In the late 1670s, political crisis in the nation had a profound effect upon the theatres. Intense political engagement in the drama radically transformed dramatic form and content. The relationship between politics and culture is complex. It is certainly not a simple case of (political) cause and (dramatic) effect. Yet it can scarcely be a coincidence that the crisis coincided with three important dramatic shifts: a change in comedy, the development of tragedy, and the rise of the sentimental.

The mid-Restoration crisis is often called the Exclusion Crisis, due to the Whigs' desire to exclude Charles II's Catholic brother and heir, James Stuart, from the succession. Yet the term hardly seems strong enough for what many thought would become another civil war. It is hardly surprising that there should have been a marked effect on the drama at this time when political divisions became deep enough to give rise to rival parties, Whigs and Tories, and to the beginnings of party politics.