Introduction

This chapter surveys the different types of Restoration Comedy staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Demonstrating the instability of the term ‘Restoration’, it explores the way playwrights in the period 1660–1700 offered contrasting depictions of male libertinism and foppishness. The chapter moves on to consider the range and impact of female roles in the period. It concludes with reflections on the tension between the Royal Shakespeare Company’s historic commitment to textual exploration and the problematic ideologies manifested in many Restoration Comedies.