Event Comment: The King's Company. This play may also have been given on Tuesday 19 May. Pepys, Diary: To the King's playhouse, and saw The Mulberry-Garden again, and cannot be reconciled to it, but only to find here and there an independent sentence of wit, and that is all

Event Comment: The King's Company. Pepys, Diary: To the King's house, and there saw The General revived--a good play, that pleases me well. The Travels of Cosmo the Third [4 May 1669 NS; 24 April 1699 OS]: [On 4 May and the two subsequent days His Highness received callers] and many of them remained to dine with his highness, who continued on each of these days his visits to the ladies, appearing at Hyde Park, at the comedies, sometimes at the king's theatre, sometimes at that of the duke's theatre (p. 195)

Event Comment: The Travels of Cosmo the Third [Monday 20 May 1669 NS, Monday 10 May 1669 OS]: After this excursion through the city, his highness went to the comedy at the Duke's theatre (p. 304)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. If Downes' statement--that the play was acted eight days successivelly-is correct, this tragedy was acted from 12 May through 20 May

Event Comment: The King's Company. For the identification of this play and details of its performance, see W. J. Lawrence, "Foreign Singers and Musicians at the Court of Charles II," Musical Quarterly, IX (1923), 217-25, and James G. McManaway, "Entertainment for the Grand Duke of Tuscany," Theatre Notebook, XVI (1961), 20-21. The Travels of Cosmo the Third [Monday 3 June 1669 NS; Monday 24 May 1669 OS]: In the afternoon his highness left home earlier than usual to make his visits, that he might be at the King's Theatre in time for the comedy, and a ballet set on foot and got up in honor of his highness by my Lord Stafford, uncle of the Duke of Norfolk. On arriving at the theatre, which was sufficiently lighted on the stage and on the walls to enable the spectators to see the scenes and the performances, his highness seated himself in a front box, where, besides enjoying the pleasure of the spectacle, he passed the evening in conversation with the Venetian ambassador, the Duke of Norfolk, Lord Stafford, and other noblemen. To the story of Psyche, the daughter of Apollo, which abounded with beautiful incidents, all of them adapted to the performers and calculated to express the force of love, was joined a well-arranged ballet, regulated by the sound of various instruments, with new and fanciful dances after the English manner, in which different actions were counterfeited, the performers passing gracefully from one to another, so as to render intelligible, by their movements, the acts they were representing. This spectacle was highly agreeable to his highness from its novelty and ingenuity; and all parts of it were likewise equally praised by the ladies and gentlemen, who crouded in great numbers to the theatre, to fill the boxes, with which it is entirely surrounded, and the pit, and to enjoy the performance, which was protracted to a late hour of the night (pp. 347-48). In BM Add. Mss. 10117, folio 230, Rugge's Diurnall states that towards the end of May 1669 Cosmo, Prince of Tuscany had several plays acted for him

Event Comment: Sir Ralph Verney, 11 May 1670: The King & Duke are at dover...all the Towne is gonn, & the Kings Musicke, & Duke's players, & all the Bravery that could be got on such a sudden (Memoirs of the Verney Family [London, 1899], IV, 201). See also a newsletter, 17 May 1670 (HMC, Fleming MSS. 12th Report, VII, 70)

Event Comment: In the Term Catalogues a new edition of John Wilson's The Cheats was announced as licensed on 30 May 1671. This play had previously been given in March 1663. The edition of 1671 states that it has been given by the King's Company at the Theatre Royal, and it may have been revived at this time

