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Historical Background

Charles I was removed from throne and beheaded by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans in 1649 after a 7 year civil war
Next 11 years known as the commonwealth

Cromwell died in 1658 and his son could not control government

In 1660, Charles II, who had been living in France, was invited by a newly elected Parliament to return from exile and rule England

Monarchy was restored and the new period was called the Restoration.
Rulers that followed:

James II (1685)
William and Mary (1688)

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Theatre During the Commonwealth

Puritans closed theatres in 1642

Playhouses were dismantled
Actors were persecuted

Around 1650, William Beeston acquired the Salisbury Court Theatre and began to train a company of boys

Performed drolls – short versions of full-length plays, usually comedies

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William Davenant

Court playwright before the closing of the theatres

Presented theatre as “musical entertainments” and staged them in his home

In 1656, he presented The First Day’s Entertainment at Rutland House and The Siege of Rhodes

The Siege of Rhodes had a proscenium arch and wing-shutter settings

Influences of Italian scenic designs incorporated – first public performance with changeable scenery was used
Considered the first English opera
First public performance in which actresses appeared on stage

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Restoration Drama

Unique fusion between Elizabethan stage conventions and Italian and French styles

French culture was especially influential in Restoration society

Charles II had spent his exile in France
James II had ties with Catholic Europe

Serious Drama

Heroic Tragedy

Dealt with extraordinary characters who undertook extraordinary deeds and had themes of love and honor

Restoration Tragedy

Adherence to Neoclassic Rules
Popular to rework Shakespeare into Neoclassical mold

Romeo and Juliet with a happy ending
King Lear with Lear restored to his throne and Cordelia does not die

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Comedies of Intrigue

Daring exploits of romance and adventure with complicated plots

Aphra Behn

First woman English playwright
Plays followed the trend of being bawdy

“It was bawdy, the least and most excusable fault in the men writers, to whose plays they all crowd, as if they came to no other end than to hear what they condemn in this, but from a woman it was unnatural.” – Aphra Behn
John Dryden spoke of her as “writing loosely, and giving, … some scandal to the modest of her sex. I confess, I am the last man who ought, in justice, to arraign her, who have been myself too much a libertine in most of my poems.”

Plays include: The Forced Marriage (1677), The Rover (1677), The Amorous Prince! (1671), The Emperor of the Moon (1687)

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Comedies of Manners

Focuses on the fashions and foibles of the upper class – gossip, adultery, sexual escapades
Poke fun at the social conventions and norms of the time and satirize the preoccupation of the upper class
Language consists of witty exchanges and sexually suggestive references

Influenced by Molière

Characters are stock types – their names usually describe their distinctive personality traits

Doctor Quack, Pinchwife, Horner, Fidget, Squeamish,

William Wycherley

Most famous play: The Country Wife (1675)

In the play a man attempts to keep his wife away from the amorous advances of Horner, who specializes in seducing other men’s wives

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The Female Wits

Group of women writers who worked to increase the involvement of female playwrights in English theatre, building on Aphra Behn’s work

Catharine Trotter
Mary Pix
Delariviere Manley

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Restoration Audiences

Audiences were quite spirited in their behavior during performances

Spoke back to the actors, arranged assignations with each other and attended the theatre to be seen rather than to see the play

Primarily audiences of the upper class – the same group being satirized in the plays

Playwrights tailor their works specifically for the audience they know will be watching

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Performers

Thomas Betterton

Admired for his attention to detail, self-discipline and majestic restraint, he remained a model of English oratorical style
Noted for his dazzling characterizations of Shakespeare’s tragic heroes, even though he was equally skillful in comedy and tragedy

Appearance of actresses on the English stage

Popular dramatic device to dress woman as a man – called breeches roles

Considered by religious leaders to be scandalous

Actresses often seen as no better than prostitutes

Not necessarily a sign of equality or equal treatment by allowing women to perform

Eleanor (Nell) Gwynn

Famous actress – excelled in singing and dancing but was a failure in tragedy
Drew attention of Charles II and became his mistress and left the stage

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Acting Companies

Actors were hired on a contract system and not a sharing plan

Marked a decline of actors’ control over theatre in London
Actors were provided with yearly “benefits” where one actor would keep all the profits of a performance

Actors learned their craft through apprenticeships
Rehearsals lasted less than 2 weeks
Acting styles featured broad gestures and powerful declamatory delivery

Actors fell back on conventional patterns of stage movement

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Government and the Theatres

Master of Revels took control of theatre and issued licenses
In 1737, Parliament passed the Licensing Act

Only two theatres were authorized to present “tragedy, comedy, opera, play, farce, or other entertainment for the stage for gain, hire or reward”

Covent Garden and Drury Lane theatres were the two theatres authorized

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Theatre Architecture

All theatres were now indoor proscenium-arch buildings

Audience areas divided into pit with backless benches and raked from back to front, boxes, and galleries

Stage divided into two distinct halves

The Apron – the forestage in front of the proscenium – major area for performance
Backstage housed the scenery
Entire stage was raked

Proscenium doors

Used for entrances and exits

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Scenic Practices

Sets painted in perspective
Flats on groove system

Stock settings were normal: drawing room and the park

Scene changes happened while audience watched
Costumes followed traditions of English Renaissance

Contemporary clothing was standard
Traditional costumes and accessories worn to indicate historical figures or eras

Lighting was difficult

Performances took place in the afternoon to use natural lighting
Candles and chandeliers were used to light as well
Used footlights – lights on the floor running along the front of the stage