ABSTRACT
The Weavers' play of the Purification, as 'newly translate' by Robert Croo in 1534, has two substantial female roles, Virgin Mary and Anna J. Mill, and by a stroke of luck have the names of three actors who played Anna, one before and two after the 'translation', and of one actor who played Mary. The Beverley records newly edited by Diana Wyatt contain detailed instructions for two dramatic processions, one of St. Helena and one of the Purification. On the Continent, things seem to have been much the same as in England, though there is no room to attempt an exhaustive survey. The exception appears to be France and occasionally the Low Countries. Women never appear in England, unless they are professional entertainers of a particularly specialised kind. Any attempt to assess the effects of this on theatrical style is bound to be distorted by twentieth-century assumptions.
