Metatheatre
When Fitzdottrel intends to see a play in Act I, the play in question is The Devil is an Ass. When Meercraft and Ingine are looking for someone to play the "Spanish woman," they mention Richard Robinson, a real actor with the King's Men; Robinson played female parts as a boy, and had acted in the company's production of Jonson's Catiline in 1611. Wittipol, the character in the play who does masquerade as the "Spanish woman," was most likely played by Robinson, creating another of the loops of self-reference that Jonson liked to generate in his plays.
Read more about this topic: The Devil Is An Ass