Players and playwrights were not considered the optimum careers in this time period. In fact, most of the playwrights and actors had full time jobs doing something else...writing wasn't even considered a career, and writers were sneered at as wasting time.
Because of this, actors were people of usually low social status. True, the good ones performed for many upper class members of society, including the Kings and Queens of England as well as other countries. However, women were not allowed to act as a matter of law--it was illegal. Actors in Elizabethan England are probably best compared to porn stars today--many are popular and "fun" to watch, but no one would want to bring these stars home to meet momma.
Boys, therefore, were the best substitute for playing female parts. Boys were used because their voices had not yet turned due to puberty and as they moved toward maturity, they could gargle with lemon juice to produce the more feminine voice of girls and women. Older women were played by men who had to shave in order to hide their true gender.
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