Licensing Act of 1737
The Licensing Act of 1737 was a significant piece of legislation in Great Britain that established formal censorship of the theater. Prompted by political tensions and the success of satirical plays targeting the government, particularly those authored by Henry Fielding, the Act was introduced by Prime Minister Robert Walpole. It granted the Lord Chamberlain the authority to license all plays and theaters, requiring that new performances be submitted for inspection at least fourteen days prior to their debut. This legislation aimed to curtail the influence of the stage as a political platform, allowing the Lord Chamberlain to prohibit any play throughout the country. Critics of the Act, like Lord Chesterfield, raised concerns about the concentration of power in a single official's hands without an appeals process. Although this system of censorship persisted for over two centuries, it was not until the Theatres Act of 1968 that precensorship in British theater was officially abolished. The Licensing Act of 1737 thus marks a pivotal moment in the history of theatrical regulation and highlights the ongoing tension between artistic expression and political authority.
Licensing Act of 1737
Enacted: June 24, 1737
Place: Great Britain (national)
Significance: This act of Parliament gave the Lord Chamberlain control of Britain’s theaters, as well as power to precensor stage production manuscripts, thereby retarding development of English drama
Although entertainment censorship by Britain goes back at least as far as the fourteenth century, formal censorship of the theater was not sanctioned by an act of Parliament until 1737. Political circumstances ushered in the Licensing Act that year. Dramatists had been finding in political controversies opportunities for renewed vitality on the stage. Prime Minister Robert Walpole, members of his cabinet, and his policies had become the subjects of many playwrights’ satires and caricatures. Henry Fielding was foremost among them. In 1736 his play attacking Walpole, Pasquin: Or, A Dramatic Satire on the Times, opened at London’s Haymarket Theater. It was a great success, and audiences cheered its vigorous attack on Walpole. The next year, Walpole successfully secured the legislation that he believed would give him some relief, while effectively ending Fielding’s career as a playwright.
The Licensing Act of 1737 gave the office of the Lord Chamberlain statutory power to license both plays and theaters. It required that new plays be submitted to the Lord Chamberlain for his inspection at least fourteen days before their first scheduled performances. The Lord Chamberlain was empowered to prohibit any play from being performed throughout Great Britain. Penalties could be imposed on those performing plays in unlicensed theaters, or who did not obtain the sanction of the Lord Chamberlain. These were extensive powers, but the stage was then regarded as an influential social and political force that required government control. The pertinent criticisms of the day against stage censorship were voiced by Lord Chesterfield in his speech to the House of Lords in June, 1737, when he questioned a system that gave absolute control of the drama to one officer, while allowing no appeal against that officer’s decisions.
There was no organized effort to oppose theatrical censorship in Britain until 1909, when a joint committee of Parliament investigated the issue. Precensorship of the drama in Britain was finally abolished by the Theatres Act of 1968.