Susanna Centlivre was one of the most performed playwrights of the eighteenth century, with over 1200 performances of her plays being staged. Only Shakespeare was performed more. She was also a political playwright, and a supporter of the Whig cause. Her play “The Wonder! A Woman Keeps a Secret” is now being performed in London, at The White Bear Theatre, for the first time in 150 years. Dr Gilli Bush-Bailey, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Drama at Royal Holloway and Dr Jane Milling, from the Department of Drama at the University of Exeter join Jenni Murray to explore Susanna Centlivre's life and works.
‘Treading the Bawds: Actresses and Playwrights of the Late-Stuart Stage’ by Gilli Bush Bailey is published by Manchester University Press, ISBN 0-7190-7250-6. Dr Jane Milling, is currently writing a biography of Susanna Centlivre.
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