Final answer:
The Puritans, the devout Calvinists were reformist English Protestants who decried theaters and actors during Shakespeare's era as immoral and decadent.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Puritans were English Protestants seeking religious reforms. During Shakespeare's time, they condemned theaters as immoral.
In the early 1600s, Puritanism deeply influenced English society and the establishment of American colonies. They were devout Calvinists who believed in strict religious discipline and sought to 'purify' the Church of England from remnants of Catholicism. The Puritans found elements like bear-baiting, and by extension the theatre, distasteful and decadent. Such entertainment was denounced as it supposedly encouraged idleness and was at odds with their strict Sabbath observance.
Theatres, in their view, were places of moral decay that undermined the social fabric and contradicted their ascetic lifestyle. Contrary to the community-building they aimed for, theatres were seen as fostering sin and distracting from godly pursuits. This disapproval also extended to actors, who were viewed with suspicion and disdain for their role in what Puritans saw as a sinful industry. In England, their influence eventually led to the closing of theaters during the English Civil War and the interregnum period.