[15]
[Footnote 15: At the restoration of King Charles II., no more than two
companies of actors received licenses to perform in public. One of
these companies was directed by Sir William D'Avenant, Shakespeare's
reputed godson, and was under the patronage of the King's brother, the
Duke of York. The other was directed by Tom Killigrew, one of Charles
II.'s boon companions, and was under the patronage of the King
himself. In due time the Duke's, or D'Avenant's, company occupied the
theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and the King's, or Killigrew's,
company occupied the new building in Drury Lane.]
Besides these two public theatres there was, in the final constitution
of the theatrical world in Pepys's London, a third, which stood on a
different footing. A theatre was attached to the King's Court at
Whitehall, and there performances were given at the King's command by
actors from the two public houses.[16] The private Whitehall theatre
was open to the public on payment, and Pepys was frequently there.
[Footnote 16: Charles II. formed this private theatre out of a
detached building in St James's Park, known as the "Cockpit," and to
be carefully distinguished from the Cockpit of Drury Lane.
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