Drama of the English Republic, 1649–1660

Drama of the English Republic' is the first modern collection of plays and entertainments which were originally published and performed when England was a nominally a republic or commonwealth. The five texts, three of which have been edited here for the first time, illustrate how the dramatists devised new aesthetics in response to the ideological concerns of the republic. Clare argues that theatre, forced into a novel position of opposition, did more than survive in reduced form. The theatrical organism adapted to contain folk celebrations, current events and pamphlets, as well as 'royalist' plays offering oblique critiques of Caroline policies.