In the years of the English Restoration the rise of the proscenium stage and proscenium arch overcame the thrust. Additionally, scenery became more elaborate and a love affair with realistic settings began. As time progressed, the area that the pit occupied moved further towards the stage, until most of the apron was pushed behind the proscenium arch and the audience was effectively barred from the area conceived as "onstage". A few centuries later, thanks to Thomas Edison and his incandescent light bulb, a greater divide was established between the actor and the audience.
Performances began to become more concerned with "realism" and "historically accurate" tendencies. Plot took precedence over experience and the upper classes moved closer towards the stage, pushing the members of the middle and lower classes towards the rear. As monarchies dissolved in the 1700s, theatres became increasingly middle class and began to cater to more bourgeois tastes. In addition to effectively ending the raucous behavior of "the pit", this rearranging of priorities allowed upper class tastes to dominate the theatres.
In addition to changes in stagecraft and theatre construction, there seemed to be a shift in how the plays of the restoration and afterward addressed the audience. While the days of pure direct address (such as in Shakespeare's time and that of the Greek chorus) were more or less passe, theatre historian Dr. Dawn Lewcock argues that there was a kind of onstage shorthand that maintained this relationship in an article entitled "Converse with the Audience in Restoration Theatre". In addition to prologues meant to instruct the audience in how to behave--both mannerly and unmannerly--she argues that onstage characters shift between characters and actors. Continuing her argument, the "inside jokes" of the time worked as an inside conversation that took place between the audience and the performers. As theatre changed, the "inside dialogue" disappeared.
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