[Footnote 647: William Beeston was the son of the famous actor Christopher Beeston, who was once a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later manager of the Fortune, and finally proprietor of the Cockpit. In 1639 William had been appointed manager of the Cockpit Company. (See pages 358 ff.)] [Footnote 648: That is, stripped of its benches, stage-hangings, and other appliances for dramatic performances.] [Footnote 649: The manuscript entry in Stow's _Annals_. See _The Academy_, October 28, 1882, p. 314. On the same date the soldiers "pulled down on the inside" also the Phoenix and the Fortune.] Three years later, however, Beeston, through his agent Theophilus Bird, secured the property from Herne at the reduced price of L408: "John Herne, by indenture dated the five and twentieth day of May, 1652, for L408, to him paid by Theophilus Bird, did assign the premises and all his estate therein in trust for the said William Beeston."[650] [Footnote 650: Cunningham, _The Shakespeare Society's Papers_, IV, 103.] Early in 1660 Beeston, anticipating the return of King Charles, and the reestablishment of the drama, decided to put his building back into condition to serve as a playhouse; and he secured from Herbert, the Master of the Revels, a license to do so.[651] On April 5, 1660, he contracted with two carpenters, Fisher and Silver, "for the rebuilding the premises"; and to secure them he mortgaged the property. The carpenters later swore that they "expended in the same work L329 9_s._ 4_d._"[652] [Footnote 651: Printed in Malone, _Variorum_, III, 243, and Halliwell-Phillipps, _A Collection of Ancient Documents_, p. 85. The language clearly indicates that Beeston was to _reconvert_ the building into a theatre.] [Footnote 652: Cunningham, _The Shakespeare Society's Papers_, IV, 103.] The reconstructed playhouse was opened in 1660, probably as early as June, with a performance of _The Rump_, by Tatham. It was engaged by Sir William Davenant for his company of actors until his "new theatre with scenes" could be erected in Lincoln's Inn Fields.[653] The ubiquitous Pepys often went thither, and in his _Diary_ gives us some interesting accounts of the performances he saw there. On March 2, 1661, he witnessed a revival of Thomas Heywood's _Love's Mistress, or The Queen's Masque_ before a large audience: After dinner I went to the Theatre [i.e., Killigrew's playhouse] where I found so few people (which is strange, and the reason I did not know) that I went out again; and so to Salisbury Court, where the house as full as could be; and it seems it was a new play, _The Queen's Masque_, wherein are some good humours: among others a good jeer to the old story of the Siege of Troy, making it to be a common country tale. But above all it was strange to see so little a boy as that was to act Cupid, which is one of the greatest parts in it.