Event Comment: Benefit for Murray. 1st piece: By Permission of the Author [Walsh Porter], and the Manager of the Theatre Royal Bath [William Wyatt Dimond]. [This was 1st acted at Bath, 27 Feb. 1798. It refers to the nation-wide attempt, being made at this time, to raise funds by voluntary contribution for the defense of the country. And see 9 Feb. Larpent MS 1197; not published. Miss Murray's 1st appearance on the stage was at Bristol, 1 July 1793.] Times, 27 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Murray, No. 77, Long Acre. Receipts: #198 17s. (102.6.0; 4.1.6; tickets: 92.9.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by John O'Keeffe. Prologue by John Taylor; Epilogue by Matthew Gregory Lewis (London Chronicle, 21 May). Larpent MS 1212 (which lists the following unassigned parts: Old Man, Clerk, Countryman, Boy, Postilion, Waiter, Man); not published]. Receipts: #197 13s. (140.18; 55.11; 1.4)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Powell. 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1, author unknown. MS not in Larpent MS; not published]: Founded on a recent fortunate Event [the escape of Sir William Sidney Smith from The Temple, Paris, on 24 Apr. 1798 (European Magazine, June 1798, p. 395)]. With appropriate Scenery, and Machinery. [3rd piece in place of The Children in the Wood, advertised on playbill of 19 May.] Times, 15 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Powell, No. 43, Craven-street, Strand. Receipts: #548 17s. (233.4.6; 61.4.6; 0.17.0; tickets: 253.11.0) (charge: #214 12s. 1d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Hull, Mrs Litchfield & Waddy. 1st piece [1st time; C 5, by Thomas Hull. Larpent MS 1215; not published]: Altered from [The Bashful Lover, by] Massinger. [In it the playbill assigns Hortensio to Pope, but he was ill, and in his "stead Johnston read the part of Hortensio" (European Magazine, June 1798, p. 396). Prologue by John Taylor Poems (I, 60).] Morning Herald, 29 May: Tickets to be had of Hull, Duke's Court, Dean's-yard, Westminster; of Mrs Litchfield, James-street, Covent-Garden; of Waddy, No. 214, opposite Southampton-street, High Holborn. Receipts: #261 2s. 6d. (53.9.6; 4.16.6; tickets: 202.16.6; of which Hull took #72 7s.; Mrs Litchfield #60 17s., Waddy #69 12s. 6d.)

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: Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by Henry Lee. Larpent MS 1221; not published in this form, but altered by the author in 3 acts, as Caleb Quotem and His Wife!; or, Paint, Poetry, and Putty (J. Roach, 1809)]: The Musick by Dr Arnold. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "Suett was, as he always is on a first night, most shamefully imperfect" (Monthly Mirror, July 1798, p. 52). [For Lee's accusing Colman, in his The Review, of plagiarism, see Genest, VII, 387-90. And see 1 Sept. 1800.

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; CO 3, by Thomas Holcroft. Larpent MS 1242; not published]: With new Music, Scenes, and Dresse". The Music composed by Attwood; the Overture by W. Parke. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #234 2s. (230.19; 3.3)

