Patent Theatre
As a patent Theatres is called the theater that held in the period 1662-1843 a monopoly on the performance of plays in England.
The censorship of the theater had a longer history. Under Elizabeth I, the Master of the Revels was responsible for the approval of theaters and plays. In the reign of Oliver Cromwell, the theater was in England largely to a standstill. After the Restoration adopted Charles II patents for " spoken drama" two theater companies: the King 's Players of Thomas Killigrew, the Drury Lane Theatre recorded from 1663, and the Duke 's Players of William Davenant, who settled in Lincoln 's Inn Fields and 1671 moved into the new Dorset Garden Theatre. The patents were such that they should devolve on the heirs of each.
After the company of the King 's Players under Thomas ' son Charles Killigrew had collapsed, the two forces combined. Until 1695 there was only one theater company, which played at the Drury Lane Theatre. Only then a further license was awarded by the king, with Thomas Betterton back moved to Lincoln 's Inn Fields. 1732 went over this patent to the Theatre Royal Covent Garden.
While there was general licenses for the theater at this time, the government was able to exert any influence on individual pieces. By enforcing its Robert Walpole Theatrical Licensing Act of 1737, the censorship measures were exacerbated. The immediate cause for the measure is the satire The Golden Rump, but in the years before the spectacle especially for the Jacobites was a popular means of political confrontation with the government have been. Henry Fielding played a prominent role. Each new or modified piece now had to be submitted for review, which could prohibit the performance of 14 days before the performance, the Lord Chamberlain of the Household. Furthermore, the legitimate drama was limited to the Patent Theatres, and other theater relocated to other forms of entertainment, such as melodramas and farces, which had a high proportion of music and were therefore not classified as a spectacle.
1766 received the Haymarket Theatre by Samuel Foote a patent to play in the summer months when other London theaters were closed. In the following years further patents were awarded, for example, in 1768 at the Theatre Royal Bath, 1772 at the Theatre Royal Liverpool, 1778 the Theatre Royal Bristol.
The theater monopoly was broken with the Theatre Regulation Act of 1843, passed the censorship measures but continue until 1968.
- History of Theatre
- Theatre (United Kingdom)