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance, the premiere, is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 216: first Acting. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 348. Nell Gwyn also attended this performance; see VanLennep, Nell Gwyn's Playgoing, p406. The title page states: The English Opera; or The Vocal Musick in Psyche, with the Instrumental Therein Intermix'd...By Matthew Lock. Preface: All the Instrumental Musick (which is not mingled with the Vocal) was Composed by that Great Master, Seignior Gio. Baptista Draghi, Master of the Italian Musick to the King. The Dances were made by the most famous Master of France, Monsieur St.Andree. The Scenes were Painted by the Ingenious Artist, Mr Stephenson. In those things that concern the Ornament or Decoration of the Play, the great industry and care of Mr Betterton ought to be remember'd, at whose desire I wrote upon this Subject. Roger North Upon Music: I am sure the musick in the Psyche was composed by Mr M. Lock, of whom wee may say, as the Greeks sayd of Cleomenes, that he was ultimus Heroum. This masque is also in print, and begins 'Great Psyche,' &c. and the book containing the whole musick of that entertainment is not unworthy of a place in a vertuoso's cabanet (ed. John Wilson [1959], pp. 306-7). Preface to Settle's Ibrahim (licensed 4 May 1676): I have often heard the Players cursing at their oversight in laying out so much on so disliked a play [Psyche]; and swearing that they thought they had lost more by making choice of such an Opera: writer than they had gained by all his Comedies; considering how much more they might have expected, had such an Entertainment had that scence in it, that it deserved: and that for the future they expect the Tempest, which cost not one Third of Psyche, will be in request when the other is forgotten. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, pp. 35-36): In February 1672. The long expected Opera of Psyche, came forth in all her Ornaments; new Scenes, new Machines, new Cloaths, new French Dances: This Opera was Splendidly set out, especially in Scenes; the Charge of which amounted to above 800l. It had a Continuance of Performance about 8 Days together it prov'd very Beneficial to the Company; yet the Tempest got them more Money

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 359: Augustus Caesar. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 346. The music for a song in act I, scene I, was composed by Nicholas Staggins, and printed in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Second Book, 1679. There is no certainty that this was the premiere, but it may well have been. The play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1676

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This play may well have been performed regularly since 25 May. The Diary of Robert Hooke, 2 June 1676: with Godfrey and Tompion at Play. Met Oliver there. Damned Doggs. Vindica me Deus. People almost pointed. [Several entries in Hooke's Diary concern The Virtuoso. See his entries for 1 June, 3 June, 1 July.

Event Comment: See 22 May 1677. John Verney to Edmund Verney, 31 May 1677: On Wednesday his Majesty's birth night was some gallantry at Whitehall, where was acted a French opera, but most pitifully done, so ill that the King was aweary on't, and some say it was not well contrived to entertain the English gentry, who came that night in honour to their King, with a lamentable ill-acted French play, when our English actors so much surpass; however, the dances and voices were pretty well performed (HMC, 7th Report, Appendix, Part I, 1879, p. 468)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is uncertain. The fact that the Epilogue suggests that it followed Settle's The Female Prelate is not a factor in the dating, as the Newdigate newsletters--see Wilson, Theatre Notes from the Newdigate Newsletters, p. 80--show that Settle's play was first acted on 31 May 1680, whereas Caesar Borgia was entered in the Term Catalogues, November 1679. Although the reference in the Epilogue to burning the Pope's Effigies" has been argued as referring to the Pope-burning procession of 17 Nov. 1679, the references in the Epilogue to Father Lewis, who was tried and convicted at York, 28 March 1679, suggest that it was written before his execution, 27 Aug. 1679. Hence the play may have been acted first some time in the late spring or the summer. A song, Blush not redder than the Morning, with music by Thomas Farmer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book, 1681

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, but it was probably acted much earlier than November 1682, when it was entered in the Term Catalogues. The fact that the Epilogue refers to the Duke of York's "second Exile into Flanders" points to the possibility that it may have been acted near that time, i.e., between 24 Sept. 1679 and 14 Oct. 1679. It may have been first acted early as March 1679, when the political flights of the Duke of York were also a matter of public concern

