October 29, 2004 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE 13

Back when actresses were real men Gender confusion rules the stage in London's Restoration era

by Kaizaad Kotwal

An actor's worst nightmare is to never be able to work in the profession, precarious and unstable as it may be. A star's worst nightmare is to fall from grace in the goodwill of his or her fans, fickle and unstable as they may be.

Stage Beauty follows the downfall of one such star in 1660s England, when the foppish Charles II was on the throne. This was the era of Shakespeare and Marlowe, a time when the theater was full of bold intrigue and rudimentary passions, both on and off-stage.

The most beautiful actress in this time was reportedly a damsel known as Kynaston. She was in fact a he, in a time when the puritanical leanings of Oliver Cromwell had forbidden women from the stage for over 18 years. Kynaston came of age in that time when men were trained rigorously to play women on stage, especially the complex and doomed heroines of Shakespeare's tragedies-Ophelia, Juliet and Desdemona.

Stage Beauty charts not only the theatrical and social milieus of that time, but it also demonstrates why gender and queer politics back then and now are so similarly in turmoil. The former director of the National Theater in London, Richard Eyre, has created a compelling film for the most part, rich with visual detail and political

nuance.

At the core of the film are two major characters and the issues they must face: First, Kynaston's dilemma is about how his work impacts on his life and how his life and loves impact his work. Second, and equally important, is the plight of the female actresses

of the Restoration era who had no stage upon which to perform, no place to make art the pursuit of their lives.

The film is based on Jeffrey Hatcher's play Compleat Female Stage Beauty and is adapted by the playwright for the screen. Hatcher created a screenplay that is compelling, and with the aid of director Eyre, moves along at a galloping pace. They are amply aided in the pacing and visual thrills by Tariq Anwar's fluid editing.

The cast is made up of strong actors who for the most part turn in compelling performances. It is somewhat strange that two American actors were cast in the two British leadsBilly Crudup as Kynaston, and Claire Danes as his dresser Maria and the actress who, when finally allowed on the stage, leaves Kynaston without a job. Crudup and Danes are both up to the job, although at times their

accents are not.

Crudup's look is interesting and mesmerizing both in his male and female guises. As a woman, his masculinity lends a gritty realism to the acting convention of Restoration England, and as a man, his femininity lends a pathos and vulnerability to Kynaston's downfall.

Crudup is a young actor of immense promise, as he has displayed in Tim Burton's Big Fish, in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous and in Alison Maclean's Jesus' Son. His dramatic acting has always been laced with a tragicomic edge, and here he takes that to the fullest. He masterfully navigates the melodrama of Desdemona's mannered role on stage and Kynaston's hyper-real destruction off stage, while mining the humor for all it's worth in scenes where male and female fans are curious about whether he has a "thingy," given his accomplishments as a female impersonator of impeccable believability.

Crudup revels in Kynaston's power of sexuality and sexual illusion on his fans and lovers alike. His love affair with the Duke of Buckingham (a marvelously wry and conflicted Ben Chaplin) is both honestly portrayed in the film and it is given a contemporary relevance.

The Duke adores Kynaston, but rather than fully embrace their homosexuality, he hides behind the sexual duality of the actress. In fact, when Kynaston falls from grace, the Duke has no use for this has-been actor, and claims that he only loved Kynaston as a woman. The Duke then does the honorable thing and gets himself a trophy wife; a Restoration beard, so to speak.

There is a heartbreaking scene towards the

Ben Chaplin and Billy Crudup

end of the film, where Kynaston must redeem his honor and profession and auditions to play a man on stage. This is his only option after Charles II allows women back into performance and makes it illegal for men to impersonate women. Crudup is heart-shattering in this scene, and it is one of the most brilliant meltdowns in recent screen memory.

There is another scene where Crudup excels. After his downfall, Kynaston is reduced to performing bawdy comedy in theaters filled with drunken revelers, who have no intellectual or refined leanings towards the theater of Shakespeare. That act often ends in the audience clamoring to see Kynaston's "thingy" as proof that this damsel is indeed a man. Kynaston uses alcohol to numb himself to this theatrical prostitution and Crudup manifests that shame and pain with moving dignity.

Claire Danes, an actress of amazing range and grace, plays Maria the dresser who runs off late into the night to illicitly perform in underground plays at bars and inns where women could play women. Maria also harbors a secret love for Kynaston. When she stumbles upon him and the Duke making love, she turns her unrequited love into a vengeful passion that blooms into victory when the king proclaims that women will be legally allowed to perform.

Danes beautifully navigates the many layers her character is bestowed with. When

Curbside

HERAPY 2003 BY ROBERT KIRBY

55 WONDERED WHY CAL HAD SUDDENLY SHOWN UP, WHEN HE'D BEEN ALL BUT IGNORING ME LATELY, FOR NO APPARENT REASON.

I DUNNO... NICK RAY TOLD ME YOU WERE ALL BUMMED OUT.

PERCEPTIVE KID, THAT NICK RAY...

STOP FIGHTING IT, NATHAN. THIS' CL MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER, I PROMISE. THEN LATER ON WE CAN TALK.C'MERE, ABRA, HERE GIRL.....WHENEVER IN FEELING CRUDDY JUST HOLDING HER MAKES ME FEEL BETTER, c'mercy,

PART?

Maria realizes that she is not a good actor, but only in demand because she is the first to do what she is doing, Danes plays the conflict with a touching combination of rage and selfdeprecation. And finally, when Danes learns the true art of acting from a defeated Kynaston, her rendition of Desdemona is stunning.

Openly gay actor Rupert Everett is brilliant as the foppish, slightly dodgy Charles II. Everett plays the humor and sexual naughtiness to the max, especially funny in a scene where he dresses in drag for a special palace performance with his belle, his mistress Nell Gwynn (a ditsy and delectable Zoe Tapper).

There are several brilliant cameos including Richard Griffiths as a foppish, bisexual rich patron, Tom Wilkinson as a theater manager and Hugh Bonneville as Samuel Pepys.

This is one of the best films of the year, despite its minor problems with Crudup's and Danes' mild accent flubs and a few love scenes between them that are treated like sultry trysts in daytime soap operas. Oft compared to Shakespeare in Love, Stage Beauty is similar in most ways, and better in many.

Nevertheless, not only does the film create a stunning window into the past when gender and sexuality created as much confusion as they do today, but it also allows us to see how similar our contemporary attitudes towards women and gays are still mired in doublestandards, hate, and cultural ambiguity. This stage beauty is a cinematic one as well.

NATHAN, WHY DONTCHA, COME WITH ME, OK? A BAR'S THE LAST PLACE YOU WANNA BE IN NOW.

ON YEAH? WHY'S THAT? EXIT

USUALLY WHEN I HUNG OUT WITH ANY OF THE GUYS IN THE GANG I FELT OLDER AND SUDDENLY MATURE, LIKE SOMEONE THEY MIGHT LOOK UP TO. THAT NIGHT I FELT LIKE I WAS TWELVE YEARS OLD.

PURR

PURE

PURR

eve

by Robert Kirby

HE PRAGGED ME OVER TO THE JOINT HE WAS STAYING IN THAT MONTH -SOME ARTIST FRIEND OF HIS THAT WAS OUTTA TOWN. How 'Bout WE CHUCK THE BEER FOR NOW, MAYBE HAVE SOME TEA.

TEA?? WHAT ARE WE, 60 YEARS OLD?

MAYBE SOME EARL GREY.

HEY, IT WORKS.

SHE LIKES

YOU NATHAN

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