9. Mourning Bride. Osmyn = Booth: King = Elrington : Zara Mrs. Porter: Almeria Mrs. Thurmond. = 16. Never acted, Masquerade. Sir George Jealous Wilks: Ombre Elrington: Smart Miller: First and Second Figure in the Masquerade = Cibber: Whisper (servant to Sir George) Norris: Sophronia Mrs. Oldfield: Lady Frances Ombre = Mrs. Thurmond Cælia Mrs. Horton: Fidget (her woman) Mrs. Garnet :-acted about 7 times-Ombre is very fond of his wife-she is completely addicted to gaming-she believes that she is ruined past redemption he pays her debts-she promises to reform, and to retire into the country-Sir George is much in love with Sophronia, but perpetually jealous-he gets hold of half of a torn letter written by Sophronia-this puts him in a rage-she gives him the other half of the letter-and he is ashamed of his jealousy-in the 4th act, he sees her embrace Fidget, who is dressed in Smart's clothes-Sir George is more jealous than ever-she offers to satisfy him, but on condition of their eternal separation -he accedes to the proposal-and she explains the mistake-at the conclusion, they are reconciledSmart had seduced Cælia-she passes for his wife, but is only his mistress-he uses her very ill-he makes love to Sophronia, and offers her a promise of marriage under a penalty of £5000-she accepts his offer as he is just going to sign the bond, she substitutes another bond for the same sum, in favour of Cælia, but without any conditions-this is a tolerable C. by Charles Johnson-but it wants incident, and is sometimes dull-the masquerade does not contribute at all to the plot-Sir Walter Raleigh came out on the same night at L. I. F. as the Masquerade did at D. L.-the Epilogue to that T. concludes thus- "Wit cannot fall so fast, as folly rises; "Witness the Masquerade-at double prizes. There is some resemblance between the characters of Ombre and Lady Frances, and those of Sir Thomas Bornwell and Aretina in the Lady of Pleasure, but Ombre's scheme for reclaiming his wife differs from that of Bornwell-Johnson's enemies were not aware that he had borrowed much more from Moliere than from Shirley-the circumstances which excite Sir George's jealousy are taken from Don Garcia of Navarre-with a good deal of the dialogue. Cassius Elrington. 28. Julius Cæsar. Cassius= Feb. 12. Richard the 3d. 14. Never acted, Chit-Chat. Bellamar = Wilks: Worthy - Booth: Alamode = Cibber: Lurcher = Miller: Townly Mills: Moderna Mrs. Thurmond: Marlove (her friend) = Mrs. Porter: Florinda (sister to Worthy) Mrs. Oldfield :-Worthy had lately married Moderna-he is very fond of his wife-she was in love with Alamode, but had been prevailed on by Marlove to marry Worthy-Worthy wishes Bellamar to marry his sister—he pays his addresses to her, and she accepts them-Marlove and Lurcher endeavour to break off the match-he wants to marry Florinda himself-she had been intimate with Bellamar, and wishes to prevent his marriage with any body-Bellamar accidentally discovers an intrigue between Alamode and Moderna-Lurcher tells Worthy that Bellamar's attachment is more to his wife than his sister-Moderna, by Marlove's persuasion, rather encourages her husband in his suspicions-in the last act, Worthy sees a man carry Moderna into an arbour in Spring Garden-he rushes after them, and finds Alamode with Moderna instead of Bellamar-Worthy renounces his wife, and gives his sister to Bellamar--this C. was written by T. Killegrew-never was a play better namedsome parts of the dialogue have merit, but there is a want of incident-Killegrew in the last line of the Prologue acknowledges that there is little or no plot -the play, owing to the great zeal of the author's friends, was acted eleven times. = March 7. Never acted, Busiris. Myron (son to Busiris) Booth: Busiris Elrington: Memnon = Wilks Nicanor (an old general) Mills: Rameses = Walker: Syphoces=Thurmond: Mandane (daughter to Nicanor) Mrs. Oldfield: Myris= Mrs. Thurmond :-acted 9 times-Myris was sister to the King of Ægypt-she had instigated Busiris to the murder of her brother-and then married him-Busiris had put to death many of the late King's friends, and among them Memnon's father-Memnon joins with Rameses and Syphoces in a conspiracy against Busiris, whose pride and cruelty are excessive-Nicanor and Myron return after having gained a victory, in which Nicanor had saved Myron's life-Myron is violently in love with Mandane-he is represented as generous and brave, but as a slave to his passions-Memnon and Mandane are on the point of being privately married-Nicanor celebrates his daughter's birthday he invites Myron and others to a banquet-Nicanor is sent for by the King-he requests Myron to pass the night at his house-Myron ravishes Mandane-he repents of what he had done -Memnon and Nicanor are made acquainted with what had happened to Mandane-Nicanor joins the conspirators-a battle ensues-Memnon and Myron fight-Myron is killed-Rameses is mortally wounded-Memnon and Mandane kill themselves-Busiris is defeated-he dies of his wounds-Myris is torn in pieces by the populace the scene lies at MemphisBusiris was really King of Egypt, every thing else is fictitious this T. was written by Dr. Young-on the whole it is an indifferent play-the last scene of the 2d act between Busiris and Myris is good-the language is too frequently bombast, but some parts of it are well written-Myron was one of Booth's best characters. March 31. Mrs. Thurmond acted Hypolita for her bt. April 6. Mrs. Bicknell's bt. Henry 8th. racters. no cha 13. Feigned Innocence, or Sir Martin Marall. 14. Norris acted Fondlewife for his bt. 17. Distressed Mother. 20. Bickerstaffe's bt. All for Love. Bickerstaffe being lame cannot as usual wait upon his friends. 27. For bt. of Wilks Jun. Careless Husband. Sir Charles Easy Wilks, being his first appearance since his late illness. = May 4. Tamerlane. Bajazet Mills. = 8. Boman's bt. Fatal Marriage. 11. For bt. of Wilks the Office-keeper. Amphitryon. Jupiter = Wilks: Amphitryon Mills: Alcmena Mrs. Thurmond: Phædra Mrs. Bicknell. 25. For the Widow Bowen to make up the defi ciency of her last bt. She wou'd if she cou'd. Summer. June 8. Bondman-not acted since the reign of Charles the 1st—if the players had looked into Downes, they might have seen that Betterton had acted the Bondman. Pisander Walker: Leosthenes Williams: Timoleon = Mills: Archidamus (Prætor of Syracuse). =Thurmond: Timagoras (his son) = W. Mills : Diphilus Bowman: Cleon (a fat old lord) = Shepherd: Asotus (his son) Miller: Gracculo-Norris: Cleora (daughter to Archidamus) = Mrs. Thurmond : Timandra Mrs. Garnet: Corisca (wife to Cleon) = Mrs. Hunt: Zanthia Mrs. Baker: Olympia= Mrs. Moore: the Syracusans are afraid of being subdued by the Carthaginians-Timoleon is sent by the Corinthians to their assistance they invest him with the supreme power-he sets out with the principal Syracusans to oppose the Carthaginians -Leosthenes is in love with Cleora-on taking leave of her, he expresses his fears of the temptations to which she might be subject-she, to appease his jealousy, directs him to tie a bandage over her eyes, which, she says, no one shall untie but himself-she also promises not to speak dur -- |
