Event Comment: Julia [advertised on playbill of 26 Nov.] is obliged to be deferred on account of the Indisposition of Mrs Siddons. Afterpiece: 7th time [i.e. in continuation of the reckoning for the previous season]. Receipts: #81 4s. 6d. (52.17.0; 27.3.0; 1.4.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Wild, prompter. 1st piece: Not acted these 20 years; altered from Dryden (by Joseph George Holman (Not. Dram.)]. 2nd piece [Ist time; M.INT 1, probably by John Cartwright Cross. MS: Larpent 1028; not published]. 3rd piece: In which an Engagement between an English and a French Man of War, a Shipwreck, and a Grand Military Procession as it pass'd, when the French Colours taken by the British Army were conveyed from St. James's to St. Paul's Cathedral [on 17 May 1794]. The above Procession is represented by Moving Figures, in which the Horse and Foot Guards, the Band of Music, the French Colours, &c. are seen to pass in the exact order they appeared on that memorable occasion. Morning Herald, 17 May: Tickets to be had of Wild, No. 46, Drury-lane. Receipts: #293 2s. 6d. (112/17/6; 14/2/0; tickets: 166/3/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. 1st piece: Not acted these 2 years. 2nd piece: In one Act. Morning Herald, 22 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 22, Southampton-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #127 5s. (31.3.6; 6.2.6; tickets: 89.19.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Emery, Mrs T. Dibdin & Mrs Johnson. 1st piece: Not acted these 3 years [acted 11 Apr. 1798]. Receipts: #326 12s. (47.4.6; 7.8.0; tickets: 271.19.6)

Event Comment: [This New Comedy (by Mrs Elizabeth Griffith) seems not to have been performed this night, according to the author's Preface to her Edition of 1772. Shuter had been unattentive and absent from many rehearsals]: At length though late [in the season] a day was appointed for the representation, and on that morning Mr Shuter appeared at rehearsal, pretty much in the same state as before, and confessed himself incapable of performing his part, that night. Upon which the play was oblig'd to be further postponed, and handbills were sent about at noon, to advertise town of the disappointment....A further final day was afterwards determined on, but the audience being out of humour at their former disappointment, called Mr Shuter to account for it, on his first appearance; which threw him into such confusion, that he was not able to get the better of it, throughtout the whole performance...in the hurry of his spirits the actor not only forgot his part, the deficiency of which he endeavoured to supply with his own dialect, but also seemed to lose all idea of the character he was to perform; and made the Governor appear in a light which the author never intended: that of a mean, ridiculous buffoon. [Mrs Griffith concluded her preface by relating how her friends stood by the piece, but two or three in the gallery, when it was given out again objected and threw an apple at the chandeliers, which so perturbed the management that the play was withdrawn. She therefore published it by subscription, prefixing the names of about 440 subscribers, persons of the first quality, including James Boswell, Edmund Burke, Col. Burgoyne, the Duke of Devonshire, David Garrick, Mrs Montague, William Richardson, and a host of writers, players, and people of fashion. This list provides a pretty good roster of those who filled the boxes and part of the pit of both theatres at the time.] Paid Younger #2 2s. for the license for A Wife in the Right (Account Book). Receipts: #218 12s. (Account Book)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: By Desire. A great Noise, the whole House against us-When Garrick appear'd one from the Slips cry'd out Monsieur, & great Numbers Hiss'd-the play went on-wch done, the Mutiny began, amazing noise-no plating, except one Apple; ye pit to ye Boxes cry'd-now draw yr Swords, wch makes us think, the Riot was occasion'd by the Box people being so busy & turning some out of the pit & Gall: before. Some benches were pull'd up, & Mr Lacy gave up the Dance to appease 'em-being Sat: our friends were at ye Opera, & the common people had leisure to do Mischief (Cross). [Lynham in The Chevalier Noverre, quotes from the Journal Etranger of 25 Nov. 1775: 'The blackguards...tore up the benches and threw them into the Pit on the opposing party; they broke all the mirrors, the chandeliers, &c., and tried to climb onto the stage to masacre everybody; but, as there is a magnificent organization in this theatre, in three minutes all the decor had been removed, all the traps were ready to come into play to swallow up those who might venture up, all the wings were filled with men armed with sticks, swords, halberds, &c., and behind the scenes the great reservoir was ready to be opened to drown those who might fall on the stage itself."Cross lists no Receipts.

Event Comment: Mainpiece: A Comedy [by Wm Kenrick] never perform'd before. The characters New Dress'd. [Theatrical Monitor, No VIII (16 Dec. 1767) approved the mainpiece--"engages the mind, affects the passions, totally divested of indecency"--but thought Garrick's art of "puffing" was evident in his note at foot of playbills, "Those Ladies and Gentlemen, who have taken places for this day, are desired to send their servants by one o'clock, in order to ascertain the same, otherwise they cannot be secured," since the house, except the first night, had not been half full. N.B. This note appeared in an Advance Bill, but did not appear in the Bill of the Day.

