Event Comment: Mainpiece: By Particular Desire. Benefit for Bowers (box-keeper) and Veal (1st gallery door-keeper). Play begins exactly at six o'clock. House charges #84. [Deficit to beneficiaries #61 5s. 6d.] Tickets deliver'd for The Busy Body will be taken. Paid Rector's rate and Watch 4 quarters #1 13s. Rec'd from Messrs Powell & Co for cloaths #11 11s.; Eight days from the Certainties #82 13s. 4d.; Stopages #1 18s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #22 14s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book). Took a place in ye front Boxes at Drury Lane for Wednesday next, when ye Suspicious Husband is to be performed for ye Decayed Actors' Fund, scarcely a place remaining untaken. I wanted one in ye Pit (Neville MS Diary)

Event Comment: TThe Provok'd Husband is oblig'd to be deferr'd on account of the Indisposition of a principal performer. Receipts: #136 10s. 6d. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Benefit for Yates. Tragedy written by R. Glover. Part of Pit will be laid into Boxes. Send servants by 4 o'clock. Charges #64 19s. Balance to Yates #52 19s. plus #151 3s. from tickets (Box 589; Pit 26) (Account Book). Neville MS Diary: Having places in the Pit at Covent Garden went to see Mrs Yates do Medea in which she is inimitably great. My strong desire to see her in this character was one reason of continuing to town so long. Read her part before the play began. Her husband is truly comic in Tim in the Knights. Receipts; #117 18s. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Waited on Mrs Barry to know if it would be agreeable to her to play Lady Townly [Provok'd Husband] with Mrs Reddish. She said she had no cloaths fit for it. I ask'd if she has any objection to Mrs Abington's playing the part. She answered no (Hopkins MS Memorandum Book)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Barry. Part of pit laid into boxes. ["On 25 March Mrs Baddeley set off for Dublin, induced by her husband's behaviour" (Winston MS 10, from Dr Burney's News Clippings). But she was advertised as singing the part of Rhodope in the afterpiece the night of the twenty-sixth.

Event Comment: Eleventh and Last time of performing Mainpiece this season. Afterpiece: By Particular Desire. Othello and The Irish Widow, to have been performed this evening for Mr Barry's Benefit, oblig'd to be deferr'd till further notice (playbill). Mr Barry being Ill his Benefit which was to have been this Night is oblig'd to be deferr'd (Hopkins Diary). [So, according to Hopkins, the profits went to the house.] Receipts: #171 19s. 6d. To the Public Advertiser: Sir, I spent an agreeable evening lately with a Country Friend at the Primitive Puppet Show, and was not displeased at the ridicule pointed at the dull, spiritless stuff, which composes modern Sentimental Comedy. I was entertained too with the manner in which some of the Actors were taken off; But I cannot think mimicry worthy to furnish an Evening Entertainment for a Polite British Audience, or suited to the happy ridicule and pointed wit of Aristophanes. The old Roman comedy, as it was called, was designed for nobler purposes: it was directed to improve the head and mend the heart. The keen manly satire of that Comedy was pointed at Upstart, Braggart, Vice, and to expose the dangerous unfeeling craft of innocent Villainy, or to use the words of Mr Pope--Brand the bold front of shameless, guilty man. Such was, and such ought to be, the salutary Direction of Wit, and Satire by exhibiting characters in their genuine colours, when the mask, which disguises and conceals them from the eyes of the Weak the Credulous, and the Ignorant, is drawn off. The words of Horace are--Detrabere et pellam, mitidus qua quisque per ora Cederet, introrsum turpis. Yours, Dramaticus. Poetry for the Public Advertiser. Epigram on the New Tragedy Alonzo. @No wonder that each female voice@Resounds Alonzo's praise;@A sure foundation of Applause,@The crafty Author lays.@ @Against the Virtue of his Wife@A Husband, if he's wise@According to the Gallant HOME,@Should not believe his eyes.

