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Review:
 The
17th century was for some the apex of European civilization. The
1660s in particular were a time of great change when under the
restored reign of King Charles II of Great Britain, the arts,
particularly the performing ones, took on a new life after a
stifling decade under the prudery of Oliver Cromwell and the
Puritan Republic.
It was at this time, something new hit London, the Actress.
Yes, the actress, for you see, prior to around 1666, all the parts
in the theater were played by men. Juliette, Portia, Desdemona and
all the rest were men in drag…and the most famous was one Edward
Kynaston, whom the diarist Samuel Pepys called the "most beautiful
woman in England." This is the imagined transition in the greatest
transition the theater ever witnessed, or would witness for
centuries to come.
Kynaston(Billy Crudup) is a star. The greatest performer of his
time, and he’s played every heroine and tart that Shakespeare had
ever imagined. He’s especially famous for his Desdemona, which he
does with stylized glee with his boss Betterton(Tom Wilkinson) in
the role of the Moor.
Everyone loves him, especially George, Duke of Buckingham(Ben
Chaplin), with whom he romps in bed, and Maria(Claire Danes), his
dresser/assistant, whom he ignores. It’s typical for someone whom
one assumes to be gay and a woman.
But let’s stick with Maria for the moment. She’s in love with
Kynaston, yes, but she’s also in love with the theater. She wants
to BE Kynaston. So she does something unthinkable. She decides to
break the law [women were forbidden to act in plays], and go to a
rival theater company and play Desdemona herself.
Word of what happened catches the ear of the king (Rupert
Everett) and his latest mistress Nell Gwynn(Zoe Tapper) and
instead of being sent into some dungeon, our heroine is invited to
dinner, and unbeknownst to her, so is Buckingham and Kynaston.
Hoohoo!
Now this is a pretty pickel, as knowing full well what’d happen
if ladies were permitted to play ladies, Eddie revolts, insults
Maria in such a way as to also insult women in general in front of
Nell, and she tells King Charlie, who promptly bans guys acting in
drag.
The revolution is ON!!! But what about Eddie? Will he manage to
find work? Will the theater ever recover? Ahhhhhhhhh! That’s the
fun of this film!
Crudup gives one of the best performances of his career here.
He’s sort of like a blonde Johnny Depp, giving an eccentric
rendition that both amazes and delights. Danes is good too. Giving
both a mannered performance as Maria and a lousy performance as
Desdemona in the play within the film. The ending is unexpected
and is worth the wait. See it.
Eric Lurio
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