SEASON OF
1780-1781
^ N the preface to the preceding season mention was made
of the debuts at Covent Garden of two performers who, with
assurances of increased salaries' and of freer rein in choosing
important parts, had been induced to leave their stations at
rury Lane. They were John Henderson and Elizabeth Younge. In obtaining
lLlr services the astute Covent Garden manager, Thomas Harris, knew
at *lc was doing: throughout the entire season the receipts at his theatre
XVCrc’ on almost every night, far superior to those at Drury Lane. Indeed,
Unt|l the reappearance of Mrs Siddons at Drury Lane in October 1782, this
Jte °f affairs remained almost without exception unchanged. Harris also
^ air>ed two new actresses whose names were of considerable benefit to
tJe box-°ffice : Mrs Inchbald, who subsequently became even more valuable
]a(_ t^lc same manager as a highly successful playwright, and Miss Satchell,
IvIrs Stephen Kemble, who in parts calling for the delineation of
cness and pathos, such as Ophelia, had in her generation no rival,
ev At theatres dancing continued to constitute a large part of the
a| n‘nS s entertainments. They were, particularly at Covent Garden,
y.^°St wholly of a rural character— a! Pastoral Dana , The Shepherd’s Wedding,
perl Ca^e^°nian Shards, The Countryman Deceived, The Sports of the Green, &c. —
aps reflecting rather more the taste of the ballet master than of the
audience.
to ^niry Lane had little either of novelty or of general interest to offer
afl. 6 Public* Sheridan continued to see to it that his own plays and his
PGtions of older plays were frequently brought forward. The stock
now recetvT 1 Hen<lerson llad £10 a week, at Covent Garden 12 guineas. Miss Younge
^*£Cc" I '-uui.touu “«U ^,IU cl WCLKj ell V— -U V LI1L vJ
lv<-*d Xiao a week, instead of Xp3 at Drury Lane.
361