 When Parliament ordered all theatres closed in 1642, the Fortune entered a slow but irreversible decline.The actors at least occasionally violated the order, for they were raided and their property seized during a performance almost a year after the closure; between the expiration of the original order and the enactment of new, more stringent orders in 1649, the players returned to the theatre.In 1649, soldiers pulled down the stage and the gallery seats.