No: the fashion’s changed. There’s some talk of having girl-actresses to play the girls’ parts on the stage, as they do in France.
Jonson:
A mad proposal. It would bring the theatre into worse repute than ever, and give the Puritans a handle for attack.
Shakespeare:
[Smiling.] The pretty children! Now at sixteen they all wish to be nuns or nursing sisters: then they would not know whether to be nuns or actresses, and they would be sure to confuse the duties: if they acted they’d try to do good to their hearers, and if they tended the sick they would want pretty dresses and a crowd of spectators to admire their devotion.
Jonson:
Ha, ha! Excellent.
Drayton:
Come to London soon, Shakespeare. We all miss our gentle peacemaker and his wit.
Shakespeare: