by Jinny Webber | Jun 4, 2022 | Sex and Gender in Shakespeare's England |
The final scene of Bedtrick takes place on a summer’s day on the grand country estate Wilton House. On its broad terrace Shakespeare’s company presents his woodland comedy As You Like It for a noble company, including newly crowned King James I. The preceding years...
by Jinny Webber | Feb 17, 2022 | Gender fluidity, Sex and Gender in Shakespeare's England |
Through history, women have successfully passed as male: no hormones, no surgery, only perhaps herbs to end or slow menstrual periods. During the American Civil War, some 200 soldiers who died in battle or otherwise later identified were female. Who can blame them?...
by Jinny Webber | Nov 6, 2021 | Boy actors on Shakespeare's stage, Gender fluidity, Sex and Gender in Shakespeare's England, Shakespeare and Fiction, The Man-Woman |
The release date for Bedtrick will be November 16. Pre-order copies online or at your favorite book shop. Summary: During the tumultuous late days of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Alexander Cooke, born female, successfully passes as male to play Shakespeare’s...
by Jinny Webber | Sep 21, 2021 | Boy actors on Shakespeare's stage |
The third of Sander Cooke’s important female friends is Amelia Bassano Lanyer (Her name is variously spelled: Amelia, Emilia, or Æmelia and Lanyer or Lanier.) The Bassano family were musicians in the court of Henry VIII, natives of Venice and conversos, that is,...
by Jinny Webber | Aug 22, 2021 | Boy actors on Shakespeare's stage, Women Writers in Shakespeare's Era |
Early in Bedtrick when faced with a dilemma, Sander seeks out her old friend Mary Sidney Herbert, the Countess of Pembroke. Unlikely as a friendship between an actor and a noble woman may seem, their connection is long-standing. The Countess has a special interest in...
by Jinny Webber | Jun 29, 2021 | Boy actors on Shakespeare's stage, Gender fluidity, Sex and Gender in Shakespeare's England |
From 1599 until her death in 1603, Queen Elizabeth’s reign begins to lose its magic. She’s worked hard to be a Prince ‘in a feeble woman’s body,’ the almost mythic Gloriana, but her powers may be waning. Tensions outside her control contribute: intermittent bad...
