“The play is ready to be acted”: women and dramatic production, 1570-1670

Abstract

In this article, the authors draw on their experiences of staging plays by early modern women to refute the classification of such texts as unperformable “closet drama”. The theatrical aspects of Cary'sThe Tragedy of Mariam(1604/8), Cavendish and Brackley's The Concealed Fancies (c1645) and Margaret Cavendish's The Convent of Pleasure (1668) are discussed in detail with references to recent stagings. The authors argue that their practical engagement with these scripts opens up important questions about female performance and its relationship to performativity, as well as interrogating conventional definitions of theatre.