Theatronomics: the business of theatre, 1732-1809

The website presents the extant financial records of the Theatres Royal Covent Garden and Drury Lane, 1732-1809, when the theatres were managed by figures such as David Garrick, Thomas Harris, and Richard Brinsley Sheridan. The resource holds a considerable amount of data: there are ~27,000 items of income and ~158,000 items of expenditure documented and categorised, amounting to about ~£7.3m of financial transactions (~£3.97m in income, ~£3.37m in expenditure). There are also ancillary financial data which have not been incorporated into the main resource but are available for consultation. To better relate the income and expenditure to the daily business of theatre, we document 29,310 Events at the theatre (i.e. evenings of dramatic entertainment) incorporating ~76,000 performances of ~3500 dramatic works. The database is populated by ~6000 people.