Event Comment: Principal Violoncello by C. Ashley. Double Drums by R. Ashley. Trumpets by Sariant, Cantelo, Purney. Among the other Principal Instrumental Performers are Foster, Mahon, Boyce, Flack, Lavenu, John Sharp, Simpson, Gwilliam, Monro, Mich. Sharp, Wood, Warren, Wm. Sharp, Cobham, Cornish, Jenkinson, F. Sharp, Shutze, Lord, Woodham, J. Sharp, Franks, &c. With a Complete Set of Chorus Singers. The Whole under the Direction of Ashley. Boxes 6s. Pit 3s. 6d. Gallery 2s. Upper Gallery 1s. No Money to be returned. The Doors to be opened at 5:30. To begin at 6:30 [same throughout oratorio season]. Places to be had of Brandon at the Box Office in Hart-street. Books of the Performance, 6d. each, may be had at the Theatre. The Directors' Books have these words at the bottom of each title-page: "Printed by H. Madeish, Recorder-Office, Duke's-Court, Drury-lane."

Event Comment: Benefit for Hull and Miss Hopkins. 2nd piece: Written by [John] Hoole, the elegant Translator of Tasso, Ariosto, &c. Receipts: #208 0s. 6d. (55/2/0; 7/10/0; tickets: 145/8/6)

Event Comment: [In afterpiece the playbill retains J. D'Egville as Alexander the Aumer as Hephestion , but "D'Egville being suddenly taken ill, Aumer play'd Alexander and C. Kemble Hephestion" (Powell).] Powell: King John rehearsed at 10; Edwy and Elgiva at 12 (dismissed). Receipts: #484 17s. (439.18.6; 41.17.6; 3.1.0)

Event Comment: Benefit for Holman. Mainpiece: Never [previously] acted here. In Act V the Funeral Procession of a Roman Commanderv. Morning Chronicle, 11 Apr.: Tickets to be had of Holman, No. 14, John-street, Adelphi. Receipts: #263 3s. (130.16; 22.17; tickets: 109.10)

Event Comment: 1st piece [1st time; MD 5, by James Boaden, based on Herman von Unna, by Anders Fredrik, Count Skjoldebrand. Prologue by John Litchfield. Epilogue by the author (see text)]: In the course of the Play, the Customs of the Tribunal in the Citation of the Offender-the Leading away to Judgement-the Habits and mysterious Signs of the Ministers of Vengeance, will be given with Accuracy. In the last Act, the awful Assembly of the Free Judges at Midnight, with the Ceremonies of the Trial-elucidating an Institution, which, by Secrecy and Certainty of its Judgements, produced many alarming Events in the 15th Century, throughout the Germanic Empire. Morning Herald, 20 June 1795: This Day is published The Secret Tribunal (2s.). Receipts: #93 11s. (82.19; 10.12)

Event Comment: [Mainpiece altered by John Philip Kemble.] An Accurate Edition of King Lear to be had in the Theatre. Receipts: #214 19s. 6d. (159.2.6; 54.9.0; 1.8.0)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: With Alterations [by John Philip Kemble]. The Scenery and Dresses are entirely new. The Scenes designed and executed by Marinari and Capon. [Oracle, 29 Feb.: Capon painted three scenes of Westminster Hall.] An accurate Edition of The Plain Dealer to be had in the Theatre. Receipts: #324 14s. 6d. (322.6.6; 2.8.0)

Event Comment: Account-Book, 13 Feb.: Received from John Ashley Oratorio rent #52 10s. [i.e. for every performance]

Event Comment: Benefit for the Widow and Three Orphan Children of the late Mr Benson. [Address by John Taylor, Poems, I, 62.] "Benson [who committed suicide on 19 May] was remarkable for a very retentive memory, which enabled him on the slightest notice to become a substitute for almost any performer who might be suddenly disabled from appearing" (European Magazine, June 1796, p. 397). The house was a very good one, but it has been said that Sheridan went to the Treasury and carried off the money, so that Benson's widow and children never got a sixpence" (Genest, VII, 245). Receipts: #678 10s. 6d. (319.8.0; 66.3.6; 2.19.0; tickets: 276.6.0; odd money: 13.14.0) (charge: #212 15s.)

Event Comment: [As afterpiece the playbill announces Olympus in an Uproar, but it "was obliged to be postponed, on account of the sudden indisposition of Mrs Martyr. The change was announced in bills published at a late hour, and the door-keepers were ordered to acquaint the audience as they entered of the change. This information ought to have been given from the stage; but instead of that decent ceremony the curtain drew up on Rosina. John Bull resented this want of respect, and made a tremendous clamour, which Incledon and Townsend in vain attempted, by repeated apologies, to allay. At last, however, the storm gradually subsided, and Rosina was suffered to warble her mellifluous tones" (True Briton, 14 Nov.).] Receipts: #199 4s. (193.6; 5.18)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; T 5, by Robert Jephson, based on La Clemenza di Tito. by Pietro Bonaventura Trapassi? Metastasio. Text (unauthorized), Dublin: John Archer, 1796; it assigns no parts. Authors of Prologue and Epilogue unknown]: The Scenery by Marinari. Receipts: #237 10s. (169.18; 64.12; 3.0)

Event Comment: [Address by John Taylor (see text).] Receipts: #236 17s. (229.5; 7.12)

