Event Comment: The United Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@149. p. 368. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 352. The Prologue, separately printed, bears a licensing date of 16 Nov. 1689, and is reprinted in Wiley, Rare Prologues and Epilogues, pp. 276-77. Huygens, 15 Nov. 1689 OS (translation): The King, who had been at the comedy, at the birthday of the Queen-mother, which had been played at Whitehall, did not come home until twelve o'clock (Journal van Constantijn Huygens, Publications of the Dutch Historical Society, New Series, XXIII [Utrecht, 1876], 205)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2 (?), by James Wild. MS: Larpent 1000]: The greatest part entirely new, with a few Select Scenes from the most approv'd Compositions. With new Scenery, Machinery, Dresses and Decorations. The Dresses entirely new. The new Music composed by Shield, the rest selected from Harington, Dr Arne, Eley, Reeve, Pepusch, Galliard, George Ware, Hook, &c. The Scenery and Machinery entirely new painted by Richards, Hodgins, Walmsley, Lupino, Pugh, Phillips and Malton. The Dances entirely new, composed by Byrn. Account-Book, 23 Apr. 1795: Paid James Wild in full for Dr Faustus #40. European Magazine, Jan. 1794, p. 49: Dr Faustus has afforded entertainment to three if not four generations. It was first produced at Drury-lane in 1723, by Mr Thurmond, a dancing-master, and was afterwards succeeded at Lincoln's inn-fields, in the same year, by Mr Rich's more splendid performance [entitled The Necromancer; or, Harlequin Doctor Faustus], which received improvement at different revivals of it. At the latter end of 1766 [at Covent Garden] Mr Woodward made some alterations, and it was revived with great success. It is again brought forward with applause, and recalls to the remembrance of those who formerly saw it with delight, the recollection of the most enchanting period of life. The opening scene of Tartarus . . . was first introduced in the speaking pantomime of The Mirror [at Covent Garden, 30 Nov. 1779). Receipts: #352 13s. 6d. (324/13/6; 28/0/0)

Event Comment: The King's Company. In L. C. 5@139, p. 129, the play is given on one list as The Silent Woman on another list for the same day, The Scornful Lady. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 343

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. Although there is no certainty that this is the premiere, the two performances in early May 1675 suggest that this performance and the two following represent the initial run. Dedication to edition of 1676: If Sophonisba receiv'd some applause upon the stage, I arrogate nothing from the merit of the Poem

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 359. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 346. There is no certainty that this is the first performance, but a performance of Part II on 18 Jan. 1676@7 and a reference to both parts in a letter dated 19 Jan. 1676@7 suggest that the premiere must have occurred early in January

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. On Thursday 10 Dec. 1663, Pepys reported that this play was to be acted the following week, but the date of the first performance is uncertain. But--except for the holidays--it was probably acted on consecutive days until 1 Jan. 1663@4, when Pepys saw it. The play is also in Herbert, Dramatic Records, p. 138, as a "Revived Play." Pepys, Diary: I perceive the King and Duke and the Court was going to the Duke's playhouse to see Henry VIII. acted, which is said to be an admirable play. But, Lord! to see now near I was to have broken my oathe, or run the hazard of 20s. losse, so much my nature was hot to have gone thither; but I did not go. Downes (p.24): King Henry the 8th, This Play, by Order of Sir William Davenant, was all new Cloath'd in proper Habits: The King's was new, all the Lords, the Cardinals, the Bishops, the Doctors, Proctors, Lawyers, Tip-staves, new Scenes: The part of the King was so right and justly done by Mr Betterton, he being Instructed in it by Sir William, who had it from Old Mr Lowen, that had his Instructions from Mr Shakespear himself, that I dare and will aver, none can, or will come near him in this Age, in the performance of that part: Mr Harris's performance of Cardinal Wolsey, was little Inferior to that, he doing it with such just State, Port, and Mein, that I dare affirm, none hitherto has Equall'd him:...Every part by the great Care of Sir William, being exactly perform'd; it being all new Scenes; it continu'd Acting 15 Days together with general Applause

Event Comment: Charles II to Madame, 10 Dec. 1663: I am just now going to see a new play (C. H. Hartmann, Charles II and Madame[1934], p. 89). The Duke's Company. W. J. Lawrence, in a review of Boswell, The Restoration Court Stage, in Modern Language Review, XXVIII (1933), 103, suggests that it was The Step-Mother which was given on this occasion. The edition of 1664 lists: The Prologue to the King at the Cockpit at White-Hall. The Epilogue to the King

Event Comment: The King's Company. Pepys, Diary: To the King's playhouse, where two acts were almost done when I come in; and there I sat with my cloak about my face, and saw the remainder of The Mayd's Tragedy; a good play, and well acted, especially by the younger Marshall, who is become a pretty good actor, and is the first play I have seen in either of the houses since before the great plague, they having acted now about fourteen days publickly. But I was in Mighty pain lest I should be seen by any body to be at a play. Elegy on that Worthy and Famous Actor, Mr Charles Hart, who departed this Life Thursday August the 18th., 1683: @Such Pow'r He had o'r the Spectators gain'd,@As forc'd a Real passion from a Feign'd.@For when they saw Amintor bleed, straight all@The House, for every Drop, a Tear let fall;@And when Arbaces wept by sympathy,@A glowing Tide of Wo gush'd from each Eye.@ [Reprinted in Thorn-Drury, A Little Ark, pp. 47ff; Sprague, Beaumont and Fletcher, p.38.

