And forasmuch as many plays formerly
acted contained objectionable matter, and the women's parts therein
being acted by men in the habits of women, gave offence to some, the
managers were further enjoined to act no plays "containing any
passages offensive to piety and good manners, until they had first
corrected and purged the same;" and permission was given that all the
women's parts to be acted by either of the companies for the time to
come might be performed by women, so that recreations which, by reason
of the abuses aforesaid, were scandalous and offensive, might by such
reformation be esteemed not only harmless delights, but useful and
instructive representations of human life to such of "our good
subjects" as should resort to see the same.
These patents proved a cause of numberless dissensions in future
years. Practically they reduced the London theatres to two. Before the
Civil War there had been six: the Blackfriars and the Globe, belonging
to the same company, called the King's Servants; the Cockpit or
Phoenix, in Drury Lane, the actors of which were called the Queen's
Servants; a theatre in Salisbury Court, Fleet Street, occupied by the
Prince's Servants; and the Fortune, in Golden Lane, and the Red Bull
in St.
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