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known. The play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1680, and advertised in the True News, 12-15 May 1680, suggesting a production not later than April 1680. Nevertheless, the fact that the Prologue refers to the attack on John Dryden in Rose Street (18 Dec. 1679) and to the petitions to Parliament--Luttrell, A Brief Relation, I, 31, on 13 Jan. 1679@80, refers to petitions subscribed by several thousands--suggests that the play appeared during January 1679@80

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the premiere is not known. Pepys saw it on 6 March 1679@80, calling it a "New Play," and that may have been the first day. The Prologue alludes also to the Duke of York's triumphant return from Scotland on 24 Feb. 1679@80, and the play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1680. For Mrs Bracegirdle as the "little Girl," see Edmund Curll, History of the English Stage (1741), p. 26, and Lucyle Hook, Anne Bracegirdle's First Appearance, Theatre Notebook, XIII (1959), 134. For Betterton as Castalio and Mrs Barry as Monimia, probably as they performed in the next decade, see Cibber, Apology, ed. Lowe, I, 116, 160. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 37) gives the same cast except for omissions and except for Serina-Mrs Mountfort, who acted it later. Downes (pp. 37-38) adds: [Monimia, Belvidera in Venice Preserved, and Isabella in The Fatal Marriage] These three Parts, gain'd her the Name of Famous $Mrs Barry, both at court and City; for when ever She Acted any of these three Parts, she forc'd Tears from the Eyes of her Auditory, especially those who have any Sense of Pity for the Distress't. These 3 Plays, by their Excellent Performances, took above all the Modern Plays that succeeded. A song for this play, Come all the youths whose hearts have bled, the music by Forcer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Third Book, 1681

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, but the date 31 May 1681 on a copy in the Ohio State University Library, representing Luttrell's purchase of a copy, argues for a performance initially in April or early May 1681. See Wilson, Six Restoration Play-Dates, p. 222

Event Comment: The King's Company. The date of the first performance is not known. Wilson (Six Restoration Play-Dates, pp. 222-23) argues from a number of references (principally in the Epilogue) to events of early 1681 which point to a premiere near May 1681: to the dissolution of Parliament, 28 March 1681; to the comet which appeared in November 1680 and disappeared in January 1680@1; to the Hatfield Maid; to William Lilly, the astrologer, who is referred to as though alive, thus suggesting a premiere before his death, 9 June 1681. It is possible that the premiere may have been earlier than this. In 1681 was published Poeta de Tristibus; or, The Poet's Complaint, whose author had obviously read the Prologue and Epilogue to The Unhappy Favourite. He represents himself as a disappointed dramatist whose tragedy has been rejected by both houses because "their Summer-store@Will all this Winter last." With the work entered in the Term Catalogues in 1682 and a copy purchased by Narcissus Luttrell with his note "4d 1681 12 Nov" (see A Bibliography of John Dryden, ed. Macdonald, pp. 235-36), his quotations from the Epilogue to The Unhappy Favourite and references to the Prologue would offer no difficulties if it were not that the "Author's Epistle" in which the references are made is dated "at Dover the Tenth day of January 1680@1," thus suggesting that he had seen the Prologue and Epilogue before that date. Nevertheless, some of the references in the Epilogue (to Heraclitus Ridens, beginning on 1 Feb. 1680@1, and Democritus Ridens, beginning on 14 March 1680@1) preclude a January premiere for the Prologue and Epilogue. Possibly the dating of the "Author's Epistle" is in error

Event Comment: Langhans, New Restoration Theatre Accounts, pp. 125-26, suggests that acting resumed on 29 Sept. and continued to 6 Feb. 1684@5, when Charles II died, although the theatre may not have acted from 2 through 5 Feb. Resuming at the end of April, the company Played regularly to the end of May, then on 43 days between 1 June and 31 Oct. 1685

