Blackwell Reference Online

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How were the London theatres regulated during the Restoration period? Who controlled the theatres, what sorts of control did they exercise, and how successful was their effort? This chapter will try to answer these very broad, basic questions. Finding answers to them is important because the tendency to regard Restoration drama as a libertine, anything-goes reaction against the Puritan past has proven as resilient as it is exaggerated. The Restoration period certainly was a time of greater freedom for the London theatres compared to the Interregnum, but this is not saying much. After an eighteen-year hiatus, any theatrical activity might seem liberated and liberating, yet a careful look at the Restoration theatre world shows that the freedom of the stage was qualified. From the censorship of scripts and published texts to the dictation of repertory decisions and personnel matters, the London theatres from 1660 to 1710 were subject to a striking range of regulatory pressures. Just as striking is the range of regulators, which included the reigning monarch, the Lord Chamberlain, the Master of the Revels, London municipal judges and grand juries, and private citizens who joined together in moral reform societies. The main goal of this chapter is to explain the many ways in which the Restoration theatre world was highly regulated.When considering theatrical regulation, we tend naturally ... log in or subscribe to read full text