Anti-Theatre Sentiment
Circa: February 1778
Some religious leaders campaigned against establishing a licenced theatre inside the city, concerned about how theatre would affect the "morals of our sons, daughters, apprentices, and servants, when they can conceal themselves by darkness of the night".
Warnings were given against profaneness, lewdness, debauchery, and idleness. Plays would show the working classes another way of life, whilst dark theatre auditoriums provided a new space for drinking, gambling and courting, away from prying eyes. However, as the Theatre had been operating for twelve years without protest, they were forced to concede that their moral warnings were too late.