Event Comment: The King's Company. Pepys, Diary: My wife and Willett and I to the King's playhouse, and there saw Henry the Fourth; and contrary to expectation, was pleased in nothing more than in Cartwright's speaking of Falstaffe's speech about "What is Honour?" The house full of Parliamentmen, it being holyday with them: and it was observable how a gentleman of good habit, sitting just before us, eating of some fruit in the midst of the play, did drop down as dead, being choked; but with much ado Orange Moll did thrust her finger down his throat, and brought him to life again

Event Comment: Benefit for Love. Mr Love Hiss'd in the Scotchman. Dumont by Mr Powell (Hopkins). Characters Dress'd in Habits of Times. Mr Love was hissed very much in the Scotchman, and the Farce hissed at the end (Hopkins Diary-MacMillan). No building on stage. On Saturday Othello with a New Burletta call'd Music A-La-Mode, or Bayes in Chromatics For the Benefit of Vernon. [The principal characters were to have been played by King, Vernon, Packer, Fox, Mrs Mrs Dorman, and Miss Young (Public Advertiser, 13 April). But it was deferred at the last minute and seems never to have been performed. Larpent MS 237 lists the parts: Dr Crochet, Player-Packer; Squire, Justice; Damon; Daphne, Chorus of Shepherds and Nymphs. $J. P. Kemble thought it a burlesque at the expense of Dr Arne (professor of nonharmonic music). The Player wants in it to banish all but four plays (Tamerlane, London Cuckolds, George Barnwell, and Twelfth Night) and fill stage performance with music.] Receipts: #208 14s. 6d. (MacMillan); charges: #64 4s. [Profit to Love: #144 10s. 6d.

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time at a public theatre; C 3, by Elizabeth Craven, Baroness Craven, afterwards Margravine of Anspach, 1st acted privately at the Town-Hall, Newbury, 6 Apr. 1780. Text (G. Riley, 1781) assigns no parts. Prologue by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Epilogue by Joseph Jekyll (see text)]: With new Dresses, &c. "The Prologue [the first 30 lines and the concluding couplet of which were used by Sheridan as the Prologue to Pizarro (see dl, 24 May 1799)] was so much admired that at the request of the Duchess of Devonshire and several other of the nobility it was respoken after the piece; but as King was absent from the theatre, it was delivered by Palmer" (Town and Country Magazine, May 1780, p. 23 ). "The chief singularity was that [Lady Craven] went to it herself the second night, in form; sat in the middle of the front row of the stage-box, much dressed, with a profusion of white bugles and plumes, to receive the public homage due to her sex and loveliness. The Duchess of Richmond, Lady Harcourt,...Mrs Damer, Lord Craven,...and I were with her. It was amazing to see so young a woman entirely possess herself-but there is such an integrity and frankness in her consciousness of her own beauty and talents, that she speaks of them with a naivete as if she had no property in them, but only wore them as gifts of the gods. Lord Craven on the contrary was quite agitated by his fondness for her and with impatience at the bad performance of the actors, which was wretched indeed, yet the address of the plot, which is the chief merit of the piece, and some lively pencilling carried it off very well, though Parsons murdered the Scotch lord, and Mrs Robinson (who is supposed to be the favourite of the Prince of Wales) thought on nothing but her own charms, or him. There is a very good though endless prologue written by Sheridan and spoken in perfection by King, which was encored (an entire novelty) the first night: and an epilogue that I liked still better and which was full as well delivered by Mrs Abington, written by Mr. Jekyl. The audience, though very civil, missed a fair opportunity of being gallant, for in one of those ----logues, I forget which, the noble authoress was mentioned, and they did not applaud as they ought to have done, especially when she condescended to avow her pretty child and was there looking so very pretty...Yet Lady Craven's tranquillity had nothing displeasing;...and it was tempered by her infinite good nature, which made her make excuses for the actors instead of being provoked at them" (Walpole [28 May 1780], XI, 178-80). Public Advertiser, 14 July 1781: This Day at Noon will be published The Miniature Picture (price not listed). Receipts: #144 9s. (94.9; 48.3; 1.17)

