Stage Beauty

Synopsis: Feature film. London in the 1660s, and a declaration from King Charles II (Rupert Everett) legalising female actors puts the girl-boy specialist Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) out of a job. His former dresser and aspiring actress Maria (Claire Danes) now becomes a star while Kynaston is reduced to appearing in dingy drag clubs. Maria asks Kynaston to coach her and they make a triumphant comeback in a production of Othello. A heavy handed, and unsubtle romp described by critic Philip French as ‘Tootsie with a periwig and without the jokes’.
Language: English
Country: Germany; Great Britain; United States
Medium: Film
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Year of release: 2004
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: gender representation; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); All-male casts; Elizabethan stage