Shakespeare in performance works were plundered for these scenes. Among the drolls taken from Shakespeare were "Bottom the Weaver" (Bottom's scenes from "A Midsummer Night's Dream") and "The Grave-makers" (the gravedigger's scene from "Hamlet"). At the Restoration in 1660, Shakespeare's plays were divided between the two newly licensed companies: the King's Company of Thomas Killigrew and the Duke's Men of William Davenant. The licensing system prevailed for two centuries; from 1660 to 1843, only two main companies regularly presented Shakespeare in London. Davenant, who had known early-Stuart actors such as John Lowin and Joseph Taylor, was the main figure establishing some continuity with
Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park and their own money, they staged their first productions: Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Each play ran for 5 weeks, for a 10-week season, drawing a total attendance of 6,000 people. Since the project turned out to be so popular, McGill and O'Meara decided to pursue the project further and formally incorporated Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park in 1986 with O'Meara acting as managing director and McGill as artistic director. Office and storage space was rented at the Edmond Community Center, along with an all purpose room used for a winter season of performances. The winter performances ran