The Female Wits

In the bustling world of late‑17th‑century London theatre, a group of women were storming the stage with melodramatic tragedies that delighted fashionable audiences. The Female Wits turns the lamp of satire onto that very phenomenon, parodying the bombastic style of Mary de la Riviere Manley’s The Royal Mischief and, with a wink, the rival works of Mary Pix and Catherine Trotter. Through a clever “play‑within‑a‑play” structure, actors are forced to perform both their assigned roles and exaggerated versions of the playwrights themselves, exposing pretensions and backstage squabbles.

The piece captures a chaotic moment when the seasoned actor Betterton broke away from Drury Lane’s manager Christopher Rich, prompting frantic competition between two theatrical companies. As the satire unfolds, listeners hear how Manley’s fierce personality and unapologetic ambition clash with the actors who mock her, leading to a dramatic walk‑out that reshapes the season’s repertoire. The humor is sharp but rooted in real theatrical politics, offering a vivid glimpse into the gendered battles over taste and authority at the turn of the century.