This book traces the cultural history of the construction of dramatic cast lists from the earliest printed plays to the present day, focusing on gender as a determinant factor and critical marker. It also considers factors such as race, class and sexuality. This study examines the range and organisation of classical, medieval and early modern dramatis personae in England and mainland Europe, theorising these arrangements and the ways in which conventions were gradually established. It then shows how these conventions changed over time with the introduction of women actors in the Restoration in England and women editors in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It briefly examines the way such practices were transferred to film, radio and TV and considers the impact of the advent of social media and online platforms.

Jan Sewell has taught Literature and Cultural Studies at the Universities of Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Warwick, and currently teaches Humanities at the Open University, UK. She worked as an Associate Editor on the RSC Complete Works of Shakespeare (2007) and as Chief Associate Editor on the complete RSC single volume edition of Shakespeare plays for which she wrote stage histories (2008 – 2012). She edited William Shakespeare and Others: Collaborative Plays (2013) and co-edited The Palgrave Handbook of the History of Women on Stage (2019).