{"id":1813,"date":"2016-12-08T14:56:03","date_gmt":"2016-12-08T14:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/?p=1813"},"modified":"2018-08-30T20:22:34","modified_gmt":"2018-08-30T20:22:34","slug":"theatre-in-film-stage-beauty-2004","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-stage-beauty-2004\/","title":{"rendered":"Theatre in Film: Stage Beauty (2004)"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-header-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><h3>Theatre in Film: <em>Stage Beauty<\/em> (2004)<\/h3>\n<font size=\"2\" color=\"grey\"><span style=\"border:1px solid ;-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;-moz-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);-webkit-box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);box-shadow: 0 0 3px rgba(0,0,0,.3);margin-right:25px;float:left;\" class=\"fusion-imageframe imageframe-glow imageframe-1 hover-type-none author-image\"><a class=\"fusion-no-lightbox\" href=\"http:\/\/performerstuff.com\" target=\"_self\"> <img src=\"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/authorimage.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"img-responsive\" style=\"-webkit-border-radius:50%;-moz-border-radius:50%;border-radius:50%;\"\/><\/a><\/span><p>Written by Ashleigh Gardner<\/p>\n<p>December 7, 2016<\/p>\n<\/font><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><div class=\"fusion-one-full fusion-layout-column fusion-column-last fusion-spacing-yes section-body-post\" style=\"margin-top:;margin-bottom:;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\"><p style=\"text-align: left;\">Welcome back to Theatre in Film, our weekly featurette on a\u00a0film that showcases\u00a0a life in the theatre. In Part VI of Theatre in Film, we focus on\u00a0films from 2003 to 2008 that feature characters overcoming internal and very personal struggles to find their happiness in a life of theatre. This week, we feature\u00a0<em>Stage Beauty\u00a0<\/em>from 2004, a film based on Jeffery Hatcher&#8217;s play\u00a0<em><span style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\"><a style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.dramatists.com\/cgi-bin\/db\/single.asp?key=3749\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">The Compleat Female Stage Beauty<\/span><\/a><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n<h4><em>Stage Beauty<\/em> (2004)<\/h4>\n<br><div align=\"center\"><div class=\"fusion-video fusion-youtube\" style=\"max-width:600px;max-height:350px;\"><div class=\"video-shortcode\"><iframe title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T1Mpt0xFit0?wmode=transparent&autoplay=0\" width=\"600\" height=\"350\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/div><br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><b>Director:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Richard Eyre<br \/>\n<\/span><b>Starring:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Rupert Everett, Zoe Trapper, and Tom Wilkinson<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">What happens:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) is one of the most well-known actors of the Restoration period, playing female characters in Shakespeare\u2019s dramas, mainly Desdemona in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Othello<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. When his loyal dresser, Maria (pronounced \u201cMariah&#8221;) (Claire Danes), sneaks away to play the same role of Desdemona at a small tavern, she tempts rebuke by society and her home theatre if she is discovered. At a dinner party Kynaston attends, he brings with him a pamphelet bearing the name Margaret Hughes. At the party, Maria, not knowing Kynaston is there, is introduced by her stage name &#8212; Margaret Hughes. Once her secret is revealed, Kynaston despises her and accuses her of attempting to steal his job. Little by little, and with the coaxing of his mistress Nell (Zoe Trapper), also a would-be actress, King Charles II (Rupert Everett) creates decrees that women\u2019s parts may only be played by women. Thus begins Maria\u2019s journey into a life <em>on<\/em> the stage instead of one <em>behind<\/em> it.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: left;\">Why it matters:<\/h4>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though the film takes liberties with some historical relationships and features the anachronistic realistic acting method (first developed later in the 19th century), <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stage Beauty <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">encourages us to take a hard look at the challenges and limitations of theatre, both those we place on ourselves and those that are placed upon us.