ABSTRACT
The new plays took care to show the world the inestimable value of the Restoration court and the cavaliers, a world which of course included the theatre itself. The first woman playwright to have work performed professionally in England was probably Elizabeth Polwheele whose tragedy, The Faithful Virgins, was presented by Davenant’s Duke’s Company possibly as early as 1662. The lack of accessible performances during the Commonwealth period led to the widespread printing and reading of plays, and obviously the appetite for printed texts continued. A third notable professional playwright was Aphra Behn, probably the first British female to earn her living by her pen. The dazzling variety and exuberance of the plays of the Restoration period show it to have been one of the most exciting in the history of legitimate drama in English. Most theatres in most places at most periods of history rely on revivals of older plays for their staple fare.
