FLUTE.
Nay, faith, let not me play a woman: I have a beard coming.
QUI.
That’s all one, you shall play it in a mask.
There is a tradition that masks were worn by ladies attending the theatres in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. This custom may have originated from the stage use of boys and men playing female parts, sometimes in masks. Very little is known of the history of wearing masks, both in public and private performances. The above quotation proves that it would not be at all incongruous for an actor to play his part in a mask.
MASQUE.
What masques, what dances shall we have?
V, 1, 32.
What masque? what music? How shall we beguile
The lazy time, if not with some delight.