Event Comment: Benefit for the Relief of Persons Imprisoned for small Debts. The Provok'd Husband is oblig'd to be changed on account of Mrs Yates illness. Tickets delivered for that comedy will be taken. Rec'd stopages #14; Paid salary list #564 6s.; Mr Slingsby on note in full of #150 per order; #40, J. French on Acct #5 5s.; Mr Weston's Law Bill, #15 10s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #122 17s.; Charges: #84; Profits to Charity: #38 17s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Woodman, late of Covent Garden, left a Widow with five Children. By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. To begin at 6:00 p.m. [Public Advertiser, 21 Feb., contained a long letter concerning the small attendance on this occasion: "One of the finest Female Singers this Country has for many years produced is now, through a Series of Misfortunes as unavoidable as unforeseen, in a State of Wretchedness scarcely credible. [Her husband, a schoolteacher, died.] Alas! she had five helpless innocent to drink of the same bitter Cup, to harrow up all the Heartstrings of a Mother, and to tear her Soul unavailingly for that Support, of which she herself was depriv'd by the Death of their Father. [The expenses of the benefit performance exceeded the receipts of the house.] Calamity became heaped upon Calamity, and she is now weeping in a Prison, over her unhappy little ones, for a Sum not exceeding #50." Appeal is made for gifts to relieve her. On 23 May, Mrs Woodman released from prison, gave a Benefit Concert at the Crown and Anchor Tavern, concluding with an Occasional Musical Address to the Town called The Grateful Acknowledgment, written and the music compiled from a most eminent Master by Adam Smith, sung by Mrs Woodman.

Event Comment: Paid 4 day's salary list at #94 11s. 6d. per diem #378 7s. 4d.; J. French on acct #5 5s. (Treasurer's Book). [From the Westminster Magazine, March, p. 125: "A disturbance on account of Mrs Yates having left the theatre without speaking the Epilogue to Braganza. The House was clamorous and would not give up their right. Mr Vernon endeavoured to appease their fury, by declaring that Mrs Yates being taken with a hoarseness, had left the theatre,' but this excuse the Audience would not accept. Mr Vernon withdrew, and after a short time returned assuring the House that he had sent to Mr Garrick (who was confined to his room with a fit of the stone) but who had directed the messenger immediately to fetch Mrs Yates, and that her husband was then in the theatre. He was directly called for, and instantly came on the stage to know the pleasure of the Audience. They told him bluntly they did not want to see him, but to hear his wife, whose obstinacy and pride had betrayed her into the present insult. He in vain tried to assure them, that his wife's conduct proceeded from a very contrary cause from that which they alledged; and the cause was real illness. As the clamor was universal, Mr Yates quitted the stage; and at length, an hour and a half being spent in tumult, the overture was suffered, and the farce went on, but not in silence." See note, 9 March.] Receipts: #201 19s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Great Applause to the Farce (Hopkins Diary).Benefit for Mrs Abington. Mainpiece: By Particular Desire. Tickets delivered for The Tender Husband will be taken. Send Servants by Four to prevent Confusion. [Sir Joshua Reynolds had procured forty places in the front boxes this night. Boswell and Dr Johnson were among his guests. Johnson could see and hear little, but sat out the performance, commenting on Garrick's excellence as a writer of Prologues. See Boswell's Life of Johnson, ed. G. B. Hill, II, 324ff.] Receipts: #287 9s. 6d. Charges: #64 4s. Profits to Mrs Abington: #223, 5s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: The Provoked Husband and Rival Candidates was given out for Tuesday. On Sunday Morning Mrs Yates sent word she was ill and could not play--sent to Miss Younge, and she sent word that she was ill in bed--King sent word he had a sore Throat, and could not play--so that we could do no Play but the Committee and Rival Candidates. On Monday the Managers met, but nothing was settled. At twelve o'clock Mrs Baddeley sent word she had a sore Throat, and could not play in the Riv[al] Can[didates] (Hopkins Diary). The Hypocrite and The Christmas Tale are obliged to be deferred. "[Smith] has a good figure, is gentlemanlike, and decent in everything he undertakes. When we allow that, we have said all; he wants both feeling to be affected, and powers to convey his feelings, if he had them. In fine, in spite of all the partiality of his friends, or the ignorant prejudices of those who never judge but at second hand, his performance of Richard was little more than a strong union of judgement and industry, unaided by nature. He should woo genteel Comedy oftener; and not that coy sister of hers, who certainly holds Smith at the point of her lance" (London Magazine, Oct. 1776, p. 511). Receipts: #186 18s. 6d

Event Comment: [This was Mrs Barry's 1st appearance since the death of her husband on 10 Jan. See also 28 Nov. 1776. Address by David Garrick (Poetical Works, II, 333).] Receipts: #270 17s. 6d. (267.16.6; 3.1.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Harper. Tickets delivered for The Nabob and The Provoked Husband will be admitted. Afterpiece: By Permission of the Author. Public Advertiser, 24 Aug.: Tickets to be had of Miss Harper at Guy's, Catherine-street, Strand

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of The Provoked Husband, announced on playbill of 11 Sept.

