Women Playwrights and Other Theater Professionals: A New Focus for the AHCT

When, in the early 1990s, Amy Williamsen and others suggested that the AHCT amplify its focus to highlight women in theater, the proposal was both inevitable and revolutionary. It was inevitable because Feminist Studies had begun to permeate every field of the humanities. New research was provoking a reconsideration of women’s roles in early modern society and subverting many commonly held notions about women’s lives and attitudes. The realization emerged that despite societal restraints, many early modern women exercised agency over of their lives, particularly in the areas of business, publishing, religion, and theater. Williamsen’s recommendation that ACHT widen its horizons was revolutionary because, despite the extensive work being done on women in early modern European society, relatively little attention had been paid to women on the Spanish stage. Yet, things were beginning to change.