Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 20 years [not acted since 29 Apr. 1774]. "In the scene where Varanes kills himself, Kemble...was peculiarly striking. His manner of sheathing the sword in his body, after he has exclaimed, 'I feel the art'ry where the life-blood lies! It heaves against the point!-Now-Oh ye gods!' astonished us; and we turned, with horror, from the sight" (Monthly Visitor, Feb. 1797, p. 161). "I asked [Mrs Siddons] in which part she would most wish me to see her? She named Portia in the Merchant of Venice; but I begged to be excused...Mrs Siddons's warmest devotes do not hold her above a demigoddess in comedy. I have chosen Athenais;...her scorn is admirable" (Walpole [15 Jan. 1788], XIV, 42). Receipts: #231 9s. (175.2; 54.14; 1.13)

Event Comment: "It was with extreme regret that we perceived the ravages of time in the person of [Mrs Crawford, who had not acted in London since 12 Apr. 1785], tho' we were much consoled in observing that his influence is not equally apparent in her abilities...The blaze is gone, but there is a richness in the setting lustre...Kemble is evidently [Johnston's] model, and he followed him so closely, as even to the crossing of the legs in dying; so that where he was best, his efforts seemed to be the effect of imitation" (True Briton, 24 Oct.). "Mrs Crawford has had her day; but the sun of her genius has long sunk beneath the horizon...Many parts of her performance, we were sorry to observe, evinced the most evident decline of powers, and her tremulous accents, the debility of which was rendered the more striking from the want of several teeth, proclaimed that her days of play and action were nearly brought to a close...She was received with reiterated plaudits throughout...Nature has been very bountiful in supplying [Johnston] with a voice of much compass and melody, but he does not appear to have paid much attention to the cultivation of her favours. His transitions are often abrupt, and sometimes discordant; and the management of his tones is of so strange a nature that it appears more like two distinct voices than a judicious modulation of his natural accents" (Morning Herald, 24 Oct.). Receipts: #260 9s. (253.4.6; 7.4.6)

Event Comment: [Murray's 1st appearance as King Lear was at Bath, 21 Feb. 1788; when Miss Campion, Mrs Spencer's as Cordelia was at Dublin, 23 Mar. 1790] Receipts: #192 16s. (190.10; 2.6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 11 years. III the Procession and Ceremony at the Tomb of Cresphontes. "Since Mrs Crawford's meridian another species of acting has arisen, that adds the graces of demeanour to the ebullitions of passion" (True Briton, 30 Nov.). Receipts: #175 5s. (164.19; 10.6)

Event Comment: Incledon continuing Hoarse, the new Comic Opera of The Turnpike Gate [advertised on playbill of 6 Nov.] is necessarily obliged to be postponed [see 14 Nov.]. "[Mrs Pope's] whole soul seems to be engrossed with the study of attitudes and postures; how to display to the best advantage a genteel shape...Her very looks are artificial, and betray an excess of female vanity" (Dramatic Censor I, 11). Receipts: #337 13s. (333.11.6; 4.1.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Whitfield. Morning Chronicle, 17 May: Tickets to be had of Whitfield, No. 10, Clifford's Inn. Receipts: #353 19s. (52.11; 3.2; tickets: 298.6)

Event Comment: Mr Grist made his first appearance upon any Stage in the Character of Othello his figure is well enough, a good Voice and powerful, when he knows how to manage it-he is Awkward-but it was a very good first appearance, and if there is proper care taken of him, he may make an Actor (Hopkins Diary). Paid 2 extra flutes #2 10s.; 1 suit Brocade cloaths #12 12s.; Mrs Brereton, 4 nights not on list, #3 6s. 8d. Receipts: #220 4s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: The People flock'd about the doors by Two o'clock. there never was a greater Overflow-Mr G. was never happier in Lear -the Applause was beyond description 3 or 4 loud Claps Succeeding one another at all his exits and many Cry'd out Garrick for Ever &c., &c. House (Hopkins Diary). [Kemble's note differs slightly.] Paid Mr Short, Chorus Singer #1 10s. (Treasurer's Book). Hannah More wrote to Mrs Gwatkin: The eagerness of the people to see Garrick is beyond anything you can have an idea of. You will see half a dozen duchesses and countesses a night in the upper boxes: for the fear of not seeing him at all, has humbled those who used to go, not for the purpose of seeing but being seen; and they now courtsy to the ground for the worst places in the house" (Hampden, Journal). [Letter to David Garrick, Esq on his appearance in Lear last night 13 May: The correspondent who signs himself Stock Fish and who claims to have been one of the survivors of the Black Hole of Calcutta, and who took a young lady from the country to see Garrick's last performance, blames him for endangering the lives of his majesties subjects for not providing proper bars, lanes, and queue lines to handle the crowds: "I went with intention to get into the Pit as the most eligible Part of the House (for your Boxes are always engag'd) and we got to the Door in Vinegaryard about five o'clock. Here the Passage to the first Door was too full for me to entertain any Hopes of getting in that Way, we therefore made for Catharine-street but the Multitudes of People waiting for the Opening of the Gallery-doors, rendered it impossible for us to get along through the Court; we therefore made a Circuit, and at length arrived opposite the Door in Catharine-street, where it was with Difficulty we could keep our Stands on a Foot Pavement....You will be absolutely inexcusable, if after this Warning you neglect to adopt some Method for the Security of the Lives of his Majesties Subjects on similar Occasions.--What think you of the following Scheme, viz. To keep the outer Doors next the Street shut, till the inner ones are opened ; and then, by a Proper bar, to prevent more than one at a Time entering, who shall there pay Entrance-money, and receive the Tickets of Admission through the inner Doors' (Public Advertiser 18 May).] Receipts: #308 1s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: Macbeth [announced on playbill of 17 Jan.] is obliged to be deferred on account of Mrs Hartley's Indisposition. [Afterpiece: Epilogue by Samuel Foote.] Receipts: #223 16s. 6d. (222.5.6; 1.11.0)

