Restoration Theatre

William Davenant, head of the Duke of York’s Company, abandoned the Renaissance English stage in favour of the French one. The theatres were indoors. The forestage still projected into the audience but was significantly cut. The curtain was Davenant’s innovation. He also introduced painted backdrops. Gallants were seldom permitted on the stage, yet were on display in boxes set on either side of the forestage (apron).

The Restoration Comedy.

The aftermath of Puritanism manifested itself in bawdy comedies, self-conscious indecency on stage where bedroom and assignation scenes were blatant and adultery was a commonplace representation. The kind of drama which prevailed during the Age of Restoration, often referred to as comedy of manners, chiefly concerned with presenting a society of elegance and stylishness. Its characters were gallants, ladies and gentlemen of fashion and ranks, fops (piperkőc), rakes, social climbers and country bumpkins (bugris). The tone was witty, urbane, licentious (kicsapongó). The plot dealt with the intricacies of sexual and marital intrigue, adultery. The main goal of these comedies of manners in the period of Restoration is to entertain and to mock society. The audience was supposed to laugh at themselves. However, many critiques of marriage that we see in the play are devastating, and the game of love is not much more hopeful. Although the endings are happy and the man invariably gets the woman, we see marriages without love. Typically, one of the major themes of restoration comedy is marriage and the game of love. The plot would involve a dashing (lendületes), witty hero trying to have sex with as many women as possible without getting into trouble, with funny consequences. Restoration comedies include bawdy humour, witty dialogues, recursive cross-dressing. Women were allowed to perform on stage for the first time, and the mostly male audiences were attracted by the idea of seeing women acting out seduction scenes and the possibility of seeing a bit of shapely leg on stage. Clothes were often several sizes too small so as to emphasize the curves of their bodies.

Chief representatives and plays:

William Wycherley: The Country Wife (1672 or 1673); The Plain Dealer (1674)

George Etheredge: The Man of Mode (1676)

William Congreve: The Double Dealer (1694); Love for Love (11695); The Way of the World (1700)

John Vanbrugh: The Provoked Wife (1697)

George Farquhar: The Beaux’ Strategem (1707)

Thomas Shadwell: The Libertine (1676), The Volunteers, or Stockjobbers (1693)