Event Comment: "...Richard III, which I saw performed at Drury-lane theatre at the beginning of the present season...The dresses of the characters which here make their appearance are in the usual half-and-half mode, made up from portraits of Charles I's reign, and from unrestrained fancy. Richard's habit, indeed, shews a faint hint, at the costume of his day; but how modernized! A fancy cap and feather,with a milliner's white-ribband rose, sewed thereon. A deep ruff, of that make not known until the reign of James I From the neck depends a ribband With the George: this decoration never seen in paintings till about the fashions of the abovementioned monarch's court. On his legs and feet, white silk stockings, white shoes, and red roses. These latter ornaments unknown before Elizabeth or James I's modes of dress prevailed; at any rate, they should have been white ones to have accorded with the party-badge in his cap." Writer signing himself "An Artist and an Antiquary" in Gentleman's Magazine, Apr. 1800, p. 319. Receipts: #225 16s. 6d. (178.3.6; 47.12.0; 0.1.0)

Event Comment: Benefit Marten and White. Receipts: #15 8s., plus #157 16s. from tickets, but the distribution unspecified. Charges #60. James White, however, paid over his half of the deficiency (#22 6s.) immediately (Account Books, Egerton 2268). Tickets sold at the door will not be admitted. (General Advertiser)

Event Comment: Benefit Marten and White. Mainpiece never acted there before. [See 7 July 1738. Care will be taken to prevent tickets illegitmately sold from being admitted.

Event Comment: Both pieces By Particular Desire. Afterpiece: Never performed there. Last night was deposited in the Vault of St Paul's Covent Garden the remains of James Bencraft, that truly honest, amiable, and benevolent man, whose perpetual pleasantry and delectable vein of humour cannot more aptly be described than in the words of Hamlet-"That fellow of infinite jest &c., Alas poor Jemmy" (+Winston MS 9 from The Gazetteer)

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for Watts. Mainpiece: Written by Mrs Centlivre; Not acted these 40 years [not acted since 27 Apr. 1731, at Goodman's Fields]. Prologue written by a Gentleman [unidentified; printed in Town and Country Magazine, Apr. 1784, p. 214. The playbill for this performance is as printed in Morning Chronicle, 8 Mar. Gazetteer, 8 Mar., assigns Captain Constant to Reynolds, Laura to Miss Beaufield, Maria to Mrs Green, Belinda to Miss Johnson]. The Doors to be opened at 5:00. To begin at 6:30. Tickets to be had of Connolly, at the King's Head Tavern, Fenchurch-street; of Watts, No. 2, Upper James-street, Golden-square

Event Comment: Benefit Cross (Prompter), Anderson, Clarke, White. Tickets for Miss Burgess also taken. Receipts: #110 (Rylands MS.)

Event Comment: Benefit White, Vaughan, Evans (Boxkeepers)

Event Comment: Benefit for Marten and White (Treasurer). Afterpiece: A farce in Two Acts [Anonymous] never acted there before. [See 14 Jan. 1743, at lif.

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Henry Mackenzie, based on La Fausse Inconstance; ou, Le Triomphe de l'Honnetete, by Fanny de Beauharnais. Larpent MS 852; text 1st published in Mackenzie's Works, Vol. VIII (Edinburgh, 1808), as False Shame; or, The White Hypocrite; it assigns no parts. Prologue and Epilogue by the author (see text)]. [Afterpiece in place of Love and War, advertised on playbill of 4 Dec.] Receipts: #202 13s. 6d. (191.3.6; 11.10.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Barry. Mainpiece [by Edward Young]: not acted these 30 years. Part of Pit will be laid into the Boxes. Servants allowed to keep places on the Stage. Tomorrow, not acted these 20 years, Ulysses for the Benefit of Mrs Woffington. A Young lady, remarkably handsome, appeared in the Pit of Covent Garden Playhouse on Monday Night last; she had on a white hat with pink ribbons; a pink colour'd Cardinal trimm'd with white fur, which she took off on account of people spitting down from the slips...She was standing near the Pit Door before the play began, but soon had room made for her at the end of one of the seats (Daily Advertiser, 22 March)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Condill, Miss Sledge, and Miss Vivier [sic]. Tickets deliver'd by Miss Condill, Miss White, Viviez Jr, Miss Sledge, Mrs Jansolien, Guerin, and Mrs Paddick will be taken. Account Book: Receipts: #32 18s. 6d. [Each received half value of the tickets he or she delivered.] @Tickets Box Pit Gallery Value 1!2 Value@Miss Condill 11 80 34 #18 3s. #9 1s. 6d.@Miss White 43 41 74 #24 6s. #12 3s.@Miss Sledge 16 60 68 #19 16s. #9 18s.@Mrs Jansolien 22 61 50 #19 13s. #9 16s. 6d.@Guerin 14 29 17 #9 11s. #4 15s. 6d.@Viviez Jr 25 23 50 #14 14s. #7 7s.@Mrs Paddick 0 28 29 #7 2s. #3 11s.@Total 131 322 322 #113 5s. #56 12s. 6d.