Event Comment: Benefit for Bannister Jun. Mainpiece: Not acted these 2 years. Afterpiece [1st time; F 2, probably based on Die Zwillingsbruder, by Friedrich Ludwig Schroder]: Written by the Author of The Castle-Spectre [Matthew Gregory Lewis]. With Songs [composer unknown. Larpent MS 1245; not published]. Morning Chronicle, 3 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Bannister Jun., No. 65, Gower-street, Bedford-square. Receipts: #599 3s. 6d. (315.3.6; 63.4.0; 0.1.0; odd money: 4.2.0; tickets: 216.13.0) (charge: #211 1s. 8d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Miss DeCamp. Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Maria Theresa DeCamp. Larpent MS 1254; not published; synopsis of plot in Monthly Visitor, May 1799, pp. 70-71. Author of Prologue unknown]. Morning Chronicle, 17 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Miss DeCamp, No. 14, Tottenham Court-road. Receipts: #447 8s. (151.7; 87.8; odd and after-money: 4.9; tickets: 204.4) (charge: #211 7s. 9d.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Knight. 2nd piece [1st time; F 1, by Thomas John Dibdin. Larpent MS 1252; not published]. 3rd piec : Not acted these 9 years. [Miss A. DeCamp had appeared as a dancer with the dl Company at king's in the season of 1792-93.] Morning Chronicle, 22 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Knight, No. 38, King-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #392 3s. (185.12.6; 3.18.0; tickets: 202.12.6)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; M. ENT 2, by Andrew Franklin. Larpent MS 1268; not published]: With appropriate Scenery, Dresses, &c. The Music entirely new, with a Naval and Military Medley Overture, composed by Reeve. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. [European Magazine, Oct. 1799, p. 255, states that this was founded on the expedition to Holland which embarked at Deal from 7th to 11th September 1799.] Receipts: #340 14s. 6d. (225.17.0; 114.13.2; 0.4.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. Afterpiece [1st time; P 2 (?). Not published; Songs: Larpent MS 1272]: Invented by T. Dibdin, & produced under the Direction of Farley. To conclude with an Allegorical Procession of the Seasons, Months and Hours, to the Temple of Domestic Happiness. With entire new Music, Scenery, Machinery, Machinery, Dresses and Decorations. The Overture and Music composed by Moorehead. The Dances by Bologna Jun. The Scenery by Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Wilkins, Bromley, the two Whitmores, Powell. The Machinery by Cresswell, Sloper, Goostree, C. Dibdin Jun., &c. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs [J. Barker, 1799] to be had in the Theatre. "The opening scene of the new pantomime is highly interesting. The representation of the Volcanov, and the fight in the air between Floridel and Cratero, may with justice claim the epithet of grand and magnificent" (Dramatic Censor, I, 13). Account-Book, 6 Feb, 1800: Paid Moorehead for music in Volcano #25. Receipts: #366 7s. (344.17; 21.10)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MF 2, by Thomas John Dibdin. Larpent MS 1280; not published]: With New Music, Dresses and Decorations. The Music composed by Attwood. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Receipts: #354 16s. (347.18; 6.18)

Event Comment: Benefit for Bannister Jun. 2nd piece [1st time; MF 2, by Prince Hoare, Larpent MS 1289; not published; synopsis of plot in Morning Herald, 29 Apr, Author of Prologue unknown]: The new Musick composed by Kelly. Morning Chronicle, 16 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Bannister Jun., No. 65, Gower-street, Bedford-square. Receipts: #360 8s. 6d. (272.17.6; 80.9.6; 7.1.6; tickets: none listed) (charge: #213 3s. 7d.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Joanna Baillie. "Adapted to the stage by J. P. Kemble" (note in his hand on Kemble playbill), Text in the author's A Series of Plays (T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies, 1798). Prologue by the Hon. Francis North; Epilogue by Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (Larpent MS 1287)]: The Scenery, Musick, Dresses, and Decorations entirely new. The Musick of the Third Act composed by Shaw [and sung by Sedgwick (Dramatic Censor, II, 162)] and of the Second and Fourth Acts by Kelly. The Scenes designed by Greenwood? Jun and Capon, and executed by them, Banks, &c. The Dresses and Decorations designed by Johnston, and executed under his direction by Gay and Underwood. The Female Dresses designed and executed by Miss Rein. Receipts: #308 12s. 6d. (264.3.0; 43.15.6; 0.14.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Martyr. [In 1st piece the playbill retains Mrs Martyr as Dolly, but "Dolly was undertaken at a short notice, by Mrs Chapman, upon the sudden indisposition of Mrs Martyr" (Monthly Mirror, June 1800, p. 366). "In consequence of Mrs Martyr's accouchement...the part of Dolly was sustained by Miss Sims" (Dramatic Censor, II, 140).] 2nd piece [1st time; M. INT 1, author unknown. Not in Larpent MS; not published]: To conclude with a Representation of the Storming the City of Acrev by the French [17 Mar.-20 May 1799], and the Heroic Defence made by the Turkish Troops led on by the British Sailors [under the command of Sir Sidney Smith]. Morning Chronicle, 23 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Martyr, No. 16, Martlett-court, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #333 4s. 6d. (118.3.6; 11.16.6; tickets: 203.4.6)