Nell Gwynn, one of the first actresses and mistress of King Charles II, engraving by T. Wright according to a painting by Peter Lely, published in 1851 in Beauties of the Court of Charles the Second (Beauties of the court of Charles II)
Restoration comedy was strongly influenced by the introduction of the first professional actresses. Before the end of the theaters, all female roles were played by young boys and the public the years 1660 and 1670, predominantly male, he was curious, hypercritical and delighted with the novelty of seeing women involved in authentic replicas acute and Indecent and interpreting physical scenes of seduction. Samuel Pepys refers often in his famous diaries of visits to the theater to see, again and again, the interpretation of a particular actress and soon enjoyed these experiences.
Comedy atrevidamente suggestive scenes involving women were especially abundant, although of course it was expected that the actresses of the Restoration, just as the male actors, do justice to all kinds of works and tones. (His role in the development of the tragedy of the Restoration is also important, see the gender "female tragedy".)
A new specialty is almost as early as actresses: the "Breeches role" or "paper underpants." So called role of an actress who had to appear dressed as a man, with tight trousers breeches coming to the knee, the usual dress of the men of the time, interpreted, for example, the witty heroine who disguises kid hiding, or conduct prohibited getaways for the girls. A quarter of the works produced in the londinenense scene between 1660 and 1700 contained "breeches roles". In interpreting these characters transvestites, women who behaved in a free society only allowed to men, and some feminist critics such as Jacqueline Pearson, who were considered a subversion of traditional gender roles and empower women in the public . Elizabeth Howe, however, has objected that the male costume, with regard to interpreting the texts, prologue and epilogue, is listed as "little more than another way of introducing the actress as a sexual object for male viewers by showing your body, usually hidden by the skirt, outlined in a male costume.
Among the successful actresses of the Restoration was the mistress of Charles II, Nell Gwyn, the tragic Elizabeth Barry, who was famous for his ability to "stir the passions" and make the whole audience cry, the comedian of the year 1690 Anne Bracegirdle, and Susanna Mountfort (aka Susanna Verbruggen), who managed to write many of these papers with panties "especially for her during the years 1680 and 1690. The letters and memoirs of the time show that both men and women of the audience enjoyed a lot of bluster and jaraneras personifications of girls wearing shorts and thus enjoy the freedom of its own social and sexual libertine male restoration.