Drama in the Absence of Theater

Although the closure of theaters in 1642 has been presented as a hiatus in the production, performance, and proliferation of drama during the Civil War and Interregnum, drama did not disappear during the eighteen-year period. Instead, the ban heightened the politicization of the genre, which was harnessed by writers to encourage discourse and debates. Furthermore, domestic crisis demanded innovation in the genre. While Parliament suppressed playhouses, print censorship failed repeatedly. Printed news in the period often contained shortened dramatic elements, which reveals how drama as a genre was hybridized and audience engagement was reconceptualized. Dramatic forms were written not just for the stage or for communal engagement but also for private readership. The dramatic texts produced in the period did not solely present varying political perspectives but also representations of women’s desires, experiences of depression and of daily forms of sexism, as well as the potential for women’s inclusion within the public sphere and governing structures.