of what quality soever should presume to go behind the
scenes, or come upon the stage, either before or during the acting of
any play; that no woman should be allowed, or presume to wear, a
vizard mask in either of the theatres; and that no person should come
into either house without paying the price established for their
respective places."

As the stage advanced more and more in public favour, the actors
ceased to depend for existence upon private patronage and found it
unnecessary to be included among the retinue and servants of the
great. After the Restoration patents were granted to Killigrew and
Davenant, and their companions were described as the servants of the
king and of the Duke of York respectively; but individual noblemen no
longer maintained and protected "players of interludes" for their own
private amusement. And now the court began to come to the drama
instead of requiring that the drama should be carried to the court.
Charles II. was probably the first English monarch who habitually
joined with the general audience and occupied a box at a public
theatre. In addition, he followed the example of preceding sovereigns,
and had plays frequently represented before him at Whitehall and other
royal residences. These performances took place at night, and were
brilliantly lighted with wax candles. With the fall of the Stuart
dynasty the court theatricals ceased almost altogether. Indeed, in
Charles's time there had been much decline in the dignity and
exclusiveness of these entertainments; admission seems to have been
obtainable upon payment at the doors, as though at a public theatre.
Evelyn writes in 1675: "I saw the Italian Scaramuccio act before the
king at Whitehall, people giving money to come in, which was very
scandalous, and never so before at court diversions. Having seen him
act in Italy many years past, I was not averse from seeing the most
excellent of that kind of folly."

It is to be observed that in Pepys's time, and long afterwards, the
prices of admission to the theatres were: Boxes, four shillings; pit,
two shillings and sixpence; first gallery, one shilling and sixpence;
and upper gallery, one shilling. It became customary to raise the
prices whenever great expenses had been incurred by the manager in the
production of a new play or of a pantomime. As the patent theatres
were enlarged or rebuilt, however, the higher rate of charges became
permanently established. After the famous O.P. rio