Restoration

OLIVER CROMWELL.

The restoration period is the period that happened after Oliver Cromwell's reign as the Lord Protector of England.

Cromwell was a a member of the Puritans. These people are who are very strict Protestants. Therefore they believed that theatre was a bad practice since it encouraged often rude sense of humour and was in general seen as a bad influence on people, stopping them from coming to church or fully devoting themselves to God.

Therefore, after Cromwell came to power in 1642 after winning a civil war (the Cromwell 'reign' lasted 18 years, from 1642-1660) he decided to ban theatre and make it illegal to to the act of performance. Although people were not allowed to act in public, there were often secret spots where travelling actors would put on a show (this would be done in a rich man's house or even in cellars.

THE RESTORATION PERIOD.

However in 1660, King Charles the 2nd came to the throne as Cromwell's son was too weak to hold onto his father's power. One of his actions as King was to legalise theatre and acting again. He established the King's Company and then the Duke's Company. These were meant to entertain the people.

After a period of time, theatre became more popular and comedies started to appear. The main purpose of comedy theatre was to entertain, and this would be done by the use of over-the-top characters and very sexual jokes.