Restoration Theatre Production

by Jocelyn Powell

Overview

Originally published in 1984, this book recreates the unique atmosphere of the Restoration playhouses in order to demonstrate how theatrical conditions spurred authors into creating new forms of tragedy, comedy and opera, the techniques of which anticipated the ideas of ‘gestus’ and ‘alienation’ first articulated by Bertold Brecht in the 20^th century. The book explores the ways in which the theories of the time affected the practice, showing the crucial importance of Dryden’s work in the playhouse and of the collaboration of authors and theatre companies. It examines particular texts, to highlight the themes and present the spectrum of dramatic experience in action. The book, which is extensively illustrated, also shows how the Restoration style, although developed by particular actors and dramatists, declined under the commercial pressures of the end of the century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781041017967
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/01/2025
Series:	Routledge Revivals
Pages:	258
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Jocelyn Powell (1938–1986) was Director and Head of the Department of Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham. He was Director of operatic productions for the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, where his work placed particular empahsis on performances of rare seventeenth- and eighteenth-century opera. 

Table of Contents

Introduction. 1. The Restoration: Poems 1659–1667 2. Admiration and Truth: Drama and Criticism 1660–1679 3. Fancy and Delight: Comedy and Criticism 1663–1672 4. Judgement and Instruction: Poems, Comedy and Satire 1673–1679 5. The Exclusion Crisis: Poems, Plays and Satires 1679–1681 6. The Tory Triumph: Poems 1682–1686 7. A Catholic Reign: Poems 1685–1688 8. A Protestant Revolution: Poems and Plays After 1688 9. Reactions to History: Translations and Criticism 1681–1698 10. Nature, Love and War: The Fables and The Secular Mask