English Drama after the Renaissance - A Decline?

[imatitle]

To avoid a long post, do you think the English Drama was better after the Renaissance or worse?
By after the Renaissance I only mean up to the middle of the 19th century; namely the drama of the Restoration and the early Victorian plays.

[JBI]

It was banned for too long a period, and other forms appeared because of that. Today theatre is declined for sure, because of the prevalence of cinema. But generally the association with renaissance and drama is simply because of Shakespeare. Most people don't read his contemporaries, though I am sure many of us here have. Also increased literacy rates have rendered the drama as a form less fashionable than reading, since the drama is designed to be understandable by the illiterate, whereas 99.9% of the population in many countries enjoys literacy.