Viragos, by Katherine E. Norman

"Women didn’t act in plays in Shakespeare’s England. For that, they had to go to France. 'Viragos' follows a group of young Englishwomen as they rehearse a play at The Institute—Mary Ward’s school for girls founded in France, 1609. Through their rehearsals, the girls test the boundaries of art, science, love, and politics, as the shadow of the Inquisition looms. Verbatim text illuminates this factually-inspired fiction of a true story too-long buried by history."