Event Comment: "When Euphrasia stabs Dionysius, she exclaims, 'A daughter's arm, fell monster, strikes the blow, Yes, first she strikes...' All, or at least the greatest part of this seems to be intended to precede the blow; and yet probability requires that the blow of a woman that kills an armed warrior should be unforeseen and sudden. Mrs Siddons felt the force of this. She strikes Dionysius without speaking a word, and repeats the passage over him as he lies on the ground" (Monthly Mirror, July 1800, p. 41). Receipts: #154 11s. 6d. (90.17.6; 62.8.0; 1.6.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. [In mainpiece the playbill does not list the Child; for the assignment see Morning Post, 10 Oct., and edition of 1787 (Rachael Randall).] "[Mrs Siddons's] merit in the character was infinite, and the applause she received unbounded. In various of her scenes the plaudits were repeated . . . During the fourth and fifth acts there was almost an incessant clapping, and when Isabella expired her death was rendered glorious by the theatre's resounding with thundering applause for more than a minute" (Morning Chronicle, 11 Oct.). "L'actrice la plus noble dans ses manieres, madame Siddons, ne perd rien de sa dignite quand elle se prosterne contre terre . . . Enfin, il arriva ce moment terrible ou Isabelle, s'etant echappee des mains des femmes qui veulent l'empechcr de se tuer, rit, en se donnant un coup de poignard, de l'inutilite de leurs efforts. Ce rire du desespoir est l'effet le plus difficile et le plus remarquable que le jeu dramatique puisse produire; il emeut bien plus que les larmes: cette amere ironie du malheur est son expression la plus dechirante. Qu'elle est terrible la souffrance du coeur, quand elle inspire une si barbare joie, quand elle donne, a l'aspect de son propre sang, le contentement feroce d'un sauvage ennemi qui se serait venge!" (Mme de Stael: Corinne, livre XVII, chapitre iv). Receipts: #181 11s. (147/0; 34/6; 0/5)

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; D 5, by Richard Cumberland. Prologue by the author; Epilogue by George Colman ynger (London Chronicle, 27 July). Larpent MS 1138; 1st published in Cumberland's Posthumous Dramatic Works, 1813, Vol. II, with unassigned casts listing Citizens.

Event Comment: Benefit for the Voluntary Contribution now open at the Bank, for the Defence of our Country. Boxes 10s. 6d. Pit 5s. Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. Tickets to be had and Places to be taken of Brandon, at the Stage-Door in Hart-street. Tickets also to be had at the Bar of Lloyd's Coffee-House. [Prologue by William Boscawen (Monthly Mirror, Mar. 1798, p. 178. Author of Address unknown.] "A subscription was set on foot behind the scenes," to which most of the performers contributed #10 apiece (Monthly Mirror, ibid). Account-Book, 12 May: Paid into the Bank of England in aid of the Voluntary Contribution #394 15s. Receipts: #518 8s. (280.9; 12.2; tickets: 225.17) [the difference of #123 13s. appears to have been the house charge]