A 400-year-old play written by one of Shakespeare's contempories is set to be premiered where it was written, after a 24-year project to make it happen.

The play, Love's Victory, was written by Lady Mary Wroth between 1617 and 1619 at Penshurst Place, and is one of the earliest surviving comedies written by an Englishwoman.

The performances, which will be staged later this month, are the result of 24 years' work by Professor Alison Findlay from Lancaster University - and the public can get involved.

Actors from the Urania Theatre Company will rehearse in the house and grounds from Wednesday, August 29 to Friday, September 14, with director Martin Hodgson and the public can go along.

Lady Mary Wroth was the daughter of Robert Sidney and niece of Sir Philip Sidney and Mary Sidney Herbert, who transformed the literary landscape of the 16th and 17th centuries. Penshurst Place is still owned by the Sidney family today, who are direct descendants of Lady Mary Wroth.

The only complete copy of the five-act script is the Penshurst manuscript.

Professor Findlay said: “Love's Victory is the first extant comedy by an Englishwoman. It is a love story – or a series of intertwined love stories. Its survival in manuscript form is crucial evidence of women’s engagement with a dramatic tradition that is usually thought of as exclusively male. Lady Mary Wroth is one of ‘Shakespeare's Sisters’, who did not, as Virginia Woolf imagined, perish without leaving a word.”

She added: “Rehearsing scenes in the rooms and historic gardens at Penshurst will offer actors and members of the public a heightened sensory experience that should prompt reflections about how emotions are generated by places and by the past. Visitors will be encouraged to respond creatively too."

The first costume dramatization is thanks to a grant from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC). The Sidney family have supported the project to stage it and approved a reading of the manuscript four years ago.

Professor Findlay said: "Thanks to the AHRC funding and continued support from the Sidney family and board, we are finally able to realise my dream of bringing the play to life in a full production at Penshurst Place."

Two ticketed performances will be held on Sunday, September 16 at 2pm and 7.30pm in the medieval Baron’s Hall, which will also be professionally filmed and put online on the Shakespeare and His Sisters website, hosted by Lancaster University. Shakespeare and His Sister” is a research project set up by Professor Findlay to explore the works of Shakespeare and his female contemporary dramatists in specific locations.

For tickets to the performances, go to online-payments.lancaster-university.co.uk and for information on free talks, workshops and open rehearsals being held in the lead-up, visit wp.lancs.ac.uk/shakespeare-and-his-sisters/