Event Comment: Benefit for Miss Macklin (Cross). Receipts: #180 (Cross). Ladies to send for tickets for the places they taken at Miss Macklin's, Russel St. next door to Tom's Coffee House. Part of Pit laid into Boxes and Amphitheatre on stage. Afterpiece: By Particular Desire. Last time of Performing till the Holidays. On seeing Miss Macklin in the character of the Mourning Bride: @Should Death (for Oh! what power can save Our tragic heroine from the grave)@At Cibber aim his dart:@Tears should forever speak my moan,@For oh! 'tis she, and she alone@Can melt the feeling heart.@Britannia spake, when Lo! a Voice@Britain be happy, and rejoice,@That, when your Cibber dies@The Gods have yet in store for thee,@A Macklin; and in her you'll see@Another Cibber rise.--Public Adveriser@

Event Comment: Benefit for Mr Mossop (Cross). Part of Pit laid into Boxes. Receipts: #280 (Cross); charges #63 (Winston MS 8)

Event Comment: The Serious part of the Entertainment Dull & heavy--Hopkins. Paid Supernumerary Soldiers & practices #2 6s. 6d.; Paid seven years sewer tax #13 9s. 4d.; Paid Mr Weston's note, per order Mr G. G. #12 5s. 5d.; Paid Mr Thos. French for painting 8 days to this day exclusive #3 4s.; Paid for license for Institution of the Garter #2 2s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #189 4s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Paid 1!2 year's cleansing & Lighting for St Martin's Mich. last, #10 2s.; Tallow chandler's 5th bill #24 6s.; A bill for cotton #2 11s. 4d. (Treasurer's Book). Mr Crofts Chamont; very bad (Hopkins Diary). Receipts: #173 3s. 6d. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: At the Request of many Friends to Worth and Genius, and in Commemoration of the late Mr Storace [who died 19 Mar.], Benefit for his Widow and Orphan. Receipts: #657 12s. (352.18.6; 32.4.0; 2.2.0; tickets: 270.6.0; odd money: 0.1.6) (charge: #244 13s. 9d.)

Event Comment: Edition of 1660: A Tragy-Comedy. Relating to our latter Times. Beginning at the Death of King Charles the First. And ending with the happy Restaurant of King Charles the Second. Written by a Person of Quality. [This work was probably not acted. The British Museum copy (E 1038) has a MS date 8 Aug. 1660.

Event Comment: Pepys, Diary: Captain Fererrs, my Lord's Cornet, comes to us, who after dinner took me and Creed to the Cockpitt play, the first that I have had time to see since my coming from sea, The Loyall Subject, where one Kinaston, a boy, acted the Duke's sister but made the loveliest lady that ever I saw in my life, only her voice not very good

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This apparently was not the first performance, but the time of premiere is not known. Pepys, Diary: My wife and I and Mercer to the Duke's house, and there saw The Rivalls, which is no excellent play, but good acting in it; especially Gosnell comes and sings and dances finely, but, for all that, fell out of the key, so that the musique could not play to her afterwards, and so did Harris also go out of the tune to agree with her. Downes (p. 23): The Rivals, A Play, Wrote by Sir William Davenant; having a very Fine Interlude in it, of Vocal and Instrumental Musick, mixt with very Diverting Dances: M Price introducing the Dancing, by a short Comical Prologue, gain'd him an Universal Applause of the Town....And all the Womens Parts admirably Acted; chiefly Celia, a Shepherdess being Mad for Love; especially in Singing several Wild and Mad Songs

Event Comment: The King's Company. Pepys, Diary: And wife and Deb. to the King's house, there to see The Wild-goose Chase, which I never saw, but have long longed to see it, being a famous play, but as it was yesterday I do find that where I expect most I find least satisfaction, for in this play I met with nothing extraordinary at all, but very dull inventions and designs. Knepp come and sat by us, and her talk pleased me a little, she telling me how Mis Davis is for certain going away from the Duke's house, the King being in love with her; and a house is taken for her, and furnishing; and she hath a ring given her already worth #600: that the King did send several times for Nelly, and she was with him, but what he did she knows not; this was a good while ago, and she says that the King first spoiled Mrs Weaver, which is very mean, methinks, in a prince, and I am sorry for it, and can hope for no good to the State from having a Prince so devoted to his pleasure. She told me also of a play shortly coming upon the stage, of Sir Charles Sidly's, which, she thinks, will be called The Wandering Ladys, a comedy that, she thinks, will be more pleasant; and also another play, called The Duke of Lerma; besides Catelin, which she thinks, for want of the clothes which the King promised them, will not be acted for a good while

