In reply to:

the theater considered lower class


The reason you assign is maybe a little far out. More likely: a) the people who were in the theater did it for a living; doing anything for a living was low class -- gentlemen and ladies didn't have to earn a living. b) in the 16th to 18th centuries women connected to the theater were automatically assumed to be whores (and most actually were). The Cromwellian/Presbyterian parties abominated the theater generally, on the grounds that actors presented a falsity, that they might teach publicly something contrary to the Word of God, it was riddled with whores, etc., and probably on the grounds that someone might have a good time for a couple hours.