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Like in <\/span><span style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\"><a style=\"color: #ba9bc9;\" href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-shakespeare-in-love-1998\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shakespeare in Love<\/span><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the main character in <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stage Beauty <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">runs into the problem of institutionalized sexism &#8212; the inability for women, by law, to perform onstage. It is not until King Charles II proclaims that women are permitted to act (and men forbidden to play women\u2019s parts) that Maria is given a fighting chance at playing a role that matches her gender.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stage Beauty <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">also presents viewers with a male actor\u2019s dilemma after Charles II\u2019s newly mandated gender regulations. This appears in Kynaston\u2019s failure after he\u2019s lost his role to Maria. Due to Kynaston\u2019s training from an early age, he is incapable of successfully playing male roles even though he is a man. This causes him to resort to performing in bawdy, risque tavern drag shows where he is routinely humiliated. Similarly, Maria is incapable of performing her Desdemona without completely copying Kynaston\u2019s performance, inflection for inflection and gesture for gesture. It is not until Maria needs coaching for a performance which the king will attend that Kynaston and she discover the key to breaking free from their individual \u201cactor traps\u201d. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maria and Kynaston participate in an acting exercise, a rehearsal, where Kynaston tests her and asks her how she would react if she, herself, were in the position of Desdemona. This is where revelations are made by both actors &#8212; Kynaston discovering that he can play a man and Maria discovering that she is able to truly act instead of depending on her memory of Kynaston\u2019s Desdemona. The technique of naturalistic acting saves not only their relationship but their jobs as actors.\u00a0The truth of the moment, and the honest\u00a0reactions to that truth, are the elements of Maria and Kinston&#8217;s performances that end up bringing the audience to their feet at the end of that evening&#8217;s performance of\u00a0<em>Othello.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<br><p style=\"text-align: left;\">This film is the second\u00a0featured in Part VI of \u201cTheatre in Film\u201d. See below for the others in Part VI.<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: left;\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-camp-2003\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><em>Camp\u00a0<\/em>(2003)<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><em>Being Julia<\/em>\u00a0(2004)\u00a0<em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Mrs. Henderson Presents<\/em>\u00a0(2005)\u00a0<em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Me and Orson Welles\u00a0<\/em>(2008)\u00a0<em>(Coming soon.)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Want to start with\u00a0<strong>Part I<\/strong>? Begin with\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em><a href=\"http:\/\/mgs.performerstuff.com\/?p=133\">42nd Street\u00a0<\/a><\/em>(1933)<\/strong><\/span>.<br \/>\nMiss\u00a0<strong>Part II<\/strong>?\u00a0Check out\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-the-band-wagon-1953\/\"><strong><em>The Band Wagon<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<strong>(1953)<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<br \/>\nNeed a refresh for\u00a0<strong>Part III<\/strong>? Start with\u00a0our feature on\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-series-all-that-jazz-1979\/\">All That Jazz\u00a0<\/a><\/em><\/strong><strong>(1979)<\/strong><\/span>.<br \/>\nHow about a recap from\u00a0<strong>Part IV<\/strong>? Jump into\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-a-chorus-of-disapproval-1989\/\"><strong><em>A Chorus of Disapproval\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong>(1989)<\/strong><\/span>.<br \/>\nCheck out\u00a0<strong>Part V<\/strong><em>,\u00a0<\/em>and start with\u00a0<span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/theatre-in-film-an-awfully-big-adventure-1995\/\"><em><strong>An Awfully Big Adventure\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><strong>(1995)<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div><hr \/>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\"><em><strong>Ashleigh Gardner<\/strong>\u00a0received her AA in Theatre\/Drama\/Dramatic Arts\u00a0from Valencia College and\u00a0her Bachelors Degree in English Literature and\u00a0Masters Degree in Literary, Cultural, and Textual Studies from\u00a0the University of Central Florida. She is a playwright, an actor, and PerformerStuff.com\u2019s Editor.\u00a0<\/em><\/h5>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: left;\">Thumbnail image from\u00a0<em>Stage Beauty.\u00a0<\/em>Copyright \u00a9 Lionsgate 2004.<\/h5>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [...]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[259,265],"tags":[6,106,100,25,304,21,63,14,105,114],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/performerstuff.com\/mgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}