Deborah C. Payne is Associate Professor in the Department of Literature at American University, Washington DC. Her previous publications include The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (2000); Four Libertine Plays from the Restoration (2005); Revisiting Shakespeare's Lost Play: Cardenio/Double Falsehood in the Eighteenth Century (2016); and, with Drew Lichtenburg, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, 1986 – 2021 (2024). She also consults for theatre companies in Washington, DC.

'In Deborah C. Payne's richly detailed book, the culture of Restoration Theatre emerges as a complex, dynamic blend of aristocratic patronage and market economics. No other study joins those twin contexts with such expert conviction. This study will be a key reference point for anyone curious to know more about how the Restoration Stage fought to establish itself in an increasingly frantic cultural marketplace.' David Roberts, Birmingham City University

• 1. The theatre as gift: networks, patronage, and personality; 2. The economics of scarcity and prestige: performance practices and repertory; 3. The culture of improvement and 'great expences': neighborhoods, playhouses, and stagecraft; 4. Not keeping up: rival commodities, pastimes, and entertainments; 5. Fame and famine: writing for the stage; 6. Stardom and sedulousness: acting for the stage.

Deborah C. Payne is Associate Professor in the Department of Literature at American University, Washington DC. Her previous publications include The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (2000); Four Libertine Plays from the Restoration (2005); Revisiting Shakespeare's Lost Play: Cardenio/Double Falsehood in the Eighteenth Century (2016); and, with Drew Lichtenburg, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, 1986 – 2021 (2024). She also consults for theatre companies in Washington, DC.

'In Deborah C. Payne's richly detailed book, the culture of Restoration Theatre emerges as a complex, dynamic blend of aristocratic patronage and market economics. No other study joins those twin contexts with such expert conviction. This study will be a key reference point for anyone curious to know more about how the Restoration Stage fought to establish itself in an increasingly frantic cultural marketplace.' David Roberts, Birmingham City University

• 1. The theatre as gift: networks, patronage, and personality; 2. The economics of scarcity and prestige: performance practices and repertory; 3. The culture of improvement and 'great expences': neighborhoods, playhouses, and stagecraft; 4. Not keeping up: rival commodities, pastimes, and entertainments; 5. Fame and famine: writing for the stage; 6. Stardom and sedulousness: acting for the stage.

Deborah C. Payne is Associate Professor in the Department of Literature at American University, Washington DC. Her previous publications include The Cambridge Companion to English Restoration Theatre (2000); Four Libertine Plays from the Restoration (2005); Revisiting Shakespeare's Lost Play: Cardenio/Double Falsehood in the Eighteenth Century (2016); and, with Drew Lichtenburg, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, 1986 – 2021 (2024). She also consults for theatre companies in Washington, DC.

'In Deborah C. Payne's richly detailed book, the culture of Restoration Theatre emerges as a complex, dynamic blend of aristocratic patronage and market economics. No other study joins those twin contexts with such expert conviction. This study will be a key reference point for anyone curious to know more about how the Restoration Stage fought to establish itself in an increasingly frantic cultural marketplace.' David Roberts, Birmingham City University

• 1. The theatre as gift: networks, patronage, and personality; 2. The economics of scarcity and prestige: performance practices and repertory; 3. The culture of improvement and 'great expences': neighborhoods, playhouses, and stagecraft; 4. Not keeping up: rival commodities, pastimes, and entertainments; 5. Fame and famine: writing for the stage; 6. Stardom and sedulousness: acting for the stage.