Download Restoration Theatres

The Theatre of the
English Restoration
10
(© Peter Guither)
Jacobean and Caroline Drama
• Elizabeth died 1603
• King James died 1625
• King Charles I
– 1642 – Puritans took over Parliament
– Theatre outlawed
– 1649 Charles I beheaded
– Oliver Cromwell – lord protector of England
– Charles II and nobility exiled to France
• Exposed to French and Italian Theatre
1-3
Background: The Restoration
• Charles I of England removed from the
throne by Oliver Cromwell and the
Puritans after a bitter civil war (642–1649);
Charles beheaded
• In 1660, Charles II, who had been living in
France, was invited by a newly elected
Parliament to return from exile to rule
England under a restored monarchy
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1-4
Theatre During the
Commonwealth
• 1642–1660, theatrical activity severely
curtailed; playhouses were dismantled,
actors were persecuted
• Some entertainments organized secretly
• William Davenant and John Webb
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Restoration
• William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew
• Royalists
• Davenant – Oxford grad, replaced Johnson as
poet laureate, knighted 1643
• Killigrew – dramatists, went with king in excile.
Samuel Pepy’s called him a “merry droll”
• Droll- short version of full plays popular during
the period the theatres were closed, usually
comedies
1-6
The Theatre of the
Restoration Begins
• William Davenant (also
spelled D'Avenant) and
Thomas Killigrew
– Emerged to take control of
theatre
– Both familiar with English
theatrical tradition; would
take English theatre in a
new direction
(© National Portrait Gallery, London)
(© National Portrait Gallery, London)
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Theatre Royals and Patents

Charles II gave TWO patents





William Davenant – Duke's Company
Thomas Killigrew – Kings Company
Gave two men duopoly over theatre in
London
Duke's company better managed
Two companies merged in 1692
Drury Lane

When two companies merged, they
made Drury Lane home
1-9
Restoration Drama
• Serious Drama
• Restoration Comedy
Aphra Behn
– Comedies of Intrigue
• Aphra Behn
– Comedies of
Manners
• William Wycherley
• William Congreve
(Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York
Public Library at Lincoln Center, Astor,
Lenox, and Tilden Foundations)
William Wycherley
– The Female Wits
(© National Portrait Gallery, London)
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Type of Theatre

Old plays: who owns them




Killegrew given rights to even
Davenant's plays, later more fairly
divided
Heroic Tragedy – extraordinary
characters in extraordinary
circumstances. Rarely read or
performed.
Restoration Tragedy
Three unities and neoclassical rules
1-11
The Decline of
Restoration Comedy
• William and Mary
• A Short View of the Immorality
and Profaneness of the
English Stage – Jeremy Collier
– Susanna Centlivre
– George Farquhar
Susanna Centlivre
(Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York
Public Library at Lincoln Center, Astor,
Lenox, and Tilden Foundations)
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1-12
Restoration Audiences
• Restoration theatregoers were quite
spirited
– Purchasing fruit for throwing from the “orange
wenches”
– Speaking back to the actors
– Arranging assignations with each other
– Attending the theatre to be seen, rather than to see
the play
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1-13
Performers
• Actresses and Actors
Nell Gwynn Meets King Charles II
– Eleanor (Nell) Gwynn
– Thomas Betterton
– Anne Bracegirdle
• Acting Companies
(Bettmann/Corbis)
Anne Bracegirdle
(Mander and Mitchenson/
ArenaPAL)
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1-14
Restoration Theatres
• Government and the Theatres
• Theatre Architecture in the Restoration
• Threads in Theatre History
– The Drury Lane Theatre
• Scenery,
Scene-Shifting
Technology,
Costumes, and
Lighting
(© Historical Picture Archive/Corbis)
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
1-15
Ground Plan of a Restoration Stage
© 2012, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.