ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the aesthetic resonance of Killigrew's early plays with the Cockpit repertory, which was partly composed of revivals from the Red Bull theatre, at which, according to Pepys, the young Killigrew performed as a devil. It discusses The Parson's Wedding within the context of its restaging and re-performance in the Restoration playhouse. David Roberts's chapter offers a radical and long overdue reappraisal of Killigrew's career as a theatre manager. It also explores the religious and cultural significance of The Conspiracy in the context of the Killigrew family's connections and status at court. This chapter contends that his experience sheds light on the sustained patronage received by the Killigrews from the late Duke of Buckingham's family, at the same time as it reveals some of the problems inherent in that patronage. It shows, many of these autobiographical ingredients have evaporated in Behn's adaptation of the late 1670s.
