Introduction

The revolutionary advent of actresses in the commedia dell’arte had a profound impact on the all-male stage. The transnational circulation of Italian texts, roles, topoi, and players prompted the emergence of the Italian-style innamorata in the drama of Shakespeare and his peers. As novelties who quickly became star attractions, the best actresses of Italy expanded on the bold innamorata of erudita drama, making her more poetic and versatile, qualities that enabled the actress to cross divides of genre, gender, and race. Theatricality and autonomy came to characterize these new female protagonists, roles created to display the prima donna’s glamour and skill. The diva’s fame leapt across borders as troupes ventured across the Alps to Vienna, Paris, and Madrid. In the 1570s, the “theatergram of the actress” took root in England. After the comici performed for Elizabeth and for popular audiences, Lyly, Kyd, Marlowe, and others wrote groundbreaking plays featuring ardent women in love on the Italian model. In sum, the Shakespearean stage drew on the diva’s role-playing, materials, and methods to bring crowd-pleasing foreign “women” to a theater without women.