Playbill collection(1762–1937)

MS 1990.2 (2X)
Photocopy: PH-68
19 items

Original printed playbills (mostly 1762–1807) for plays performed in Williamsburg, VA, Fredericksburg, VA, Newbern, NC, Fayetteville, NC, Edenton, NC, and elsewhere. Included are plays performed at the Old Theatre near the Capitol in Williamsburg by the Virginia Company of Comedians and other groups.

Plays include The Beggar’s Opera, The Orphan, The Constant Couple, Mr. Charlton, The Clandestine Marriage, An Evening’s Lounge or Antidote for the Spleen, Dish of All Sorts, Virgin Unmask’d, Love In a Village, She Stoops to Conquer, and The Glory of Columbia.

Also included are playbills for three plays performed in the 1930s at the College of William and Mary and in Charleston, SC. Reverse of one playbill consists of an advertisement for guitar lessons. Some playbills have annotations, one is handwritten.

Inventory

Date	Description
3 June [1762]	Playbill and advertisement. The Beggar’s Opera and The Anatomist. To be performed at the Old Theatre, near the Capitol by the Virginia Company of Comedians. Reverse: Mr. Wall, Comedian, engages to teach Ladies and Gentlemen to play the guitar. (For the Benefit of Mrs. Parker).
15 April [1768]	Playbill. The Orphan or the Unhappy Marriage and Harlequin Skeleton or the Burgomaster trick’d. Performed the Virginia Company of Comedians, Williamsburg.
18 May [1768]	Playbill. The Constant Couple or A Trip to the Jubilee and The Miller of Mansfield. Performed by the Virginia Company of Comedians, Williamsburg.
8 June [1768]	Playbill. Mr. Charlton, The Miser, and The Brave Irishman. Performed by the Virginia Company of Comedians, Williamsburg. 2 pp.
20 June [1770]	Playbill. The Clandestine Marriage and Thomas and Sally or the Sailor’s Return. Performed by the American Company, Williamsburg.
1 May [1771]	Playbill. Love In a Village and The Buck Or, The Englishman in Paris. Performed by the American Company, Williamsburg.
28 May [1771]	Playbill. The Provoked Husband or, A Journey to London. Also Love a-la Mode. Performed by the American Company, Fredericksburg.
30 December 1795	Playbill. An Evening’s Lounge or Antidote for the Spleen, Dissertation on Gaming and Drinking (crossed out and changed to Jealousy). The Sultan or a Peep Into the Seragilo, and Romp. Fayetteville, North Carolina.
31 December 1795	Playbill. An Evening’s Lounge or Antidote for the Spleen, A Free Mason’s Wife, and The School for Scandal. Fayetteville, North Carolina.
[1795]	Manuscript playbill. The Register Office and Robinson Crusoe. Lane Theatre. Fayetteville, North Carolina.
31 March 1797	Playbill. The Romp, Jane Shore, Virgin Unmask’d, Fontain Bleau, and The Busy Body. Performed at the New Theatre, Newbern, North Carolina.
13 May 1797	Playbill. Dish of All Sorts and “Elegant Scenes Selected from the Dramatic Poets.” Performed at Newbern, North Carolina.
16–17 May 1797	Playbill. Scolding at a Country Wedding. Newbern Theatre. Newbern, North Carolina.
20 July 1797	Playbill. Inkle and Yarico, Wrangling Lovers or Like Master Like Man, and All the World’s a Stage. Edenton, North Carolina.
4 July 1807	Playbill. The Glory of Columbia and Rural Soldiers: Or, Sprigs of Laurel. Providence.
12 October	Playbill. She Stoops To Conquer or The Mistakes of the Night, and All the World’s a Stage. Performed at the Theatre in the Courthouse, Suffolk.
1935	Playbill. The Jealous Wife. Performed by the Company of William and Mary, Williamsburg.
1 December 1937	Playbill. The Recruiting Officer. Dock Street Theatre, Charleston, South Carolina.
1937	Playbill. A Trip to Scarborough. Performed by the William and Mary Company, Williamsburg.

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