Event Comment: The King's Company. Pepys, Diary: To the King's playhouse, and there saw The Spanish Gypsys, the second time of acting, and the first that I saw it. A very silly play, only great variety of dances, and those most excellently done, especially one part by one Hanes [Jo. Haynes], only lately come thither from the Nursery, an understanding fellow, but yet, they say, hath spent #1,000 a-year before he come thither

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 2. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 347. There is no certainty that this is the premiere. A song, A heart in love's empire, with music by Robert Smith, and another, Let's drink dear friends, set by Thomas? Farmer, are in Choice Songs and Ayres, The First Book, 1673. The Dedication in the edition of 1672 is to Prince Rupert and states: tho' of thirty times it has been acted, you seldom fail'd to honour it with your presence. Downes (Roscius Anglicanus, p. 32): The next new Comedy [at dg] was the Mamamouchi, or the Citizen turn'd Gentleman, Wrote by Mr Ravenscroft [cast as in edition of 1672 except French Tutor and Singing Master, by Mr Haines: (He having Affronted Mr Hart, he gave him a Discharge and then came into our House)]; This Comedy was look[ed] upon by the Criticks for a Foolish Play; yet it continu'd Acting 9 Days with a full House; upon the Sixth the House being very full: The Poet added 2 more Lines to his Epilogue, viz. @The Criticks came to Hiss, and Dam this Play,@Yet spite of themselves they can't keep away.@ However, Mr Nokes in performing the Mamomouchi pleas'd the King and Court, next Sir Martin, above all Plays

Event Comment: The King's Company. This performance is on the L. C. list, 5@141, p. 73: Nero. See also Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 345. There is no certainty that this was the premiere, but the first production was probably not much earlier than this time

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the Preface implies that it was a vacation (summer) production. The play was entered in the Term Catalogues, February 1674@5. Preface, Edition of 1675: It happening to be in my hands in the long Vacation, a time when the Play-house are willing to catch at any Reed to save themselves from Sinking, to do the House a kindness, and serve the Gentleman [who had apparently composed much of the play] I begged leave of him to turn it into Prose

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the premiere is not known, but the fact that play was licensed for printing on 23 Feb. 1676@7 suggests a first performance about this time. The play was entered in the Term Catalogues, May 1677. Langbaine (English Dramatick Poets, p. 36) refers to this play as altered from Richard Brome's The Mad Couple

Event Comment: The King's Company. The date of the first production is uncertain, but John Harold Wilson (Six Restoration Play-Dates, pp. 221-22) assigns it to mid-June primarily because of the Prologue intended to be spoken by Haines and the order, dated 18 June 1677, for the arrest of Haines for speaking an obscene Epilogue (error for Prologue?); in addition, the next play at Drury Lane, The Rival Kings, refers to Haines and "last time," establishing the sequence of performance of these two plays. For the arrest of Haines, see Nicoll, Restoration Drama, p. 328n. Wits Led by the Nose was licensed for printing on 16 Aug. 1677

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, but the licensing of the play on 13 Aug. 1677 suggests a production not later than July 1677. Dedication to edition of 1678: But having...suffer'd so much through the defects of setting off, when it came on the Stage, it dares not now reject any Accomdation the Press cane give it. For (with the Theatres good leave to speak Truth,) it cannot receive greater Disadvantage in the Reading, than it met in the Presenting, The chief Parts Acted by Women; and, for their Ease, and somewhat of decorum, as was pretended, whole scenes left out, and scarcely any one Speech unmangled and entire. As for Adornments, in Habit, Musick, and Scene-Work it was Vacation-time, and the Company would not venture the Charge

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first production is not known, and it may have been acted before this season; hence, it is entered also in the preliminary list in the season of 1676-77. As the play was licensed for printing on 4 Oct. 1677, September 1677 is probably the latest time at which it could have been produced. The play is an alteration of Thomas Middleton's No Wit, No Help, Like a Woman's. It has been attributed to both Mrs Aphra Behn and Thomas Betterton

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the reference in the Prologue to "this good Godly time of Lent" would place it between 25 Feb. and 3 April 1680. It was entered in the Term Catalogues in May 1680