Mary was a member of the Covent Garden theatre company between 1761 and 1780 or 1781, however her Covent Garden debut in 1758 at the age of ten years was as a dancer.
She continued as a dancer there until 1765, when at around 18 years old she first performed as a comedy actress.
In 1769 she was involved in a horsemanship display, assisting Mr Hyam who "would drink a glass of wine standing upright on two horses at full speed."

During her career, Mary performed in many plays and only some of them are listed below.
Her debut as a comedian was at Covent Garden, as Miranda in The Busie Body, by Susanna Centlivre (1709).
At the same theatre she performed in the premières of several plays which are now well known.
For example, The Good-Natur'd Man (as Miss Richland, 1768), She Stoops to Conquer (as Constantia Hardcastle, 1773), and The Rivals (as Julia Melville, 1775).
Although eighteenth-century scholars took care to preserve the accuracy of printed versions of Shakespeare's plays, those plays were heavily edited for performance, to suit contemporary language and taste.
In that environment, Mary performed in all the Shakespeare comedies, but also played the tragic heroine Cordelia in King Lear, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
Mary was a member of the Covent Garden theatre company between 1761 and 1780 or 1781, however her Covent Garden debut in 1758 at the age of ten years was as a dancer. She continued as a dancer there until 1765, when at around 18 years old she first performed as a comedy actress. In 1769 she was involved in a horsemanship display, assisting Mr Hyam who "would drink a glass of wine standing upright on two horses at full speed."
During her career, Mary performed in many plays and only some of them are listed below. Her debut as a comedian was at Covent Garden, as Miranda in The Busie Body, by Susanna Centlivre (1709). At the same theatre she performed in the premières of several plays which are now well known. For example, The Good-Natur'd Man (as Miss Richland, 1768), She Stoops to Conquer (as Constantia Hardcastle, 1773), and The Rivals (as Julia Melville, 1775). Although eighteenth-century scholars took care to preserve the accuracy of printed versions of Shakespeare's plays, those plays were heavily edited for performance, to suit contemporary language and taste. In that environment, Mary performed in all the Shakespeare comedies, but also played the tragic heroine Cordelia in King Lear, and Portia in The Merchant of Venice.
Mary Bulkley