Event Comment: On this day Charles II died. Although the order to close the theatres was not issued until 20 Feb. 1684@5 (L. C. 5@145, p. 153), acting Probably ceased on Thursday 5 Feb. 1684@5. At this time John Crowne's Sir Courtly Nice was in rehearsal. John Dennis gives a dramatic account of the last day of rehearsing: The Play was now just ready to appear to the World; and as every one that had seen it rehears'd was highly pleas'd with it; every one who had heard of it was big with the Expectation of it; and Mr Crown was delighted with the flattering Hope of being made happy for the rest of his Life, by the Performance of the King's Promise; when, upon the very last Day of the Rehearsal, he met Cave Underhill coming from the Play-House as he himself was going towards it; Upon which the Poet reprimanding the Player for neglecting so considerable a Part as he had in the Comedy, and neglecting it on a Day of so much Consequence, as the very last Day of Rehearsal: Oh Lord, Sir, says Underhill, we are all undone. Wherefore, says Mr Crown, is the Play-House on Fire? The whole Nation, replys the Player, will quickly be so, for the King is dead. At the hearing which dismal Words, the Author was little better; for he who but the Moment before was ravish'd with the Thought of the Pleasure, which he was about to give to his King, and of the Favours which he was afterwards to receive from him, this Moment found, to his unspeakable Sorrow, that his Royal Patron was gone for ever, and with him all his Hopes. The King indeed reviv'd from his Apoplectick Fit, but three Days after dyed, and Mr Crown by his Death was replung'd in the deepest Melancholy (John Dennis, Original Letters, 1721, I, 53-54). [It is not clear whether the last sentence refers to the day on which Crowne had seen the King and had assurances from His Majesty, the King dying three days later, or whether there was a false rumor of the King's death on 3 Feb. 1684@5.

Event Comment: Benefit for King. [This was Smith's last appearance on the stage, from which he had officially retired on 9 June 1788.] Broadside in Kemble playbills announcing this benefit: Mr King most respectfully informs the Public that his Night is fixed for Friday the 18th of May, when will be presented The School for Scandal. Mr King has the pleasure to add that Mr Smith, who was so long and so worthily applauded by the Public, and was the original performer of Charles Surface in the above, distinguished Comedy, at the particular request of Mr King, backed by a strong assurance from many admirers and encouragers of the Drama that it will not only add to Mr King's emolument but highly gratify the Town, has kindly consented to return to the Theatre for one night, and resume his favourite Character. "We had been told that Smith pourtrayed the Manners of a finished gentleman with more delicacy and characteristic propriety than any actor of his day; but this did not appear to us to be his particular excellence; he stands too wide to be graceful, and his deportment gains no advantage from a perpetual application of his hand to the lower part of the waist. These habits are far from elegant. His Charles, however, is a favourable specimen of that sort of acting which commonly falls under the denomination of the old school: light, airy, and natural; which excites applause without any anxious endeavour to produce it; which suffers the points to tell of themselves, and does not place them as so many traps to ensnare the injudicious part of the audience" (Monthly Mirror, May 1798, p. 299). "He was received with the most heart-felt gratulations by an audience who did not expect any apology for such acting, though he saw fit to deliver one at the conclusion of the play" (Monthly Visitor, May 1798, p. 72). Times, 4 May: Tickets to be had of King at his house, New Store-street, Bedford-square. Receipts: #674 6s. (388.0.6; 55.17.6; 2.0.0); tickets: 228.8.0) (charge: #212 5s. 6d.)

Event Comment: The Duke's Company. As the play was not printed until 1689, the date of composition is uncertain. In Act I, however, a reference to the death of the Earl of Rochester (26 July 1680) suggests that the play probably followed that even rather closely. On the other hand, the latest likely date for the first production seems set at late 1682 by the fact that Thomas Farmer's music for the play in BM Add. Mss. 19183-19185 is dated December 1682. The play has been placed in September 1680 as the earliest likely date (the presence of an experienced cast makes somewhat unlikely a production in mid-summer 1680). A song, All other blessings are but toys, with music by Thomas Farmer, is in Choice Ayres and Songs, The Fourth Book, 1683. A song, Lovely Selina, innocent and free, with music by John Blow, is in the same collection; and another, Weep all ye nymphs, with music by John Blow, is in The Theater of Music, The First Book, 1685

Event Comment: London Gazette, 25-29 Nov. 1686: Whereas Mr Thomas Otway some time before his death made Four Acts of a Play, whoever can give Notice in whose Hands the Copy lies, either to Mr Thomas Betterton, or Mr William Smith, at the Theatre Royal, shall be well Rewarded for his pains

Event Comment: Rich's Company. The date of the first performance is not known, but the fact that the play was advertised in the Post Boy, 27-30 June 1696, suggests that it was first acted not later than early June 1696 and probably not later than late May 1696. A dialogue, Fly, fly from my sight, between a Eunuch Boyr and a Virgin, set by Daniel Purcell and sung by Bowen and Mrs Cross, is in Deliciae Musicae, The Second Book of the Second Volume, 1696. This was also printed separately, without a date, by Thomas Cross, with the statement that the dialogue was written by Thomas D'Urfey. Gildon, English Dramatick Poets, ca. 1698, p. 111: For the Distress of Morena never fail'd to bring Tears into the Eyes of the Audience

Event Comment: Betterton's Company. John Coke (see below), writing on 16 March 1696@7, referred to a "new farce" appearing at this theatre on this day, but no "new farce" is known at this period; on the other hand, an edition of Mountfort's farce published in 1697 indicates a revival in this season and is a likely possibility for this date. John Coke to Thomas Coke, 16 March 1696@7: Saturday a new farce was acted at the new house, which did not take. The Mourning Bride was acted till Saturday, and was full to the last (HMC, 12th Report, Part II, Cowper MSS., II, 368). Robert Shirley to Thomas Coke, 13 March 1696@7: I am, dear Sir, indebted to you in sending me so ingenious an account of Mr Congreve's tragedy, which I hear on all sides far exceeded what the world expected from him in that part of dramatic poetry (ibid)

Event Comment: With all the Risings, Sinkings, and Flyings of the Witches, as they were Originally perform'd