Event Comment: [C$Colman published in the Public Advertiser this day extracts from the Oxonian in Town showing what favorable things were said of the Irish in it. He apparently did so to forstall a predicted riot by Irishmen who feared their nation was slandered because the scoundrels in the play were Irish. See E. R. Page, George Colman, The Elder (New York, 1935), p. 168. Monitor No V (21 Nov. 1767) includes a letter from Timothy Calfskin requesting refund of 4 shillings since his wife was frightened by the noise of the "wild Irish" and ran from the playhouse.] Receipts: #191 4s. (Account Book)

Event Comment: [Macklin dismissed after this night. See the account in The Genuine Arguments of the Council, with the Opinion of the Court of the King's Bench, &c., By a Citizen of the World, (London, 1774). Extracts in E. R. Page, George Colman, the Elder (New York, 1935). See notes for 23 and 30 Oct. and the subsequent action in note for 20 Nov. He did not return until 18 May 1775. This night was aparently, except for #4 5s. which was not recorded on the books of the theatre until 18 June well after the season closed. Macklin's suit in court against the rioters was judged 24 Feb. 1775. A column and a half account of the trial appeared in the Public Advertiser, Saturday 13 May 1775, giving the testimony of the witnesses accused of starting the riot, the lawyers, and the judge. The accused were Leigh, Miles, James, Aldus, and Clarke. The first four were convicted of a conspiracy and a riot, the last of a riot only. During the Course of the Business Lord Mansfield took Occasion to observe, that the Right of Hissing, and Applauding in a theatre was an unalterable Right, but there was a wide Distinction between expressing the natural Sensations of the Mind as they arose on what was seen and heard, and executing a pre-concerted Desagn, not only to hiss an Actor when he was playing a Part in which he was universally allowed to be excellent, but also to drive him from the theatre, and effect his utter ruin." See also William W. Appleton, Charles Macklin, An Actors Life (Cambridge, Mass., 1960), Chapter X.

Event Comment: Benefit for R. Palmer, Russell & Dowton. 1st piece [1st time; B 1, by Edward Henry Iliff. The title-page has "by Edmund Spenser, Ynger." On his copy, now in Huntington Library, J. P. Kemble has written, "Iliffe [sic] is the real Name of the Authour"; he has made a similar notation on the playbill]: Founded on the 17th Number of The Spectator. 3rd piece [1st time; MF 1. Larpent MS 1219; not published. The characters are all taken from previous plays by John O'Keeffe, as follows: Sadboy (The Young Quaker); Signor Arionelli and Bowkitt (The Son-in-Law); Motley (The Dead Alive); Tully (The London Hermit); Lingo and Cowslip (The Agreeable Surprise); Ephraim Smooth (Wild Oats); Nipperkin (Sprigs of Laurel); Jemmy Jumps and Betty Blackberry (The Farmer); Mrs Casey (Fontainbleau)]: Written by Mr O'Keeffe. Times, 4 June: Tickets to be had of R. Palmer, No. 2, Queen's-row, Pimlico; of Russell, No. 19, Martlet-court, Bow-street; of Dowton, No. 5, Strand-lane, Surry-street, Strand. Receipts: #413 11s. 6d. (76.17.6; 37.7.0; 1.0.0 tickets: 298.7.0) (charge: #215 10s. 5d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Jameson. Hull is to succeed Colman in the management of Covent Garden (Winston MS 10). Colman sold his share of the patent to Harris in the spring of this year, this departure to take place in June (Page, George Colman, The Elder). Michel Dyer Died (Genest, V, 424). Miss Jameson's charges #77 13s. 6d. Profit to her #59 10s., plus #66 7s. from tickets. (Box 127; Pit 138; Gallery 139). Receipts: #137 3s. 6d. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Benefit for Edwin. 2nd piece [1st time; F 2, by George Colman, elder, based of L'Avocat Patelin, by David Augustin de Brueys. This is usually ascribed to William Macready. But on the title-page of his copy (K-D 295 in Huntington Library) J. P. Kemble has written "This Piece was not written by Mr Macready." Public Advertiser, 29 Aug. states that "Colman...presented Edwin upon this occasion with a new Farce, taken from a celebrated French Play." World, 15 Oct. 1787 refers to Colman's dislike of L'Avocat Patelin, but adds, "When [he] came to translate it himself, he found reason to alter his opinion."]. Public Advertiser, 25 Aug.: Tickets to be had of Edwin, No. 19, Piazza, Covent Garden

Event Comment: Mainpiece: [With alterations by John Philip Kemble] Not acted these 4 years. [In his prompt copy (1808) now in Harvard Theatre Collection Kemble's annotation lists the following as needed in the opening scene: 10 principals, Captain of the Guard, 3 Knights, 2 Pages, 2 Gentlemen with Crown, 2 Gentlemen with Map, Physician, Herald, 2 Ladies with Goneril, 2 Ladies with Regan, 2 Standard Bearers, 12 Guards. Nearly every scene opens or closes with drums and trumpets. In the storm scene, "Thunder and lightning; lamps down," i.e. the footlights lowered out of sight into a shallow trough. It is not unlikely that these arrangements were adhered to in this present revival.] "Kemble said that, however singular it might be, in Lear an audience quite unsettled him; the noise of the box-doors caught his ear, and routed all his meditated effects; and he found it absolutely impossible to do that at night which he had thrown out during the rehearsal in the morning" (Boaden, Siddons, II, 376). Receipts: #350 9s. 6d. (310.9.6; 38.12.0; 1.8.0)

Event Comment: [The playbill assigns Mrs Page to Mrs Wilson, and Mrs Ford to Miss Younge, but on the Kemble playbill both these names are deleted. Mrs Whitfield's name is written above Mrs Wilson's, but the name of Miss Younge's substitute has been cut by the binder; she was almost certainly Mrs Mattocks (see 25 Jan. 1782).] Receipts: #155 1s. (149/18; 5/3)