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Stage
Beauty
Genre: Drama/Romance/Comedy
Rated: R
Directed by: RICHARD EYRE
Produced by: Robert De Niro,
Jane Rosenthal, Hardy Justice
Starring: CLAIRE DANES, BILLY
CRUDUP, RUPERT EVERETT, TOM WILKINSON, BEN CHAPLIN
Released by: Lions
Gate Films
In
Short: In 17th century London, Billy
Crudup gets the chance to play Desdemona
and Ophelia—until Claire Danes ruins
it all for him. Now girls will be girls,
or at least played by them... a hilarious
romp! |
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Gender
Bending Thespians
Cross Dressing in Period Garb Makes for Fab Eye Candy
By
Julie Fay
In
the 1660's, when women were barred from the London
stage, there was one man who ruled the theater...
as a leading lady. His name was Ned Kynaston, (Billy
Crudup), and he played all the great Shakespearean
female parts—Juliet, Ophelia—but he was
best known for his portrayal of Desdemona.
When
King Charles II (Rupert Everett) gets tired of seeing
the same old plays performed by the same old actors,
he suggests that they add a few jokes to Othello to
liven it up. He also decrees that all female parts
be played by women from now on, banning men from playing
female roles. The theatre world, and naturally, Kynaston,
thinks that women playing women on stage is preposterous—where's
the art in that? He also sees his livelihood threatened.
Ned's
dresser, Maria (Claire Danes), who's secretly in love
with him, wants to be an actress and performs in an
illicit tavern production of Othello. As her star
rises, Ned's career is destroyed. Crudup gives an
outstanding portrayal of a man who has lost his entire
identity. Ned spent his life perfecting the moods
and mannerisms of women and now there are no more
roles for him.
Everett
is hilarious as the buffoonish king who puts on bawdy
private performances with his lusty mistress, and
Danes' metamorphosis as a woman catapulted from the
shadows into the spotlight mirrors her evolving performance
from mediocre at the beginning to notable at the end
of the film. Unfortunately, the cast is often lost
in the inconsistent combination of absurd humor and
serious drama. It isn't until the passionate scenes
at the end where Maria manages to teach Ned how to
be a man—and he in turn teaches her how to be
a woman on stage—that the film really gets its
footing And by then it's a little too late. |