Event Comment: A New Comedy of three Acts [by Foote]. By Authority. Open'd by Mr Foote. Most of the performers entirely new. Boxes 5s. Pit 3s. Gallery 2s. Doors to be opened at five. Curtain drawn up at seven. [Notice repeated in subsequent bills. Genest, IV, 599, lists Smith as Sir George.

Event Comment: I Went With Mallet to breakfast with Garrick; and from thence to Drury-Lane house, where I assisted at a very Private rehearsal, in the Green-room, of a new tragedy of Mallet's, called Elvira. As I have since seen it acted, I shall defer my opinion of it till then; but I can't help mentioning here the surprising versatility of Mrs Pritchard's talents, who rehearsed, almost at the same time, the part of a furious Queen in the Green-room, and that of a Coquette on the stage; and passed several times from one to the other with the utmost ease and happiness. I dined with Darrel, saw The Way of the World afterward (Edward Gibbon's Journal, ed. D. M. Lowe (New York, n.d.) pp. 185-86). [Apparently Mrs Pritchard rehearsed Millamant in the morning.

Event Comment: [Afterpiece in 3 acts, altered from Garrick's original 5 acts by Richard Brinsley Sheridan.] The Music composed by Dibdin. With New Dresses. The Scenes, Machines, &c. invented by DeLoutherbourg. The Christmas Tale reduced to three Acts (by R. B. Sheridan esq.) was performed for the first time as a Farce--was received with very great Applause--it is too long, and must be shortened (Hopkins Diary). Public Advertiser, 22 Oct. 1776: This Day at Four o'Clock will be published A Christmas Tale (1s.) [For Baker see 28 Sept.] Receipts: #241 14s

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Altered from [The Relapse, by] Sir John Vanbrugh [1st time; C 5, by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. Prologue by David Garrick (see edition of 1781)]. The Characters new dressed. Receipts: #229 7s. 6d. (217.13.0; 10.8.0; 1.6.6)

Event Comment: Paid to Charlotte Lane for cleaning for Mr Dyer a white cloth Suit lac'd with silver, 2s. 6d. For Altering and mending ditto, silk &c., 6s. (MS list in Folger Library, Davies Life of Garrick, II, 322)

Event Comment: Receipts: #200 7s. 6d. (Account Book). Mainpiece: With New Dresses and Decorations. [The first of a series of five performances (the last, Merchant of Venice, 18 Nov.) which got Macklin dismissed from the theatre until 1775, when his lawsuit against six persons whom he claimed formed a conspiracy to hiss him from the stage and ruin his livlihood was concluded favorably for him. His performance of Macbeth was favorably treated but with certain misgivings in the Morning Chronicle (25 Oct.), but he was mercilessly criticized in the London Evening Post and St James Chronicle: "In Act II, Sc. i, Shakespeare has made Macbeth murder Duncan; Now Mr Macklin, being determined to copy from no man, reversed this incident, and in the very first act, scene the second, murdered Macbeth." The favorable review (Morning Chronicle) thought he did well in first and last acts, but gave way to stage rant and "vehemence of energetic expression" wanting any variation in tone in between. It also pointed out a certain faulty memory of his lines. His novel stage effects came in for a paragraph of comment: The alterations in the jeux de theatre respecting the representation of this tragedy do Mr Macklin great credit. His change of the scenery is peculiarly characteristical. The Quadrangle of Macbeth's castle, and the door which is supposed to lead to Duncan's apartment (both of which are entirely new) are additions of consequence to the exhibition of the play. The door also through which Macbeth comes to the Weird Sisters, in the 4th act, is a better and more probable entrance than through the common stage portal. The dresses are new, elegant, and of a sort hitherto unknown to a London audience, but exceedingly proper. The Banquet was superbly set out, and it must be confessed that the managers seem to have spared neither cost nor assiduity to ornament and add to the effect of the representation." A favorable letter from a correspondent to the London Evening Post adds: "I must observe, Mr Printer, that from the graceful and characteristic manner in which Macbeth was introduced by the martial music and military procession, from the manner of M. Macklin's acting, from his judicious alteration of the dresses, the disposition of the scene where the King is killed, the cave of the witches in the 4th act, from the improvement of Mrs Hartley's thinking in Lady Macbeth and from her manner of speaking, which seemed plainly to be the effects of some intelligence she had received from Mr Macklin...I thought Mr Macklin deserv'd great praise." See the newspaper comments all gathered and reprinted in an Apology for the Conduct of Charles Macklin, (London, 1773). See also note to 30 Oct. See also London Chronicle, Oct. 23-26 (cf. Odell, I, 453). The Westminster Magazine suggests the performance was pitiable. "Macklin knew what he ought to do, but could not do it." The Scenemen's pay this week was about double the normal cost. (Account Book).] Verse Squibs from St James Chronicle (Oct. 1773) against Macklin: @Macbeth@"Eight Kings appear and pass over in order, and Banquo the last"@Old Quin, ere Fate suppressed his lab'ring breath@In studied accents grumbled out Macbeth:--@Next Garrick came, whose utt'rance truth impressed,@While ev'ry look the tyrant's guilt confess'd:--@Then the cold Sheridan half froze the part,@Yet what he lost by nature sav'd by art.@Tall Barry now advanc'd toward Birnam Woodv@Nor ill performed the scenes--he understood--@Grave Mossop next to Foris shaped his march@His words were minute guns, his action starch.@Rough Holland too--but pass his errors o'er@Nor blame the actor when the man's no more.@Then heavy Ross, assay'd the tragic frown,@But beef and pudding kept all meaning down:--@Next careless Smith, try'd on the Murd'rer's mask,@While o'er his tongue light tripp'd the hurried task:--@Hard Macklin, late, guilt's feelings strove to speak,@While sweats infernal drench'd his iron cheek;@Like Fielding's Kings [in Tom Thumb] his fancy'd triumphs past,@And all be boasts is, that he falls the last.@ Also from St James Chronicle:@The Witches, while living deluded Macbeth@And the Devil laid hold of his soul after death;@But to punish the Tyrant this would not content him,@So Macklin he sent on the stage to present him.

