Richard Flecknoe's "Short Discourse of the English Stage," a unique theatrical essay in the Restoration period, provides important historical information about the development of the stage in London in the previous ages as well as about the restored and much reformed Restoration theatre. It does not, however, remain as such a historical document, but is interesting in itself as a newly burgeoning genre of classical dramatic criticism. Translating the "Short Discourse" into Japanese, this paper aims to analyze Flecknoe's view of drama through the translation and evaluate the critical meanings and value of his essay in the development of dramatic criticism.