Stage Beauty

Synopsis: In the 1660s women are forbidden to appear on stage, and all women's roles are played by men. Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is the celebrated darling of London stage, until King Charles II (Rupert Everett) decrees that women may take to the stage, and men may no longer play women's roles. This is great news for lovestruck Maria, Kynaston's dresser (Claire Danes) who has long harboured a desire to act. As Ned's fortunes decline, it is up to Maria help him find his place in the world and in his own eyes

Director Richard Eyre was responsible for directing twnety-seven and producing a hundred plays during his time with The Royal National Theatre So theatre is second-nature to him and it shows in this beautifully crafted screen adaptation of a work by prolific playwright Jeffrey Hatcher is a delight, and works on many levels, but none so authentically as capturing the atmosphere of the theatre, along with its personalities, and the huge egos and bitter rivalries that go with the territory.

The feel of the theatre as we imagine it to have been in those times is palpable - the camera is in amongst it and we are there on the stage and in the dressing rooms amidst the greasepaint and the flurry. The attention to detail is superb, giving a sense of raw energy throughout. As he did in Shakespeare in Love (1998) Tom Wilkinson again plays a theatre manager, one who not only shrewdly manages his staff but also treads the boards to play Othello on most nights to Kynaston's Desdemona.

The depiction of the court of the King is replete with a Restoration sexiness and sense of fun. Everett, a staple of countless frightfully British films, gives Charles a regal, yet saucy, character, whilst his mistress, Nell Gwynn (Zoe Tapper), also an aspiring actress, is a wonderful concoction of street commonness, vamp and sexy showgirl.

Stage Beauty is much more than a theatre tale; its exploration of gender roles, especially as epitomised by Kynaston, is tantalisingly complex albeit at times somewhat convoluted. Finding an actor beautiful enough to play a woman, who could also look like a handsome man, and who could act Shakespeare was a challenge, but in Billy Crudup the filmmakers hit the jackpot. Crudup brings a glorious mix of masculinity, femininity, sensitivity and cruelty to the role, and as a person ultimately desperately seeking to find his true identity, he makes us empathise. Claire Danesa mix of energy, passion, strength and softness, is beautifully paired with Crudup.

There are many scenes in which actors play actors who are playing the opposite sex. The credibility of this only underlines the strength of the performances in this film. Even smaller roles like Ben Chaplin as the Duke of Buckingham, Kyaston's secret lover, and Hugh Bonneville as diarist of the day, Samuel Pepys, are lovingly created.

Without giving too much away, the progression that is portrayed from very stylised theatrics through to near Method style performances gives huge interest to the film. Although an anachronistic choice, it is a liberty totally in keeping with a film that looks at a time when theatre underwent a radical transformation.

 

 

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