Event Comment: Under the Patronage of H. R. H. the Prince of Wales, H. R. H. the Duke of York, and H. R. H. the Duke of Clarence. Benefit for a Fund for the Relief of the Wounded Seamen, and also for the Widows and Orphans of the Brave Men who fell in the late Glorious Action, under Admiral Lord Viscount Duncan [see 16 Oct.]. The Tickets for the Boxes are issued under the Direction of a Committee consisting of the following Noblemen and Gentlemen, who have obligingly undertaken to attend to the arrangement of the Evening: The Duke of Leeds, The Duke of Bedford, The Earl of Guildford, The Earl of Thanet, The Right Honorable the Lord Mayor [Brook Watson], Mr Alderman Combe, M. P., Mr Alderman Skinner, John Julius Angerstein, Esq. Tickets and Places for the Boxes not disposed of by the Committee to be had of Fosbrook at the Box Office, Little Russell-Street, and at the Bar of Lloyds Coffee House. Ladies and Gentlemen having Privilege of the Theatre are requested by the Stewards to waive the use of it for this Evening. [Address by Richard Cumberland (European Magazine, Nov. 1797, p. 339). True Briton. 23 Nov. 1797, prints a letter from the Chairman of Committee of Subscribers to the performers of the theatre, thanking them for not "accepting the usual emolument on the night of performance."] Receipts: #631 8s. (357.17.6; 57.4.6; 1.11.0; money extra left at the doors: 2.14.6; tickets: 212.0.6) (charge: #161 0s. 6d.)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; MD 2, by George Colman, ynger, based on Raoul Barbe Bleue, by Michel Jean Sedaine (although, in the 1st edition of the play, this denied by Colman). Text (Cadell and Davies, 1798)]: The Scenery, Machinery, Dresses, and Decorations entirely new. The Musick composed and selected [from Paisiello] by Kelly. The Scenes designed and executed by Greenwood? Jun, Chalmers, and others. The Machinery, Decorations, and Dresses designed and under the direction of Johnston, and executed by him, Underwood, Gay, and Miss Rein. Books of the Songs to be had in the Theatre. Times, 8 Feb. 1798: This Day is published Blue Beard (1s. 6d.). "In the course of the representation, many blunders in working the scenery, which are unavoidable in a first representation of this nature, occurred, and the delays which took place were frequently very great...It was twelve o'-clock before the curtain dropped...The Expense of getting it up is said to be not less than #2,000" (London Chronicle, 18 Jan.). Proud swells the tide, with loads of capering heels, And vacant Folly shouts applause in peals; Hoards, even beyond th miser's wish, are thrown, To deck some sham farago for the town...Money for dresses, money for new scenes, New music, decorations, and machines; The cost of these, including every freak, Would pay ten decent players four pounds a week. Anthony Pasquin (pseud. for John Williams), "Innovation," in The Devil [1787], II, no. 2, 46. Receipts: #319 14s. 6d. (216.17.6; 102.2.0; 0.15.0)

Event Comment: 3rd piece [1st time; MF 2, by George Moultrie. Larpent MS 1199; not published; synopsis of plot in Morning Herald, 18 Mar. Prologue by John Taylor (Poems, I, 97)]: The Music composed by Attwood. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #250 14s. (243.16; 6.18)

Event Comment: Benefit for Bannister. 3rd piece [1st time: INT 1. Larpent MS 1218; not published]: A Sequel [to Sylvester Daggerwood], written by John? O'Keeffe. Times, 24 May: Tickets to be had of Bannister, No. 7, Suffolk-street, Haymarket. Receipts: #318 17s. (86.6.0; 44.4.6; 2.0.6; tickets: 186.6.0, of which Bannister to pay for half over #100) (charge: none listed)

Event Comment: The last Night of the Company's performing this season. [This was John Palmer's last appearance in London. He died on the stage of the Liverpool theatre, while acting in The Stranger, on 2 Aug. 1798.] Receipts: #164 19s. (113.2.6; 50.9.0; 1.7.6)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; M. INT 1, by Thomas John Dibdin. Prologue by Richard Cumberland (see text)]: The Overture and Music composed by Attwood, with some favorite Selections from the Works of Dibdin and Mazzinghi. Books of the Songs, including a descriptive Sketch of the Ballet, to be had at the Theatre. Morning Herald, 5 Nov. 1798: This Day is published The Mouth of the Nile (1s.). Receipts: #309 3s. 6d. (303.0.6; 6.3.0)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time in London; F2, by Thomas John Dibdin, 1st acted at Maidstone, 12 July 1798]. Receipts: #286 3s. (279.13; 6.10)

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)

Event Comment: Mainpiece [1st time; C 5, by Joseph George Holman. Prologue by William Thomas Fitzgerald; Epilogue by John Taylor (see text)]: With new Dresses, Scenery, &c. [Afterpiece in place of The Farmer, advertised on playbill of 11 Jan.] Morning Chronicle, 26 Mar. 1799: This Day is published The Votary of Wealth (2s.). Receipts: #326 10s. 6d. (321.2.6; 5.8.0)

Event Comment: Afterpiece [1st time; P 2, by Thomas John Dibdin; pantomime by Charles Farley]: With new Scenery, Machinery, Tricks, Dresses, and Decorations. The Overture, Airs and Chorusses by Attwood. The Pantomime Music by Attwood, Mountain, and Ealy [recte Eley]. The Scenery by Phillips, Lupino, Hollogan, Blackmore, Thorne, Wilkins, &c. The Machinery and Tricks by Cresswell, Sloper and Goostree. The Dresses by Dick and Mrs Egan. Books of the Songs to be had at the Theatre. Receipts: #364 (353.12; 10.8)