Event Comment: RosiNA [announced on playbill of 2 Oct.] is obliged to be deferred on account of Mrs Martyr's Indisposition. "There are many of Mr Garrick's most favourite characters which [Henderson] appears in with great credit to himself, and applause from the audience; that in which he has been thought to approach the nearest to his predecessor is Hamlet; and, if we oppose the declamatory skill of Henderson-a quality indispensably necessary to the performance of this most difficult character-to the pathos and phrenzy (whether it be assumed or real madness in Hamlet is not here the question) of Garrick; I think it must be allowed that however short of him he may fall in some particulars, in the one I have mentioned, at least, he exceeds him" Qonson, The sad shepherd, ed. Waldron, p. 174). Receipts: #199 4s. 6d. (197/19/0; 1/5/6)

Event Comment: The Poor Soldier [announced on playbill of 10 Dec] is deferred till to-morrow, by the Indisposition of Mrs Bannister. Receipts: #193 5s. (187/11/6; 5/13/6)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Bertie Greatheed. Prologue by the Rev. David Williames. Epilogue by Hester Lynch Piozzi (see text)]: With new Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. Public Advertiser, 20 May 1788: This Day is published The Regent (1s. 6d.). Afterpiece: Not acted these 12 years [acted 29 May 1779]. "I do think that Mrs Siddons for Vigour of Action, pathetic Tone of Voice, & a sort of Radiance which comes round her in Scenes where strong heroic Virtues are displayed, never had her Equal" (Thraliana, II, 715). Receipts: #226 13s. (211.1; 14.4; O.18; tickets not come in:0.10)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Kemble [who is named in the Account-Book, but not on the playbill.] Mainpiece: Not acted these 5 years. Receipts: #92 14s. (70.12; 21.3; 0.19; tickets: non listed) (charge: #106 9s. 6d.)

Event Comment: [In afterpiece the playbill assigns Sir Harry's Servant to Dodd, but "King [asked that] Dodd, on account of illness, be released from his part in the farce. Whitfield was in consequence Sir Harry " (World, 24 Sept.).] Receipts: #185 12s. (133.18.0; 50.6.6; 1.7.6)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill retains Kemble as Valentine, but "he could not play--Whitfield was Valentine" (World, 7 Nov.).] Receipts: #112 16s. 6d. (77.12.0; 32.7.0; 2.17.6)

Event Comment: [In mainpiece the playbill retains R. Palmer as Pacha, and in afterpiece Palmer as Baron Lovinski, but "R. Palmer being Ill, Benson play'd the Pacha. Palmer continuing Ill, Whitfield play'd the Baron Lovinski' (Powell).] Powell: Roman Father rehearsed at 10; Nobody at 12. Receipts: #352 15s. (279.17.6; 70.15.6; 2.2.0)

Event Comment: The Doctor and the Apothecary [advertised on playbill of 15 Dec.] is deferred on account of the Indisposition of Mrs Crouch. Receipts: #171 8s. (151.2; 19.18; 0.8)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; MD 3, by George Colman, ynger]: The new Musick (with a Martial Overture) by Dr Arnold. The Scenery by Rooker. The Characters will be dressed [playbill of 6 Aug.: The Dresses by Whitfield] in the Habits of the Times. Books of the Songs [T. Cadell, 1791] to be had at the Theatre

Event Comment: Benefit for Pope. 1st piece [1st time; D 4. Larpent MS 1249; not published synopsis of plot in Universal Magazine, Apr. 1799, p. 273]: Translated from [Der Graf von Burgund, by August Friedrich Ferdinand von? Kotzebue (Author of The Stranger, Lover's Vows, &c.) by Miss Anne? Plumptre, and adapted to the English Stage by Alexander? Pope. Morning Chronicle, 25 26 Mar.: Tickets to be had of Pope at his house, No. 5, Half Moon-street, Piccadilly. [This was Mrs Abington's last appearance on the stage.] "The perpetuated evidence of youth was in character with her person and her powers; the slimness of her figure, the fulness of her voice, the freshness of her spirits, the sparkle of her eye, and the elasticity of her limbs, savoured alike of a juvenility that puzzled the mind, whilst it pleased it: of her it was justly said that 'she had been on the stage thirty years; she was one-and-twenty when she came, and one-and-twenty when she went!'" (John Bernard, Retrospections of the Stage, 1830, II, 228-29). Receipts: #334 19s. 6d. (194.1.0; 2.5.0; tickets: 138.13.6)

