Event Comment: Mainpiece: In Act I The Cardinal's Banquet. In Act II The Court for the Trial of Queen Katharine. In Act V a Grand Procession to the Christening of Princess Elizabeth. Paid Charles Smith on Acct. of Upholders Work at Drury Lane Theatre #400. Powell: Henry VIII rehearsed at 10 (for Packer, lame, and Mrs Siddons); Siege of Belgrade music at 12 (for Storace, Bannister Jun., Crouch, Davis, Danby). The Iron Curtain being finish'd was this Evening exhibited for the first Time with the Epilogue [and see 21 Apr.]. "On the 24th February, 1809, this theatre was burnt down . . . Every care had been taken to guard against such a calamity. Two large reservoirs for water, on the top of the house, happened, unfortunately, at this crisis to be empty; and an iron curtain, intended to separate the auditory from the stage, for the purpose of saving a part of the edifice in case of conflagration, was, with its machinery, so much out of order as to be useless; it was, in fact, utterly immoveable" (Brayley, p. 8). Receipts: #451 8s. 6d. (389/4/0; 56/5/0; 4/6/6; tickets not come in: 1/13/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mattocks. By Desire of his Excellency the Ambassador [Yussuf Adijah Effendi] from the Sublime Porte. Morning Chronicle, 19 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mattocks, No. 8, Great Russel-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #362 15s. (226/13; 13/1 3; tickets: 122/9)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mountain. 1st piece: By Permission of the Proprietors of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Morning Herald, 21 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mountain at Mr Greak's, No. 3 3 , Tavistock-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #274 3s. (109/7/6; 9/19/6; tickets: 154/16/0)

Event Comment: By Permission of the Lord Chamberlain. Benefit for the Gentleman who performs the Part of Zanga [in THE REVENGE], and Mr and Mrs Simpson. Mainpiece: Written by the celebrated Dr Young, Author of the Night Thoughts, &c. Afterpiece: As an After-piece [i.e. reduced from 5 to 3 (?) acts]. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30. Tickets to be had of Longman and Broderip, Cheapside and Haymarket; Pass, No. 53, High Holborn; Bland's Music Warehouse, No. 45, High Holborn; Strutt, Bookseller, No. 20, Little Queen-street, Lincoln's Inn Fields; Ellwick, Musical Instrument Maker, No. 55, Long Acre, comer of Phoenix O>urt; Padbury, Coal Merchant, No. 24, Henrietta-street, Covent Garden; Evan, Bookseller, No. 351, near the Pantheon, Oxford Road; and of Simpson, at No. 33, St. Martin's-street, Leicester-square

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. At the Special Desire of his Excellency the Turkish Ambassador [see 7 May]. 3rd piece: Engagement, etc. as 26 May, but Moving Figures not specified. Morning Herald, 26 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 5, Bow-street, Covent Garden. Receipts: #301 10s. (136/3; 6/12; tickets: 158/15)

Event Comment: Benefit for Powel, Thompson, Rock & Mrs Henley. [3rd piece in place of THE SHIPWRECK, advertised on playbill of 10 June.) Morning Herald, 11 June: Tickets to be had of Rock, No. 4, Martlett-court, Bow-street, Covent Garden [other recipients not listed). Receipts: #295 13s. 6d. (54/10/6; 10/19/0; tickets: 230/4/0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Goodall. Mainpiece: Not acted these 3 years. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Don Manuel to Parsons, but "At the end of the first act [in which Don Manuel does not appear] Barrymore requested permission of the audience for Waldron to play Don Manuel, Parsons being indisposed,, (Thespian Magazine, Sept. 1794, p. 341).] Morning Chronicle, 7 Aug.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Goodall, No. 13, Great Russel-street

