Nahum Tate's King Lear: adaptation and dominance on the English stage (1681–1740)

1. Restoration theatre resets audience expectations

   Jan 1, 1660Labels: Restoration theatre, London playhouses

   • Britannica
   • RSC

2. Tate publishes and stages The History of King Lear

   Jan 1, 1681Labels: Nahum Tate, Duke's Theatre

   • King Lear Tate
   • 1681 lit
   • RSC

3. Key changes reshape Lear into tragicomedy

   Jan 1, 1681Labels: Cordelia and, Tragicomedy

   • King Lear Tate
   • Nahum Tate
   • RSC

4. Tate’s Lear becomes the standard stage text

   Jan 1, 1682Labels: Tate's Lear, English stage

   • RSC
   • King Lear Tate
   • Met Museum

5. Actor-company split keeps Betterton’s influence visible

   Apr 30, 1695Labels: Thomas Betterton, Lincoln's Inn

   • Lisle Court
   • Love for Love

6. Collier’s 1698 attack strengthens moral “poetic justice”

   Jan 1, 1698Labels: Jeremy Collier, A Short

   • Britannica
   • Gutenberg
   • Collier text

7. A revised printing ties Lear to Queen’s Theatre

   Jan 1, 1699Labels: Queen's Theatre, 1699 edition

   • Folger
   • Claremont

8. Queen’s Theatre (Haymarket) opens, expanding revival venues

   Apr 9, 1705Labels: Queen's Theatre, Haymarket

   • NYPL
   • Orlando
   • Grub St

9. Dorset Garden Theatre demolished as London theatre map shifts

   Jun 1, 1709Labels: Dorset Garden, Venue demolition

   • Dorset Garden

10. Tate’s Lear persists into 1730s repertory culture

    Jan 1, 1730Labels: Repertory culture, Georgian theatre

    • RSC
    • King Lear Tate

11. By 1740, Tate’s Lear is a settled English stage norm

    Jan 1, 1740Labels: Tate Lear, 1740 norm

    • RSC
    • King Lear Tate
    • U Birmingham

12. Garrick’s 1742 Lear uses Tate’s version

    May 1, 1742Labels: David Garrick, 1742 production

    • Garrick
    • RSC
    • Met Museum