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How did the English Civil War affect theaters in 1642?
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English literature
Beginning of the Beowulf manuscript.
When the English Civil War broke out in 1642, the Puritans ordered the closure of all theaters and prohibited public dramatic performances of any kind. This action created a significant interruption in the English acting tradition that lasted for 18 years.12
While the playhouses were forced to shut down, this closure was not necessarily because the theater had become exclusively identified with the court; rather, the drama of the era had been preoccupied with the political crises of the time for three generations. The theaters remained closed until the Restoration of Charles II in 1660, after which the theatre flourished once more, albeit under different conditions and styles.231