English Theatre In The 18th Century

Throughout the centuries, the English Theatre has always been a significant part of the English culture since its beginnings. It was affected by the political scene and was sometimes used as a means of manipulation for example; the Church of England used it during the Middle Ages to control people by organizing performances of religious stories (Price). During the 17th century and after the end of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell shut down theatres. However, after the Restoration of the monarchy, King Charles II reopened theatres that flourished during this period. In the 18th century, theatre saw another flourishing period. One of the most famous genres during the 18th century was satire as theatrical performances satirized the government and one of the most successful satirical shows of that time was The Beggar 's Opera of John Gay. As a response to such performances, the Licensing Act of 1737 was introduced to prevent satirical performances against the government ("18th-Century Theatre"). There were other genres of the 18th century theatrical performances such as: rationalism as the 18th century was known as the Age of Reason, sentimentalism, and serious drama or heroic tragedy. The 18th century English Theatre had an influence on the rising of the American Theatre and the Hallams were the ones who introduced drama in America (Hornbrow).
In the 18th century, Satire was considered an important genre in drama as political plays were performed in theaters and they