1789 Times 2 Nov. The country people give over play-going after having seen this wonder of the Drama.

1855 Harper's Mag. June 94/2 How is the hunting and the shooting, the betting and the play-going, the dinner-parties and the balls?

1896 Daily News 28 Jan. 6/6 It has been said that the play~going of a man of the world is one of the most cherished of his memories.

1901 G. B. Shaw Three Plays for Puritans p. v The difference between the official weekly or fortnightly play-goings of the theatre critic and the restless daily rushing to and fro of the music critic.

1960 Times 5 Sept. 3/3 (headline) Playgoing for kicks.

2001 N.Y. Times 19 Aug. ii. 5/1 Were they simply part of a growing trend of playgoing as a blood sport, and attending the theater only for the purpose of returning home to bash it?

1752 T. Mozeen Young Scarron ii. 26 The whole Town are Play-going People.

1786 Daily Universal Reg. 10 Jan. 3/2 All play-going folks know how hard 'tis to find In the drama's wide world, taste and talents combin'd!

1852 D. L. Roath Five Love Adventures Solomon Slug 89 The play-going population had turned out in their full strength.

1929 ‘E. Queen’ Roman Hat Myst. i. 3 The penetrating rain kept the play-going public close to its radios and bridge-tables.

2001 H. Gilbert Postcolonial Plays 348/2 The play-going experience begins with a mihi (chant) and a karanga (call or summon) and ends with a meal that becomes a kind of gathering.