Movie Review - Stage Beauty
Billy Crudup and Claire Danes Star in Excellent Film with Passion, Drama and Humor
Prior to the seventeenth century, the rules of English society prevented women from performing on the stage, and most women’s roles were played by men. Stage Beauty is the story of one such man, Edward “Ned” Kynaston (Billy Crudup), a fine-featured and skilled actor, England’s most celebrated leading “lady.” Shortly after Charles II took the throne in 1660, he proclaimed that women should be allowed to take the stage, and turned Shakespearean theater on its ear.
A Transformation
Finding himself out of work and convinced he is unable to do anything else, Ned ends up in the lowest of places, a seedy ‘gentlemen’s club’, still performing his most famous role – Desdemona from Othello – only this time he’s reduced to showing the all-male audience the secret beneath the elegant gown. He is rescued from this degrading and dangerous position by his former dresser, Maria (Danes), who has succeeded him in the role he once cherished.
Meanwhile, the king has decided that the ending of Othello as written by Shakespeare is nothing short of boring, and he demands that the next performance surprise him or he’ll shut the theater down. Maria and the rest of the troupe are in a panic, because she can only play Desdemona as Ned played her - effeminate rather than feminine, submissive rather than sensual. The king’s mistress, who is herself an aspiring actress, enlists Ned’s aid in training Maria properly for the role.
Despite his bitterness toward her for usurping his glory, Ned agrees to help Maria ‘learn’ to act. In doing so, he unleashes his own natural talent and learns that he is much more than what he believed himself to be. Seduced by a duke who only sees him as the women he portrays, Ned can only view sex from the perspective of ‘the woman’. Maria dispels his misguided notions in a rather provocative role reversal game.
Satisfying the King
One of the film’s most powerful scenes is, fittingly, near the end. Ned and Maria have rehearsed Desdemona’s death at the hands of Othello without actually rehearsing the death itself. Although Maria laments that she doesn’t know how to die convincingly, Ned wants her performance before the king to be spontaneous and convincing, and therefore insists that they wait.
The key to the authenticity of the scene is Maria’s own idea about how Desdemona should react to Othello’s murderous rage. “A woman,” she says, “would fight.” The result is powerful, as Ned and Maria bring the roles of Othello and Desdemona to life with a passion previously unseen on the English stage, and King Charles is enthralled.
An Outstanding Cast
While Billy Crudup and Claire Danes are undeniably the stars of this film, their supporting cast includes some of the most popular actors in Britain. Tom Wilkinson (Shakespeare in Love, The Patriot, Michael Clayton, Duplicity) is endearing as Betterton, owner of the beleaguered theater. Richard Griffiths (Harry Potter’s Uncle Vernon, Sleepy Hollow, Goldeneye) provides a bit of comic relief as Sir Charles Sedley, an aristocrat who propositions Ned and then becomes Maria’s sponsor.
Shining brightest of all the minor roles is Rupert Everett (My Best Friend’s Wedding, Shakespeare in Love, The Importance of Being Earnest) as King Charles II. His flamboyant, ribald character lightens the mood of an otherwise dramatic story. Overall, Stage Beauty is an excellent film that showcases the abilities of some very talented actors and offers an entertaining account of life behind the curtains of England’s 17th-century theaters.
Starring Claire Danes, Billy Crudup
Lions Gate Films, 2004
Directed and produced by Richard Eyre (executive producer of Atonement); co-produced by Robert De Niro
Rated: R (sexual content and language)
Running time: 109 minutes
Available on DVD
Other features: Interactive menus; scene access, director's commentary; trailer
Stage Beauty
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Stage Beauty
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