File:Print, satirical print (BM 1868,0808.3739).jpg

English: Satire on the dispute between actors and management at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in autumn 1743. The protagonists are shown in the piazza, Covent Garden; Stephens supplies a key to letters on the print. Under the portico, to right, a crowd of people, some carrying staves, pushes into the entrance to the Theatre Royal Covent Garden which is guarded by two armed grenadiers. John Rich (a), the manager, dressed as Harlequin, is saying, "I have nick'd em both", while unidentified actors complain of reduced salaries: (b) presents a petition (e), (c) states, "I'll not play under 800 a Year", d) "I can live without 'em" (the last two stand on the lintel of the door). An apple woman stands in front of the portico leaning on her barrow. In the foreground, actors kept afloat on bladders labelled with the names of their best-known dramatic characters struggle through a muddy pool (E) from right to left. Kitty Clive (D, identified by her characters Nell in The Devil to Pay, the Virgin, i.e. Lucy in the Virgin Unmask'd, Polly in The Beggars' Opera, and Ophelia in Hamlet) stands near the far edge saying "I have given my Reasons" (a reference to her pamphlet, The Case of Mrs Clive). In the pool, to right, David Garrick (H), the spokesman for the actors, wades forward surrounded by bladders labelled "Richard" (III), "Lear", "Bays", a character in The Rehearsal, and "Chamont", in The Orphan, saying "I am almost tir'd" (i.e., attired, dressed in costume). Garrick is supported by Peg Woffington (S, at the time his mistress) supported by bladders labelled "Silvia", in The Old Batchelor, and "Sir H[arry] Wildair", in The Constant Couple, and Hannah Pritchard (T) whose bladders read "Amanda" in The Relapse, and "Rosalind" in As you like it. Seven actors cling to each other as they flounder in the pool to the left: in the centre: Charles Macklin (K, who was on particularly bad terms with Fleetwood) with bladders lettered "Face", in the Alchemist, "Foppington" in the Careless Husband, and "Shylock", is sinking as he cries, "Never flinch and we shall get it": Giffard (L) with bladders naming "Plume" in The Recruiting Officer, "Archer" in The Beaux Strategem, "Sir C Easy" in The Careless Husband, and "Iago" in Othello; Lacy Ryan (M) with bladders naming "Macduff", "Edgar" and "Hamlet"; either Edward Berry or Richard Winstone (N) with bladders naming "Sempronius" in Cato, "Kite" in The Recruiting Officer, and "Sciolto" in The Fair Penitent; John Dunstall or more probably Robert Turbutt (O) with bladders naming "Sosi[a]" in Amphitryon and "Jobson" in The Devil to Pay, saying "If we get the Licence remember my Saturday Nights Club"; John Arthur (P) with bladders naming "Foresight" in Love for Love and "Day" in The Committee; and, Oliver Cashell (Q) quoting the ballad "Brittons Strike home" with a bladder naming "Mac[heath]" in The Beggar's Opera". On the edge of the pool to left, Charles Fleetwood (X), manager and patentee of the Drury Lane Theatre, kneels, hat in hand, before the Duke of Grafton, Lord Chamberlain (G) ; Fleetwood quotes his predecessor John Highmore (see BM Satires 1929), "My Lord I am a Gentleman". Grafton holds the petition of the players (F) and says, "I'll hear both sides". Two men (Y and Z) supporting Fleetwood stand to their left, addressing each other, "Twill do D[a]m my Liver they must come to ye Sq[uir]es own Terms", "I wish they may but I fear the Squire is Bugg[er]d". In the background a large crowd is gathered under the colonnade on the window of a building within which are the words "COFFEE TEA" and on the columns illegible notices are pasted; a coach enters the open space from the left, a lamplighter (?) with a ladder and a shoe-black pass each other, and three sedan chairs approach the Covent Garden theatre. 24 October 1743
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