Event Comment: Benefit for Chapman, Mrs Dyer, Miss White, and Miss Sledge. Tickets deliver'd out by Mrs White, Mrs Leppie, Mrs Viviez, and Mrs Hitchcock will be taken

Event Comment: Benefit for Gibbs, Miss White, and a Gentleman in Distress. Tickets delivered out by Courtney, Rawlins, Mrs Gold, Mrs Gwinn, and others for 26 April will be taken. Tickets sold at the doors will nto be admitted. Receipts: #89 5s. in cash and 1!2 value of tickets: @Tickets Gibbs Box@Pit 4@Gallery 22@Value #2 16s.@1!2 Value #1 8s.@Tickets Courtney Box 30@Pit 141@Gallery 39@Value #32 11s.@1!2 Value #16 5s. 6d.@Tickets Rawlins Box 17@Pit 44@Gallery 44@Value #15 5s.@1!2 Value #7 12s. 6d.@Tickets Person Distress'd Box 37@Pit 92@Gallery 57@Value #28 15s.@1!2 Value #14 7s. 6d.@Tickets Miss White Box 17@Pit 29@Gallery 37@Value #12 6s.@1!2 Value #6 3s.@Tickets Mrs Gold Box 3@Pit 15@Gallery 31@Value #6 2s.@1!2 Value #3 1s.@Tickets Mrs Hitchcock Box 12@Pit 30@Gallery 10@Value #8 10s.@1!2 Value #4 5s. Gratis@Tickets Mrs Gwynn Box 2@Pit 28@Gallery 47@Value #9 8s.@1!2 Value #4 14s. Gratis@Box 108@Pit 383@Gallery 287@Value #115 13s.@1!2 Value #57 16s. 6d.@Cash #31 8s. 6d.@Receipt #89 5s.

Event Comment: Benefit for White, Treasurer. No Building on the stage. Afterpiece: By Desire, but for the last time this season

Event Comment: Benefit for White and Legg

Event Comment: Benefit for Bennet, White and Legg

Event Comment: Benefit for Legg, Bennet, and White, Mr Barry's sudden indisposition rendering him incapable of performing, Mr Ross will do his part [i.e., Essex]

Event Comment: Benefit for White & Mrs Baker

Event Comment: Benefit for Younger. Tickets deliver'd by Miss Helme, Mrs Stephens, White, and Gardner will be taken. Tickets sold at the Doors will not be admitted. Tickets and places to be had of Sarjant at the stage door. None admitted behind the Scenes

Event Comment: Mainpiece [by Oliver Goldsmith]: Never Perform'd Before. [Quick, mentioned by Genest, does not appear on the playbill. The Edition of 1768 casts Mrs White as Landlady, and Cushing as Butler. It does not include Morris or Morgan, but adds Post@Boy-Quick; Bailiff-R. Smith; Dubardieu-Holtom. (See 1 Feb.) The Theatrical Monitor, No XI (6 Feb.), reviews the mainpiece in a lukewarm, judicial manner.] Receipts: #227 4s. 6d. (Account Book)

Event Comment: [M$Miss White as Sylvia is identified by a note in the Account Book.] Receipts: #58 19s. (Account Book.

Event Comment: [The King's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but a letter--see 2 Jan. 1670@1--indicates that the first part had been acted before that date and that Part II was to be shortly staged. The point of the Prologue spoken by Ellen Gwyn seems to have derived from an incident at Dover (see Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, p. 20) in May 1670, when James Nokes attired himself in a ridiculous fashion, including "Broad wast Belts." The speakers of the Epilogue and the Prologue to the Second Part are mentioned in Sir William Haward's MS (Bodl. MS Don. b., pp. 248-49); see The Poems of John Dryden, ed. James Kinsley (Oxford, 1958), IV, 1848-49. In Part I a song Beneath a myrtle shade, with music by John Bannister, is in Choice Songs and Ayres, First Book, 1673. Another, Wherever I am, with music by Alphonso Marsh, is in the same collection, as is also How unhappy a lover am I, the music by Nicholas Staggins. Mrs John Evelyn to Mr Bohun, ca. Jan. 1670@1: Since my last to you I have seen The Siege of Grenada, a play so full of ideas that the most refined romance I ever read is not to compare with it; love is made so pure, and valour so nice, that one would image it designed for an Utopia rather than our stage. I do not quarrel with the poet, but admire one born in the decline of morality should be able to feign such exact virtue; and as poetic fiction has been instructive in former ages, I wish this the same event in ours. As to the strict law of comedy I dare not pretend to judge: some think the division of the story is not so well if it could all have been comprehended in the day's actions (The Diary and Correspondence of John Evelyn, ed. William Bray, IV, 25). According to John Evelyn--see 9 Feb. 1670@1--Robert Streeter did some of the scenes for this play. In the Preface to The Fatal Discovery, ca. February 1697@8, George Powell, in discussing revivals of Dryden's plays, stated: In relation to our reviving his Almanzor...very hard crutching up what Hart and Mohun could not prop

Event Comment: Benefit Boaman, James, Mrs James.Mainpiece: Written by Shakespear

Event Comment: Benefit James and Dupre