▁a ▁matter ▁of ▁passing ▁interest , ▁female ▁play w right s ▁were ▁in ▁an ▁open ▁and ▁equal ▁market ▁with ▁their ▁male ▁colle agues ". ▁ ▁Re ception ▁and ▁Leg acy ▁ ▁P ix ' s ▁plays ▁were ▁very ▁successful ▁among ▁contemporary ▁aud ien ces . ▁Each ▁play ▁ran ▁for ▁at ▁least ▁four ▁to ▁five ▁night s ▁and ▁some ▁were ▁even ▁brought ▁back ▁for ▁additional ▁shows ▁years ▁later . ▁Her ▁tra ged ies ▁were ▁quite ▁popular , ▁because ▁she ▁managed ▁to ▁mix ▁extreme ▁action ▁with ▁mel ting ▁love ▁scenes . ▁Many ▁critics ▁believed ▁that ▁P ix ' s ▁best ▁pieces ▁were ▁her ▁com ed ies . ▁P ix ' s ▁com edic ▁work ▁was ▁l ively ▁and ▁full ▁of ▁double ▁plots , ▁intr igue , ▁confusion , ▁songs , ▁d ances ▁and ▁hum orous ▁dis gu ise . ▁An ▁Encyc lo pa edia ▁of ▁British ▁Women ▁Writ ers ▁( 1 9 9 8 ) ▁points ▁out ▁that ▁ ▁Although ▁some ▁contemporary ▁women ▁writers , ▁like ▁A ph ra ▁Be hn , ▁have ▁been ▁redis cover ed , ▁even ▁the ▁most ▁special ised ▁sch ol ars ▁have ▁little ▁knowledge ▁of ▁works ▁by ▁writers ▁such ▁as ▁Catherine ▁T rot ter , ▁Del ar iv ier ▁Man ley ▁or ▁Mary ▁P ix , ▁despite ▁the ▁fact ▁that ▁plays ▁like ▁The ▁Beau ▁De fe ated ▁( 1 7 0 0 ), ▁present ▁with ▁a ▁wider ▁range ▁of ▁female ▁characters ▁than ▁plays ▁written ▁by ▁men ▁at ▁the ▁time . ▁P ix ' s ▁plays ▁generally ▁had ▁eight ▁or ▁nine