“In the female coasts of fame”: women–s dramatic writing on the public stage, 1669-71

Abstract

During the seasons 1668-71, the London patent theatres produced plays by Katherine Philips, Frances Boothby, Elizabeth Polwhele and Aphra Behn. With the exception of Katherine Philips's Pompey, this was the first time that drama by women had been performed on the English stage. This article examines the means by which these women's works found access to the public theatre, in particular, the role played by patronage. Dedications, prologues, manuscript letters and poems by and about these women reveal the communities which supported them, influenced their stylistic choices and facilitated the public production of their work. The prefatory material also illustrates the ways in which the women presented themselves as dramatists. Rather than a distinctively female tradition, the diversity of their approaches reveals the shifting role of the dramatist and transitions within the theatre institution itself during the years 1669-71