Event Comment: The United Company. The date of the first performance is not known. The edition of 1687 states on the title page: This may be printed, April 23. 1686. It was entered in the Stationers' Register, 8 May 1686, under the title: The Disappointed Marriage; or, Ye Generous Mistris. It was probably first given before mid-April 1686, with the publication delayed, a delay accounting for the fact that Mrs Percival, who did not marry Mountfort until 2 July 1686, appears in the cast as Mrs Mountford. A song, O love that stronger art than wine, the music by John Blow, the verse by Ousley, and sung by John Bowman, is in The Theater of Music, The Fourth Book, 1687

Event Comment: The United Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was announced in the London Gazette, 23-27 May 1689, and entered in the Term Catalogues, June 1689, suggests that the premiere probably occurred not later than April 1689, possibly very early in May 1689

Event Comment: The United Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 369. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 352. In L. C. 5@150, p. 156, is an order to prepare the stage for the play, and, in L. C. 5@150, p. 164, is another order for new equipment. Luttrell, A Brief Relation, II, 125: The 4th, being his majesties birth day...and at night was a consort of musick, and a play afterwards. Matthew Prior wrote A Pindarique Ode which was sung before Their Majesties at court on this day. See The Literary Works of Matthew Prior, ed. H. B. Wright and M. K. Spears (Oxford, 1959), I, 96-98; II, 858. Cibber, Apology, I, 128: The agreeable was so natural to [Mountfort], that even in that dissolute Character of the Rover he seem'd to wash off the Guilt from Vice, and gave it Charms and Merit. For tho' it may be a Reproach to the Poet to draw such Characters not only unpunish'd but rewarded, the Actor may still be allow'd his due Praise in his excellent Performance. And this is a Distinction which, when this Comedy was acted at Whitehall, King William's Queen Mary was pleas'd to make in favour of Monfort, notwithstanding her Disapprobation of the Play

Event Comment: The United Company. The date of the first performance is not known; It is one of several plays which may have been acted in or near December, for three were entered in the Term Catalogues at approximately the same time. Of the three, The Mistakes was given first near Christmas 1690; the other two may have come earlier in the month. A song, When Sylvia was kind, the music composed by John Eccles, is in Joyful Cuckoldom, ca. 1695. In the text of the play is a song, Corinna in the bloom of youth, sung by Mrs Botoler

Event Comment: The United Company. The date of the premiere is not known, although a reference in the text to 1690 suggests that the play may have been produced in that year; but the fact that it was not advertised in the London Gazette until 6-9 April and not entered in the Term Catalogues until May 1691 suggest that it posaibly appeared early in 1691. This play was discussed in Wit for Money, or Poet Stutter; A Dialogue between Smith, Johnson, and Poet Stutter; containing Reflections on some late Plays, and particularly on Love for Money, or The Boarding School. The British Museum copy of this pamphlet has a manuscript date of 23 April 1691. Downes, Roscius Anglicanus, p. 42: The Boarding School; Wrote by Mr Durfy, it took well being justly Acted. Earl of Ailesbury, mid-January 1690@1: My Lady Fenwick was a great intriguer, and had always castles in the air in her imagination to that degree, that I was present at a play where she was brought in. If I mistake not it was The Boarding School, and the famous comic, Mr Lee, in woman's clothes represented her to the life, and so exactly had her features and complexion that one could hardly have distinguished one from the other (Memoirs, [London, 1890], II, 390-91)

Event Comment: The United Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the face that the play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1691, and noticed in the London Gazette, No 2664, 21-25 May 1691, suggests that it was given in April, probably soon after Passion Week. Gildon, The Lives and Characters, p. 102: A very pretty Comedy, and has been always received with general Applause

Event Comment: The United Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@151, p. 369: ye Q a Box & a Box for ye Maids Honr Orphan, See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 352. Cibber, Apology, I, 183: There is in this Character [Chaplain] (of one Scene only) a decent Pleasantry, and Sense enough to shew an Audience whether the Actor has any himself. Here was the first Applause I ever receiv'd, which you may be sure, made my Heart leap with a higher Joy than may be necessary to describe