What Kind of Restoration?

Restoration theatre is a very specific area of study which focuses on England during the late 17^th and early 18^th centuries and on the written and performance components of theatre.  Though all times, places and areas of literature have their own contexts, the socio-political context of Restoration theatre is so important that the arts from that time are not called Charlesoneian or Post-Cromwellian, though they certainly could be, but are simply recognized by a very complex political shift—the restoration of the monarchy to the seat of power. 

            In 1642 the English Civil War began in which there were major conflicts between those in support of the monarchy and those in support of a parliamentary system of government.   King Charles I had fallen from the favor of many of his subjects and in 1649 he was tried for various crimes against the people and was executed; his son, Charles II and others were exiled.  After the execution of the king, England became a commonwealth and Oliver Cromwell was appointed the Lord Protector, though he only protected members of certain groups within the commonwealth.  Cromwell believed that God acted through him and in the name of God and the Puritan ideology he reshaped England into a fierce Protestant nation, condemning Catholicism, work on the Sabbath, immoral behavior and such things as vibrant clothing and frivolous uses of time.

            Theatre, deemed synonymously immoral and frivolous by Cromwell was eradicated from England during the 18 years of his/ his son’s rule.  Charles I, whom Cromwell succeeded in executing, had been a supporter of the theatre and after the interregnum his son Charles II reestablished the theatre in the joy, appeasement and restoration of all.