Event Comment: Benefit Phillips (LeBrun) and Mrs Mullart. At the particular Desire of several Persons of Quality

Event Comment: Written by the late Mrs Centlivre

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Written by the late Mrs Centlivre

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Written by the late Mrs Centlivre. Receipts: #60

Event Comment: Both pieces by Command of their Royal Highnesses Prince George, Prince William, Lady Augusta. Afterpiece: For last time this season. Present the Princes George & William, and the Lady Augusta. Paid Mr LaCourt in full for painting for the Fair #21. Receipts: #161 12s

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Yates. Farce damn'd & Half-pence thrown. Mrs Cibber's Son dy'd two Days ago & she never came ot play for Holland, Mrs Yates, or me ye old Game at this Season. Receipts: #150 (Cross)

Event Comment: Tickets delivered by Mrs Pitt, Miss Bassan, Miss Green, Mrs Sharpe, R.? Smith, Ledger, Garland and the Performers in the Orchestra will be admitted

Event Comment: Benefit for Staunton and Mrs Hedges. Gazetteer, 8 May: Tickets to be had of Staunton, No. 9, St. Martin's-street, Leicester-fields; of Mrs Hedges, opposite Old Bond-street, Piccadilly. Receipts: #208 1s. 6d. (15/13/0; 19/15/6; 0/16/0; tickets: 171/17/0) (charge: #106 0s. 11d

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. 1st piec : Written by George? Lillo, reduced into Three Acts with material Alterations [by Joseph George Holman (World, 15 Apr.)]. [Prologue by Robert Merry (World, 16 Apr.).] Gazetteer, 2 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 2, Tavistock-row, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #278 11s. (185.2.6; 1.8.6; tickets: 92.0.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mr and Mrs Bernard. 1st piece: Not acted these 8 years [acted 7 May 1784]. 3rd piece: In 2 acts [i.e. abridged from the original 5]. Receipts: #243 3s. 6d. (99.4.0; 4.4.6; tickets: 139.15.0)

Event Comment: [Account-Book: Tickets delivered by Mrs Egan, Hill, Hall (carpenter), Robson (music porter), Strahan, Simmons, Bologna, Williams, Hay, Findlay will be admitted.] Receipts: #438 18s. (43.18.6; 5.1.0; tickets: 389.18.6)

Event Comment: MMr Foote play'd Buck & Miss Macklin Lucinda, --went off tol: ye Girl was lik'd-she sung in ye Character Aly Croky--fine, --& danc'd a Minuet--well (Cross). [Foote was engaged as an actor for a certain number of nights and made his 1st appearance on this evening-he spoke a Prologue written by Garrick which was encored every night Genest, IV, 380). The Prologue was printed in the Public Advertiser on 29 Oct. suggesting the many sources of laughter on stage as they appealed to various parts of the House, pointing fun at Foote, and closing with his mock, humble statement: @"Many my passions are, tho' one my view@They all concenter--in the pleasing you.'@ It also contained information about a specialty performer on the Cello, Monsieur Cervetti, and his reception by the upper galleries: @"...In like extremes your laughing humour shows@Have ye not roar'd from Pit to upper Rows@And all the jest was, What? a Fiddler's nose..."@ The person here meant is M Cervetti, who has been a standing joke with the upper gallery for a long time past, on account of the length of his nose: but as I am inform'd, that no feature of his Mind is out of proportion, unless it be that his good qualities are extraordinary, I take this opportunity to mention that it is cruel to render him uneasy in the Business, in which he is eminent, and by which he must gain his livlihood." See identical comment in Gray's Inn Journal, 27 Oct. A puff for Miss Macklin appeared in Gray's Inn Journal, 20 Oct.] Receipts: #190 [Cross)