ABSTRACT
1776 was a year of great events, including the signing of the American Declaration of Independence, James Watts’s perfection of the steam engine, and the publication of Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations. The year also marked the end of David Garrick’s reign as manager and principal actor of the Drury Lane theatre. Suffering from ill health, he gave his final performance, in an emotional farewell to his audience. He was sixty-two. Garrick died in agony of a kidney complaint three years later. His failure to identify and groom a successor led to a period of decline at Drury Lane, which lasted a decade until John Philip Kemble took over as manager. Macklin continued acting well into his eighties, retiring from the stage only when he no longer could remember his lines. Macklin lived on until he was nearly 100, continuing ghostlike to visit the London theatres.
