SOURCE: Aggeler, Geoffrey D. “The Rebellion in Cavalier Drama.”¹ Western Humanities Review 32, no. 1 (winter 1978): 53-75.

In this essay, Aggeler discusses Cavalier drama of the interregnum and notes that it is rich in political and religious content.

In spite of the great contributions by Hyder Rollins, Leslie Hotson and Alfred Harbage, the history of the drama between 1642 and 1660 remains “perhaps the obscurest chapter in the history of English literature.”² Students still commonly assume that the ordinance of September 2, 1642, ordaining that “publike Stage-playes shall cease, and bee forborne,” succeeded in halting the activities of playwrights and players for nearly two decades.³ In fact, as Professor Rollins demonstrated long ago, “theatrical productions never ceased, in spite of the active and relentless hostility of the government,” throughout the period of the Great Rebellion. Several London playhouses, including the Red Bull, Salisbury Court, and the Cockpit, presented surreptitious performances regularly during the entire...