The Licensing Act
Date: 1737
Region: Europe
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Theatre
Artist: The State
Confronting Bodies: writers
Date of Action: 1737
Location: England
Description of Artwork: By the "The Licensing Act" of 1737 the Lord Chamberlain was empowered to license plays, giving rise to the popular phrase "legitimate theater."
The Incident: The history of theater censorship is itself long and complicated, and extends at least from medieval Europe down to the present. But the particular function of the Lord Chamberlain starting in 1737 led to many clashes over works that have since become classics.
Results of Incident: The power of the Lord Chamberlain to license plays was revoked by parliament in 1968.
Source: Banned Books 387 B.C. to 1978 A.D., by Anne Lyon Haight, and Chandler B. Grannis, R.R. Bowker Co, 1978.