Shakespeare and His Sisters on Site looks at the parallels between plays by Shakespeare and by women dramatists of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Virginia Woolf famously declared that no sister of Shakespeare would have been able to write drama for the professional stage. Shakespeare and His Sisters aims to explore an alternative theatrical tradition of women’s drama in Shakespeare’s day that looked forward to the work of female playwrights like Aphra Behn in the Restoration theatre. Unlike Behn’s work, little is known about the female playwrights’ scripts or their early performances so editing and staging them are important goals.

Following the publication of Lady Mary Wroth’s pastoral tragicomedy Love’s Victory (c.1617-21) by Manchester University Press our next production will be a restaging of the play at Penshurst Place on 27 September 2022. The coterie performance forms part of a conference

  The Sidneys of Penshurst and Beyond: Connections, Contexts, Collaborations

 Penshurst Place  27-28 September 2022

 

 

Shakespeare and His Sisters continues to work in collaboration with two partners: the Duchy of Lancaster and Penshurst Place, involving schools and members of the public can be seen on the further pages.

The site currently shows examples of our work and previous events at Lancaster Castle and Penshurst Place which have already broadened our knowledge of theatre practice including that by Shakespeare’s sisters. Please see our Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for updates.