Queer virgins and virgin queans on the early modern stage

the long version

"Queer Virgins and Virgin Queans looks at the early modern theatre through the lens of obscure and obscene puns - especially 'queer' puns, those that carry homoerotic resonances and speak to homoerotic desires. In particular, it resurrects the operations of a small boys' company known as the first Whitefriars, which performed for about nine months in 1607-8." "Queer Virgins and Virgin Queens engages with linguistic theory by arguing that puns create communities, if only for a few hours; with theatrical scholarship by arguing for a much stronger emphasis on the importance of the writing communities attached to theatres; and with queer theory by positing a self-aware homoerotic community in early modern London."--Jacket.