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Restoration Theatre, Pilar Palma del Paso

English Restoration Theatre, 1660-1700 or Restoration Comedy

Public theatre was restored when Charles II

(16301685)

re-established the monarchy in 1660 after 18 years of

Parliamentary rule.
Charles Stuart II proved to be quite tolerant. His new court and he, with his European sensibility, were very
different from previous monarchies as the Restoration Theatre (16601700) catered to

(atendan las necesidades de)

the

aristocracy and was therefore more limited than the theatre of Elizabeth I or of James I.
Charles was very interested in fashion, theatre, entertainment and women. Restoration theatre became a way
to celebrate the end of Puritan rule with its strict moral codes. And this is the reason for plays being lavish,
often immoral and poked fun

(se burlaban de)

at both royalists and roundheads. Charles signed the law requiring

women to play womens parts.

Two theaters were opened as William Davenant and Thomas Killigrew received royal patents to form
theatrical companies and purchase/build theatres.

Drury Lane: the Kings Company.

Lincolns Inn Field, after 1732 Covent Garden: the Dukes Company.

The court went to the theatre, and much of the playwriting was done by authors who were courtiers or who
had jobs with the government. Plays began in the afternoon and sometimes lasted all evening.
Restoration comedy or Comedy of manners was a genre in which plays were set in contemporary
London; they featured

(exhiban)

wit (wordplay), and innuendo

(insinuacin sexual)

among rakes

(vividores),

jealous husbands,

clever servants, abandoned lovers, etc., and often contained a secondary plot with conventional lovers. It
reflected the life, ideals and manners of the upper class society in which their manners and affectations were
satirised and this is why comedy of manners was seen as critical because it focused on the follies

(locuras)

of

individuals.
The type of characters was Stock characters (characters that are fixed) whose names sum up their role. Such as
rakes, widows, fops or coxcombs

(presumidos, vanidosos),

country bunpkins

(pueblerinos, catetos),

servants, and young

women.
Some comedies of manners (e.g., The Country Wife) are about witty rather than conventional couples, and investigate
fashion, marriage as a social contract, and masculinity.

The growing middle class rejected Restoration comedy as they thought it was immoral, and Jeremy Collier
published A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (1698) to attack it and end it.
TOPICS of the Restoration Theatre
Marriage: Love and marriage were exposed as issues of adultery and marrying for wealth, not for love, as
well as the characters did not take love/marriage seriously, but more as a playful venture. Many satires were
written showing infidelity as common.
Morality: Moral and stylistic restraints

(restricciones)

were loosened

(desatadas)

figures such as the Earl of Rochester who became the model for the new rake
Urban ideas vs. rural life: the sophistication of the city was upheld over
backwardness

(atraso)

of the country, and country folk

(gente del campo).

and were embodied

(personificadas)

in

(vividor).

(se sostena sobre)

the naivet

(innocence)

and

Restoration Theatre, Pilar Palma del Paso

As values and customs became more and more artificial, satire was the dominant tone for art which
satirised the extravagance and self-indulgence of society.
Restoration comedy revealed both the influence of French farce
publics appetite for broad satire, high style, and licentiousness

(farsa)

and of Jacobean comedy. It fed the

(promiscuidad).

Main Playwrights:
1.
2.
3.
4.

William Wycherley 1641-1715

George Etheridge 1636-1692
John Dryden 1631-1700
William Congreve 1670-1729

Women on the Stage

By the time of Restoration, English society had seen women acting in musicals and in drawing rooms and
hadnt found it offensive. Moreover, Charles II was a lover of theatre and was determined to open the door for
women players in England. The problem was to do without upsetting his still largely Puritan subjects. To solve
this problem, he granted a charter to the Drury Lane Company and made it the Kings own company, and the
charter required that all female parts were to be played by women.
* Some famous actresses were:
Mrs. (Elizabeth) Barry
Mrs. (Anne) Bracegirdle
Nell Gwyn, an orange seller who became the mistres of king Charles II.
Women in the Theatre
Soon after the Restoration of Charles II, women began to appear as dramatist.
- Mrs. Aphra Behn (1640-1689) is one of the first English women playwrights. She is credited with writing the
first real English novel.
- Delarivire Manly (1672-1724)
- Susannah Centlivre (1669?-1723)
In addition to actresses and playwrights, there were several women who managed theatres.
- Charlotte Charke
- Lady Henrietta Maria Davenant
- Actresses were specialised in a certain type of personae and so did actors.
Stages and Production Aspects
When theatres were re-opened they had a new construction, new techniques and new plays. Sets now were
very important, and there were long intermissions for changes of scenery. Machines were used to change the
sets. The rising middle class started to attend the theatre. Restoration brought a strong Italian influence to
English stage practices. Theatre was a social arena for social classes- women wore masks to disguise themselves,
often to set up

(amaar)

dates similar to the love affairs performed on stage.

COMPANIES
Acting companies in London established the contract system and theatrical entrepreneurs emerged. Actors
served as managers of theatrical troupes and at the same time they were employees (trabajadores).
The playwrights had a fixed salary, not royalties.
The actors social status was higher, though the moral character was still in question (en tela de juicio, en debate)
Repertory system
AUDIENCES

Restoration Theatre, Pilar Palma del Paso

Restoration audiences were members of the upper class of London society (along with their servants). After
William and Mary were crowned in 1689, the merchant class also begun to attend the theatre. The repertoire of
the time reflected the audience's tastes for highbrow
structured their works to appeal to

(para apelar a)

(intelectual, culto)

humour and wit. Playwrights deliberately

an audience whose behaviour in real life was often as shocking as

that of the characters on stage.

Jeremy Colliers A Short View of Immorality and Profanes of the English Stage denounced the indecency of the
English stage.
The middle class audiences called for clear-cut
(agradar)

(bien definidas)

morals. And the Comedy of Manners didnt please

the Puritans.

KINDS OF TRAGEDIES
1. Heroic tragedy contained extraordinary characters and deeds

(hazaas)

that arranged

(lograban hacer de)

plays with

themes of love, but they werent very popular at the time.

2. Restoration tragedy was adherenced to neoclassical rules.
- Verosimilitude:
Rule of reality: unit of time, place and action
Rule of morality: ethical and philosophical framework
Rule of generality: good and proper citizens
- Purity of dramatic form: tragedies or comedies
- Five act form
- Decorum: sense of propriety

(correccin, buenos modales)

and fair play

(una obra imparcial, juego limpio)

- Purpose of drama: to teach and to please (Horace)

3. Comedies of intrigue: daring exploits of Romance

(atrevindose a aprovecharse del romance).

4. Comedies of manners were the most famous of all Restoration plays. It was a high comedy, with verbal wit,
and influenced by Molire. The type of characters was Stock characters: names sum up their role.
Going to the Theatre
The only 2 licensed theatres in London, besides the Opera House in the Haymarket, were Drury Lane
(Davenant) and Covent Garden (Garrick). Other plays, unlicensed by Lord Chamberlain, were performed in
taverns, Assembly Rooms or in private houses.
The seating was constituted by the pit (patio

de butacas)

where the gentlemen sat on benches, and on the first

stage of boxes were the ladies of quality. On the second stage of boxes were the citizens wives and daughters.
And on the third stage were the common people and footmen (criados, sirvientes).
- Intermissions were long intervals between the acts, since it took a long time to shift scenery.