Restoration Research - Part 2

Restoration Playwrights

• George Etherege: George Etherege was a restoration playwright in London, he was a huge success and was considered one of the best comedic writers in England before Congreve. His famous piece was The Man of Mode, and was considered one of the best comedic plays of it’s time, he had a child by Elizabeth Barry and after his success retired from literature and lost most of his fortune to gambling. He married a wealth widow, Mary Sheppard Arnold and finally died in Paris, France.
• William Whycherly: Whycherly was a playwright during the restoration period of theatre and was known because of his plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer. During his time as a playwright he managed to coin the phrase “nincompoop” , he had previously been a naval officer and used his experiences in his plays making light of everyday situations.
• Aphra Behn: Was a poet, translator and playwright from the restoration era, she was also one of the first women to earn a living by writing and as such broke the social barriers of the time and became a role model for later female authors. She came to the notice of Charles II who took her on a a spy in Antwerp but afterwards beca writing for the stage.
• William Congreve: William Congreve was a playwright and poet who was famous for his work during the restoration period. He wrote the play we are currently studying The Double Dealer and was also known because of his five successful plays but as soon as he rose to fame his career as a writer pretty much vanished and he lived on the money made by his plays, he died in London in January 1729.

Original Patent Theatre Companies and Theatres

• Thomas Killigrew: Was an English dramatist and Theatre Manager in the restoration period of theatre, he was one of twelve children. Before the civil war Killigrew wrote a lot of tragicomedies and was known for his play The Parson’s Wedding, he followed Prince Charles into exile and moved around Europe during the time of exile. After the exile he was appointed as Groom of the Bedchamber and Chamberlain to Queen Catherine, he was also the kings fool and jester and this gave him the power to ridicule the king without any consequences.
• William Davenant: Was an english Playwright and poet during caroline and restoration eras and was writing before and after the Civil War. He was born in February 1606 in oxford, he was baptised on the 3rd of March, his godfather is believed to be William Shakespeare, it was even rumoured that he was Shakespeare’s biological son. He returned to England with Charles II when the king was reinstated, and continued to work in the theatres and re-open them with Thomas Killigrew.
• The Duke’s Company: was one of the two theatre companies that were brought into existence by Charles II at the end of the Civil War, the company was also formed to help open up the theatres that had been closed during the civil war. The Duke’s Company was supported by Prince James the kings younger brother, the Duke of York and of Albany and was managed by Davenant. They had the rights to ten of shakespeare’s plays and were the only company allowed to perform these pieces, many of their plays were recorded by Samuel Pepys.
• The King’s Company:  Was one of the two groups that were granted the permission of the king to perform serious theatre in main playhouses. It was under the direction of Killigrew and was kept as a serious company that would perform for the king and had the more experienced actors in their company, Margaret Hughes and Nell Gwyn were just two of those enlisted and were some of the first female actors allowed onto the stage and to actually make a career out of it.

Samuel Pepys

• Diary: Pepys was known mostly for his diary and how he documented almost everything that happened around him, this diary was kept for almost ten years and was over a million words long, it is seen as one of the most brilliant descriptions of the time and is how we know a lot of what we do of the time. He was celebrated for his frankness in his writings and how nothing was ever sugar coated, it was raw and real. He wrote about the theatre of the time and the major political and social matters of the time, he showed the good and the bad of what happened in his life and this is what was loved by him, it was a window into the complex human soul that was his.
• 17th Century London: This time in England’s history was very important it was where the country had been set free from puritan rule and everything that had been banned was suddenly allowed, this made the country go rather wild hosting parties that would last for days and where people would stay drunk for the entire time. 
• The Great Fire: was a terrible fire that stepped through London at an incredibly fast rate, it started in Pudding Lane at the bakers, the problem of the time was that all of the roof’s of the houses in London were made of thatch and ever since the great fire no house in London is allowed a thatched roof, the only exception has been the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre on the Southbank of London because of the historical significance, even so the sprinkler system is extensive. The difficulty was that the houses were all so packed together that even trying to put the fires out wouldn’t work as the fire was spreading faster than they could put it out, they even resorted to pulling down buildings to block the fire. In total the fire lasted for four days and destroyed most of medieval London.
• The Great Plague:  The plague was the final bout of the bubonic plague to happen in the UK, it was transferred by the rats who carried the fleas that had the disease and bit people and infected them through the bite and blood. An estimated 100,000 people were killed by the disease which equated to approximately 25% of the population at the time, prevention of the spread of the disease was started after the break outs and quarantine was pushed to 40 days in May 1664 because the plague was getting progressively worse. The rat infestation was due to the fact that all the human waste was just dumped into the streets which made the perfect home for the rats to live and thrive in and due to the fact that rats can reproduce at an alarming rate things only worsened. Samuel Pepys recorded the plague in his diary’s talking about how the streets were empty because no one wanted to become infected and how tis made his life easier and actually enjoyed the time during the plague.

Literature of the Era

• Johathan Swift: Was a poet of the time and was known for being able to master two styles of satire, oration and Juvenilian. He was born in Ireland and was the second child in his family, many of his family were within the literary profession and this spurred him to pursue the career he chose. He did his degree at Trinity College in Dublin and then went to England for a while before returning home, he is most known for his work Gulliver’s Travels a story that is still read about today.
• John Wilmot: He was a poet and courtier in Charles II’s Restoration court, he was known for his wits within his poetry and a lot of it was banned during the victorian era as it was seen as too much for anyone. He trained Elizabeth Barry as an actress who went on to become the most successful actress of her generation, he also had a fling with Nell Gwyn when she was a teenager. Wilmot died at the age of 33 from the effects of what is assumed to be Syphilis, Gonorrhoea and other venereal diseases. 

SN: All information was gained from either my own knowledge or Wikipedia's.