs Barry, both at court and City; for when ever She Acted any of these three Parts, she forc'd Tears from the Eyes of her Auditory, especially those who have any Sense of Pity for the Distress't. These 3 Plays, by their Excellent Performances, took above all the Modern Plays that succeeded. A song for this play, Come all the youths whose hearts have bled, the music by Forcer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book, 1681

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This is the third in the series of Court performances in L. C. 5@145, p. 120: Sir Fopling Flutter. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 350, and 11 Feb. 1679@80

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This is another in the series of Court performances in L. C. 5@145, p. 120. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 350, and 11 Feb. 1679@80. It should be noted that not only is this date a Friday in Lent but it is also during the period of mourning for the Princess Elizabeth. Yet to place this performance in 1681 would make it fall on Sunday

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is another in the sequence of plays acted at court in L. C. 5@145, p. 120: Night's Intrigue. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 350, and 11 Feb. 1679@80. If this performance were placed on 6 March 1680@1, it would fall on Sunday

Event Comment: The King's Company. The Newdigate newsletters, 3 June 1680: But on Wednesday the Duchesse of Portsmouth to disoblige Mr Settle the Poet carryed all the Court with her to the Dukes house to see Macbeth (Wilson, Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters, p. 80)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, but the entry of this play in the Term Catalogues for November 1680 suggests a first offering in September or October 1680. The music for the play was composed by Henry Purcell, his first (according to Downes composing for the stage. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 38) gives a shortened cast and adds: All the Parts in't being perfectly perform'd, with several Entertainments of Singing; Compos'd by the Famous Master Mr Henry Purcell, (being the first he e'er Compos'd for the Stage) made it a living and Gainful Play to the Company: The Court; especially the Ladies, by their daily charming presence, gave it great Encouragement. Dedication, Edition of 1680: The Reputation that this Play received on the Stage, some few Errors excepted, was more than I could well hope from so Censorious an Age....You [the Duchess of Richmond] brought her Royal Highness just at the exigent Time, whose single Presence on the Poet's day is a Subsistence for him all the Years after. A song, Hail to the myrtle shade, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book (dated 2 Nov. 1680)