Event Comment: The Provok'd Husband [announced on playbill of 23 Oct.] is obliged to be deferred on account of the Indisposition of a principal Performer. [Afterpiece in place of The Elopement, announced in Public Advertiser, 23 Oct.] Receipts: #117 15s. (85.17.0; 31.14.6; 0.3.6)

Event Comment: By Command of Their Majesties. [Mainpiece in place of The Suspicious Husband; afterpiece of Harlequin Free-Mason, both announced on playbill of 27 Dec. Afterpiece: Prologue by Frederick Pilon.] Receipts: #253 3s. 6d. (251.2.0; 2.1.6)

Event Comment: By Command of Their Majesties. [Mainpiece in place of The Careless Husband, announced on playbill of 7 Feb.] Receipts: #252 1s. (247.16; 4.5)

Event Comment: [In 2nd piece the playbill retains Mrs Cargill as Macheath, but "Mrs Cargill and her husband [but see 8 Sept.] took it into their heads to set off suddenly for Bath last week; the consequence was the audience were on Tuesday evening disappointed of their Macheath, and, after an apology, agreed to receive Wood in the character, who played it extremely well, and was much applauded" (Morning Chronicle, 13 Sept.). Who acted Wood's part of Jenny Diver is not stated.

Event Comment: [As mainpiece the playbill announces The Mysterious Husband, but its "being, on account of Miss Younge's sudden Illness, set aside, it was very proper to substitute another Piece of Cumberland's, The Walloons" (Public Advertiser, 10 Feb.).] Receipts: #150 6s. (142/7/6; 7/18/6)

Event Comment: The new Comedy called A Bold Stroke for a Husband [announced on playbill of 21 Feb.] is obliged to be deferred till Tuesday, on account of Quick's Indisposition. [In mainpiece the theatre playbill lists Fearon as Justice Shallow. Public Advertiser retains Wilson; and in its issue of 24 Feb. reviews him in the part.] Receipts: #148 9s. (139/0/6; 9/8/6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Waldron. Public Advertiser, 9 May: Tickets to be had of Waldron, No. 19, Martlet-court, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Mainpiece [1st time in London; C 5, by Francis Godolphin Waldron, 1st acted at Richmond, Aug. 1782, as The Belle's Stratagem; or, The Female Fortune-Hunters, and again at the HAY in 1794 as Heigho for a Husband! Prologue by the author (MacMillan, Larpent Catalogue, 100). Author of Epilogue unknown. MS: Larpent 599; not published]. Afterpiece: Not acted these 8 years. The Indisposition which prevented King from performing last Friday continuing, Palmer has very kindly undertaken and studied the Character King intended to have appeared in this Evening. Receipts: #126 15s. 6d. (34/5/0; 21/18/6; 2/15/0; tickets: 67/17/0) (charge: #106 9s. 8d.)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Diana to Mrs Martyr, but "News of Mrs Martyr's husband's death having reached her the day before, an apology was made for her not playing Diana; Miss Wheeler, however, from the other house proved a very agreeable substitute" (.European Magazine, Oct. 1783, p. 310). In afterpiece the playbill assigns Lucy to Mrs Wilson, but on the Kemble playbill a MS annotation substitutes Mrs Davenett.] Receipts: #134 19s. 6d. (133/9/0; 1/10/6)

Event Comment: A Bold Stroke for a Husband [announced on playbill of 16 Oct.] is obliged to be deferred, on account of Mrs Mattocks's sudden Illness. Receipts: #177 14s. 6d. (171/3/6; 6/11/0)

Event Comment: [The play is opened by Mrs Beverley and Charlotte, and when Mrs Siddons came on she was hissed because of a widespread report that she had refused to act for Brereton's benefit in Dublin. "A considerable period of time was lost; it might be forty minutes before the play began . . . We could perceive that the lady supported herself with a great degree of firmness under this very aweful trial--a trial which, in great measure, determined her future fame--perhaps her residence in this metropolis" (Town and Country Magazine, Oct. 1784, p. 510). "The Breretons have used her shockingly--Mrs B. was mean enough to sneak off the stage and leave her to stand the insults of a malicious party tho' she knew the whole disturbance was on her account and that her husband had at least been obliged to contradict the reports that concern'd him" (Betsy Sheridan, Journal, 1960, p. 32). Mrs Siddons explained to the audience that the stories circulated against her were "calumnies." She had, in fact, on 19 Aug., acted Jane Shore in Dublin for Brereton's benefit (Dublin Public Register, 19 Aug. 1784). "Though Mrs Siddons delivered this address with her usual judgment and articulation, and it was received with reiterated bursts of applause, yet she was so agitated when off the stage as to be very near fainting, and continued for some time much flurried" (Public Advertiser, 6 Oct.).] Receipts: #304 5s. (291/13; 12/11; 0/1)

Event Comment: The Careless Husband [announced on playbill of 17 Feb.] is obliged to be deferred, on account of the Indisposition of a principal Performer. [Afterpiece in place of The Poor Soldier, announced on playbill of 17 Feb.]