Event Comment: Benefit for Mrs Wilson. Public Advertiser, 30 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Mrs Wilson, No. 20, Tavistock-street, Covent Garden. 3rd piece [1st time; F 1, author unknown. MS: Larpent 656; not published. Author of Prologue unknown]. Receipts: #177 4s. 6d. (113/15/6; tickets: 63/9/0) (charge: #105)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 12 years [not acted since 4 Nov. 1780]. "Mrs Siddons's manner of receiving the death ofMoneses, and the struggle that ended in her own, was one of the best efforts of the art we ever beheld. This effort, however, was too much for her powers; for after her fall, her groans were so audible that the curtain was properly dropped [in the middle of Act V], and it was some moments before she could be removed from the stage. [The curtain was raised again, and] on the conclusion of the tragedy the audience would not suffer the farce to begin until Whitfield came forward, and assured them that she was perfectly recovered" (True Briton, 4 Feb.). Receipts: #257 13s. 6d. (181.18.0; 73.5.6; 2.10.0)

Event Comment: Paid Whitfield for making Cloaths to Decr. inclusive #59 2s. Receipts: #203 19s. (201.4; 2.15)

Event Comment: Benefit for Caulfield, Miss DeCamp, Miss Tidswell & Miss Heard. [In mainpiece the playbill assigns Mr Worthy to Benson but "an apology was made for the absence of Benson...His part of Worthy was read by Whitfield" (Thespian Magazine, July 1793, p. 50).] Tickets delivered for the 8th of June will be admitted. Morning Herald, 24 May: Tickets to be had of Caulfield, No. 8, Dartmouth-street, Westminster; of Miss DeCamp, No. 70, Tottenham-Court-Road; of Miss Tidswell, No. 3, Little Charles-street, St. James's-square; of Miss Heard, No. 13, Panton-street, Hay-market. Receipts: #182 3s. (28.17; 3.5; tickets: 150.1) (charge: #86 8s.)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; CO 3, by James Cobb. Text: T. N. Longman and O. Rees, 1800. Miss Waters is identified in the Songs]: The Scenes, Music, Machinery, Dresses, and Decorations are all entirely new. The Music composed by Mazzinghi and Reeve. The Scenery painted by Richards, Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Backmore, &c. [based on drawings of Indian scenery by Thomas Daniell]. The Machinery and Decorations by Cresswell, Sloper, Goostree, &c. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs, also describing the Scenes and Spectacle of the Return from the Tiger Hunt, to be had at the Theatre, price six pence. "The whole [forms] an exhibition of the utmost grandeur...The expense attending the decoration must have been immense...The dailogue is certainly not of the first description of writing, but it forms, on the whole, a very safe vehicle for some of the best music the English stage has for some time been able to boast"(Morning Herald, 13 Nov.). Account-Book, 27 Dec.: Paid Cuthbert for Wheels, &c. for the Elephants #13 18s. Receipts: #364 7s. 6d. (363.19.6; 0.8.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: 32nd Night [i.e. in continuation, erroneously, of the reckoning for the preceding season, when it was acted 28 times]. With new Music, Scenes, Dresses, and Decorations. The Music (with a few Exceptions) composed entirely new by Shield. And new Scenery designed and chiefly executed by Richards. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. "Covent-garden is the National Theatre. I was there on 10th Dec. and saw an opera called The Woodman. It was the very day on which the life story of Madam Billington, both from the good as well as from the bad sides was announced [i.e. Memoirs of Mrs Billington, and An Answer to the Memoirs of Mrs Billington, both anonymous, both predated 1792]...She sang rather timidly this evening, but very well all the same. The first tenor [Incledon] has a good voice and quite a good style, but he uses the falsetto to excess. He sang a trill on high C and ran up to G. The 2nd tenor [Johnstone] tries to imitate him, but could not make the change from the falsetto to the natural voice, and apart from that is most unmusical...But the cast is entirely used to him. The leader is Herr Baumgartner [sic], a German who, however, has almost forgotten his mother-tongue. The Theatre is very dark and dirty, and is almost as large as the Vienna Court Theatre. The common people in the galleries of all the theatres are very impertinent; they set the fashion with all their unrestrained impetuosity, and whether something is repeated or not is determined by their yells. The parterre and all the boxes sometimes have to applaud a great deal to have something good repeated. That was just what happened this evening, with the Duet in the 3rd Act, which was very beautiful; and the pro's and contra's went on for nearly a quarter of an hour, till finally the parterre and the boxes won, and they repeated the Duet. Both the performers stood on the stage quite terrified, first retiring, then again coming forward. The orchestra is sleepy" (Haydn, 273-74). Receipts: #194 11s. (191.8; 3.3)