This study of Restoration theatre is specially concerned to present a context for the performance of those plays which so delighted - and mirrored the preoccupations of -Restoration society. Anthony Masters' own response to the manic excesses of Restoration drama, and his perception of its deeper tensions, make him an ideal guide to the plays and players of this small and closely-knit circle. His book is at the same time a wide-ranging analysis of the plays themselves, and a lively who's who to the complex relationships of the restoration stage. He discusses the role of Charles II and his mistresses; the gentlemen playwrights; the professionals (Dryden, Otway, Shadwell, etc.) and the players and playhouses. Liberal quotation from the plays, and from the papers of contemporary theatregoers, including Pepys and Evelyn, is complemented by the sixty-one illustrations of patrons, players and theatres. ANTHONYMASTERS graduated from King's College, Cambridge, with a first in classics. He was deputy theatre critic for The Timesfor two years before his death in 1985.