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Pope. Mainpiece: Not acted these 4 years. [2nd piece 1st acted at cg, 3 May 1793, as To Arms; or, The British Recruit.] Morning Chronicle, 26 Feb.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Pope at her house, Half-moon-street, Piccadilly. Account-Book, 21 Apr.: Paid Mrs Pope for Dresses as per Bill #32 19s. 6d. Receipts: #293 18s. (138.5; 9.7; tickets: 146.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Siddons. Mainpiece: Translated from Voltaire. Not acted these 20 years [acted l6 Nov. 1779]. Afterpiece: Not acted these 18 years [not acted since 19 Apr. 1774]. Morning Chronicle, 9 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Siddons, No. 49, Great Marlborough-street. [Mrs Siddons's 1st appearance as Palmyra was at Manchester, 1 Apr. 1778. Adress by Samuel Rogers (European Magazine, May 1795, p. 344). Epilogue by David Garrick.] Receipts: #569 8s. 6d. (293.14.6; 59.10.6; 8.0.0; tickets:208.3.6) (charge:#204 1s.)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece in place of First Love, advertised on playbill of 14 Mar. In it the playbill retain Palmer as Frederick Bertram and Miss Farren as Eliza Ratcliffe, but "The Publick are most respectfully informed that in consequence of the Indisposition of Palmer and Miss Farren, the Characters of Charles [sic] Bertram and Eliza in The Jew will be performed by C. Kemble and Mrs Goodall" (printed slip attached to Kemble playbill).] Receipts: #145 14s. 6d. (102.3.0; 38.5.0; 5.6.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Jordan. Mainpiece: In Act II a Masquerade Scene. [Author of Epilogue unknown.] Oracle, II Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Jordan, No. 14, Somerset-street, Portman-square. Receipts: #658 19s. 6d. (319.0.0; 46.8.0; 1.17.0; tickets: 284.4.0; odd money: 7.10.6) (charge: free)

Event Comment: Benefit for King. [Mrs Siddons's 1st appearance as Gertrude was at Liverpool, 23 July 1777; Mrs Jordan's as Ophelia at Richmond, 19 Aug. 1795.] Morning Herald, 28 Apr.: Tackets to be had of King, No. 56, Store-street, Bedford-square; 30 Apr.: The dresses [in Hamlet] were all modern. Receipts: #498 17s. 6d. (284.11.6; 55.9.0; 2.5.0; tickets: 156.12.0) (charge: #232 7s. 6d.)

Event Comment: The Last Night of the Company's performing this Season. [Account-Book: Tickets delivered by Mrs Lloyd, W. Bayzand, Timkins (box-keeper), Street, Barnes, Morris, Rye, Dosel, Wells, King, Timkins (carpenter), Thompson (near Stage), Coates, Roberts, Thompson, (gallery door-keeper) will be admitted.] Receipts: #419 1s. (38.16; after-money: not listed; tickets: 380.5)

Event Comment: Lewis having a severe Hoarseness, Fortune's Fool [advertised on playbill of 4 Nov.] is deferred till Monday. Afterpiece [1st time: BURL 2. by John O'Keeffe. MS: Larpent MS 1141; not published, except for Airs (T. N. Longman, 1796)]: Partly new, and partly taken from The Golden Pippin [by Kane O'Hara]. The Overture and new Music by Reeve. The Selections from Pergolesi, Rousseau, Mornington, Fisher, Carolan, Rizzio, &c. With new Scenery, Machinery, Dresses and Decorations. The Scenery by Phillips, Blackmore, Hollogan, and assistants. The Dragon, the Car and the Machinery designed and executed by Cresswell. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. "The beauty of the scenery is only to be equalled by the ingenuity of the machinery. The descents and ascents of the Deities were managed with astonishing regularity and adroitness; and the Flying Cupids hovered in the air in very pleasing attitudes...The Pas de Russe, danced by Delpini, a-la-Parisot [see dl. 1 Oct.], in the character of a fine Lady, with Munden, was irresistibly comic" (Morning Herald, 7 Nov.). Receipts: #191 2s. 6d. (185.10.6; 5.12.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Elizabeth Inchbald. Author of Prologue unknown]: With new Dresses, Scenery, &c. Morning Herald, 4 Apr. 1797: This Day is published Wives as they Were, and Maids as they Are (2s). "The Manager of Covent Garden Theatre gives Mrs Inchbald #500 for her new Comedy" (True Briton, 13 Mar.). Receipts: #302 13s. 6d. (295.9.0; 7.4.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Mattocks. 1st piece: In 3 Acts. [In 1st piece the playbill assigns Welford to Holman, and in 3rd piece Don Carlos to the same. But "An uncle of Holman expired suddenly on Saturday morning. An apology was made for Holman in the evening, and Macready took the Parts he was to have performed in the Play and Farce" (True Briton, 8 May). In 1st piece Cheaterly is assigned to Macready; who took his place is not stated.] True Briton, 22 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Mattocks, No. 8, Great Russell-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #223 12s. 6d. (118.10.0; 4.2.0; tickets: 101.0.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Fawcett. 1st piece: Not acted some years [acted 30 Oct. 1790]. 2nd piece [1st time: ENT 1]. 3rd piece: By Permission of George Colman, Esq., and for that Night only. Tickets and Places to be had of Fawcett at his house, No. 10, Golden Square, and of Brandon, at the Theatre. "To the Public, May 16, 1797. In consequence of repeated Forgeries of Tickets on Benefit Nights, particularly those of Miss Wallis, Mr Incledon, Mr Holman, and Mrs Mattocks, it has been found necessary to offer a large Reward for the Discovery of the Person or Persons concerned in this unjust and cruel Practice. Mr Fawcett, therefore, thinks it his Duty to warn his Friends and the Public from purchasing Tickets for his Night of Strangers, especially those Persons who sell them in the Avenues of the Theatre, as all such will be stopt at the Doors, and if forged the Persons offering them for Admittance will be drawn into a disagreeable dilemma" (printed slip attached to Kemble playbill). Receipts: #462 5s. (189.12; 8.13; tickets: 264.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Clendining. [1st piece in place of The Travellers in Switzerland, advertised on playbill of 23 May.] Morning Herald, 22 May: Tickets to be had of Mrs Clendining, No. 13, King-street, Covent-Garden. Receipts: #157 18s. (55.10; 3.19; tickets: 98.9)

