Feminist Dramaturgy in Practice: Lazarus Theatre Company’s Staging of Elizabeth Cary’s 'The Tragedy of Mariam'

Abstract
In 2013 Lazarus Theatre Company staged the first professional production of Elizabeth Cary’s 400-year-old play The Tragedy of Mariam. Cary’s play – the first original play in English to be published by a woman under her own name – has been neglected in performance and the Lazarus production represents an important intervention in Mariam’s limited performance history. This chapter explores the significance of the production’s fringe context and examines the unique gender politics of this specific context. Taking Lazarus’s Mariam as a case study, we focus on how editing, casting, staging and ensemble work combine to constitute what we term feminist dramaturgy and suggest that such an approach can contribute to innovative and imaginative productions of classical drama that put women centre stage.