The 'Curious Effects' of Acting: Homosexuality, Theatre and Female Impersonation at the University of Cambridge, 1900-39.

The University of Cambridge educated a significant proportion of Britain's elite in the early twentieth century. The homosocial environment of the colleges was similar in many ways to that of the single-sex public boarding schools which many of the undergraduates had attended. Student theatre was a popular activity, and because such shows were acted by single-sex ensembles, there was a strong tradition of female impersonation on stage.