Event Comment: Account-Book: Tickets delivered by Shotter, Mrs Pitt, Wall, Berecloth, Young, Hasler, Sturgeon, Noble, Bonsor, Little, Brice, Thompson (gallery office-keeper), Abbot, Curties will be admitted. Receipts: #304 15s. (27.19.6; 1.5.0; tickets: 275.10.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Davenport, Powel, Thompson & Sloper. [For Mrs Litchfield see 17 May.] Receipts: #291 10s. (46.6; 9.17; tickets: 235.7, of which Mrs Davenport sold 55.4, Powel #37.16, Thompson 26.12, Sloper 115.15)

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: Benefit for Twaits, Ives, Hallam, Brown & Mrs Brooks. Pit 2s. Gallery 1s. Back Seats 6d. The Doors to be opened at 6:00. To begin at 7:00. The above Performers, with the utmost Deference and Respect, inform the Ladies and Gentlemen of Greenwich, they have selected those Entertainments which they flatter themselves will meet their Approbation; being compelled to answer their Engagements in another Town, they jointly solicit their Patronage on this occasion, the honour of which will ever be remembered with the most lively effusions of gratitude

Event Comment: 2nd piece [1st time; MD 3, by James Boaden; some of the songs written by George Colman, ynger]: With new Musick, Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. The new Musick by Dr Arnold. With an appropriate Overture, accompanied by two Pedal Harps and the Union Pipes, by Weippert, C. Jones, and Murphy. The Scenery by Marinari. The Dresses and Decorations designed by A. Johnston, and executed by him and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "Any exertion of impartial criticism to check the prevalent taste for the marvellous and the horrific which so wantonly conjures up the spirit (it was once thought had been for ever laid) of gross superstition and Gothic barbarism must, we fear, prove at present unavailing" (Times, 23 July). Morning Chronicle, 30 July 1798: This Day is published Cambro-Britons (2s.)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Bland. Afterpiece: By permission of the Proprietors of the Theatre-Royal, Drury-Lane. Times, 18 Aug.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Bland, No. 25, King-street, Covent-garden

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MD 3, by Samuel Birch, adapted from Camille; ou, Le Souterrain, by Benoit Joseph Marsollier des Vivetieres, and from Les Victimes Cloitrees, by Jacques Marie Boutet de Monvel; the songs written by Thomas John Dibdin. Larpent MS 1236; not published. The playbill states that this was "Taken from the German," but London Chronicle, 12 Dec., says that its source is the same as that of The Captive of Spilburg (see dl, 14 Nov.). An examination of the MSS of these two pieces (Larpent 1230 and 1236) proves that such is unmistakably the case]: With entire new Scenes, Machinery, Dresses & Decorations. The Music composed and selected by Steibelt and Attwood. The Action of the Chorusaes, Finales, &c. under the Direction of Farley, and the Action of the Overture by Bologna Jun. A new Descriptive Overture, composed by Steibelt, on a Plan never before introduced on the English Stage, accompanied by Action. "The overture is...nothing more than music adapted to pantomime; and, in the present instance, the dumb shew is an unnecessary anticipation of the procession with which the piece opens" (Monthly Mirror, Dec. 1798, p. 369). The Scenery painted by Richards, Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Blackmore, &c. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #338 17s. 6d. (325.14.6; 13.3.0)