Event Comment: "Palmer and Bannister having withdrawn from the theatre, The School for Scandal and The Quaker, which were intended for the opening pieces, were changed" (Town and Country Magazine, Oct. 1787, p. 445). [These two actors thought themselves ill-used because of the refusal of the dl management to acknowledge their right to open the Royalty (see 20 June 1787). Oulton, 1796, II, 1-8, prints an exchange of letters between Palmer, Bannister, and King (the dl acting manager) relating to this situation.] "Some twenty of thirty bars of Handel, on the approach of the court to the play [in III. ii of mainpiece]...made a fine preparation for the scene which followed" (World, 19 Sept.). Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. 1st Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. Places for the Boxes to be taken of Fosbrook at the Theatre. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30 [see 13 Nov.]. Receipts: #186 5s. 6d. (151.0.0; 35.4.6; 0.1.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With new Scenery, Dresses and Decorations. [This was the version, altered probably by Joseph George Holman, in which he appeared in Dublin on 29 July 1794, on which occasion the playbill reads, "Dressed in the Habits of the Times, and with other Alterations, adopted in its Representations 19 [recte 11] Nights last Winter, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden." It further states that the part of Ophelia would be performed "without the Airs, and with a considerable Restoration of the Text." No record of what these alterations consisted of has come to light. In III.iv Hamlet's father was represented by a life-sized portrait that hung over the chimney, and the Queen wore a large miniature of Claudius on her arm as a bracelet (London Chronicle, 10 Oct.). The words of the Dirge are printed in European Magazine, Nov. 1793, p. 393; they are stanza X of Shakespeare's Passionate Pilgrim. Miss Poole had appeared as a singer at king's and at Vauxhall in 1787 and at the cg oratories in 1791.] Afterpiece: Not acted these 2 years [and in place of The Prisoner at Large, advertised on playbill of 8 Oct.]. Receipts: #332 4s. (330.3; 2.1)

Event Comment: The King's Company. The date of the premiere is not certain, but the Dedication speaks of its being acted two days and an order, L. C. 5@144, p. 29 (Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p.1 on), dated 14 Dec. 1680, banning it suggest that it was performed on 11 and 13 Dec. 1680. It is possible, however, that Tate's statements may refer to performances on 18 and 19 Jan. 1680@1. Dedication, Edition of 1681: For the two Days in which it was Acted, the Change of the Scene, Names of Persons, &c. was a great Disadvantage: many things were by this means render'd obscure and incoherent that in their native Dress had appear'd not only proper but gracefull. I call'd my Persons Sicilians but might as well have made 'em Inhabitants of the Isle of Pines. Henry Purcell composed the music for a song, "Retir'd from any mortal's sight." See Purcell, Works, The Purcell Society, XX (1916), ix-x

Event Comment: This farce of Lethe was wrote some years ago and play'd with Success, & was reviv'd this Night with great Alterations, & was but indifferently receiv'd by the Audience (Cross). The Poet, Frenchman, & Sot Mr Garrick perform'd most inimitably (Charles Adams to John Gilbert-Cooper, Theatre Notebook, XI (1957) p. 138). No After Money will be taken, and no Persons will be Admitted behind the Scenes (General Advertiser). Receipts: #180 (Cross); #186 7s. (Powel). N.B.: Mr G-k is the author of Lethe and did receive #36 8s. 6d. for this night which is the overplus after the charge of #63 for the House is paid, and which I must subtract from the rest (Powel). [A letter appeared in the General Advertiser this day giving advance notice and approval of a performance of Cato to be put on at Leicester House 7 Jan. by members of the Royal Family. The author noted that "proper Habits are absolutely in the making," and that the Princes would learn the principles of liberty from the lines of the play.

Event Comment: MMiss Pope in Corrinna (fine) Mr Wilkinson, Mrs Amlet (sad) (Cross). Mainpiece: Not acted in 8 years [but see 3 Jan. 1753]. My mother and I were at Drury Lane to see The Confederacy and Harlequin Ranger, Mrs King, Watson and Miss Pitt sat in our Box, a new actress did Corrinne to perfection, see Schutz Jr, Mr Schutz, Dives and Pigot there (Hailey, 'The Brietzcke Diary," p. 360). Receipts: #100 (Cross)

Event Comment: Oratorio: Written by the late Dr Hawksworth. Set to music by Stanley. Books of the Oratorio may be had of Mr Condell, in Cross St., Bow St., Covent Garden, and at the theatre the night of the performance. Price 1s. [This night Wm. Kenrick delivered his tenth, and apparently last, lecture on The School of Shakespeare. It was on King Lear, and very little could be said in favor of any of his remarks on the passages he selected...[he closed by] presenting the audience an act from Falstaff's Wedding." Monthly Miscellany (April 1774, p. 191), which had reviewed all of his lectures, had commented upon the increasing popularity of them as evidenced by the numbers attending, and presented an engraving of Kenrick in action before his audience.