"Stage Beauty"
"The actor doesn't own a part, the part owns the
actor." So says Edward 'Ned' Kynaston (Billy Crudup)
who, in 1660's England, is the toast of the town and
the best of the best in theater. His specialty? He
plays the female leads in the biggest plays of the
day. The Puritan law prohibits women on the stage and
Ned has made a tidy career taking their place. But,
the Restoration is under way and King Charles II back
in power after 20 years in exile. The king is bored
with the sameness of theater and decides he wants
change – change that will dramatically effect Ned in
"Stage Beauty."
We are first treated, in "Stage Beauty," to a
performance of Shakespeare's "Othello" where Desdemona
is skillfully and femininely played by Ned. After the
play, he is acclaimed by all and sought by a pair of
comely ladies that want to take Ned on the town –
dressed in woman's finery. He goes along with the game
and, when approached by lecherous Sir Charles Sedley
(Richard Griffiths), he playfully antagonizes the man,
who mistakes Ned for a woman, and makes an enemy in
the process.
Times are changing in England with the return of the
monarchy in the guise of King Charles II (Rupert
Everett). His saucy mistress, Nell Gwyn (Zoe Tapper),
aspires to act on stage and convinces her lord that
the laws need to be changed – women should play
woman's roles and men should be banned from doing so.
Ned, who has striven to eliminate all aspects of
masculinity from his persona, is suddenly out of work.
With the King's decree, Ned's life is ruined.
Meanwhile, Maria (Claire Danes), Ned's dresser, has
been studying the actor and has made some underground
performances in local taverns, garnering acclaim, and
becomes the first woman to do what Ned had previously
dominated – portraying women on stage. Maria's career
rises meteorically in a few short weeks while Ned
descends into a life of desperate depravity, unable to
find legitimate work. But, while Ned wears his
feminine roles like a glove, Maria is struggling to
master the reigns of acting. She may be the first and
famous because of it, but that does not make her good.
Ned and Maria realize that they need each other.
Helmer Richard Eyre, who directed 2001's "Iris,"
belies his minimal big screen experience by crafting a
film that rivals the other Shakespearian era film,
"Shakespeare in Love," and, in my mind, bests it. (I
was less than please with the Academy's selection for
best film that year but that's another story.) Eyre
combines his fine cast with exemplary techs to bring
us to the London stage at that pivotal artistic time
in England's history.
The actors that make up the characters in "Stage
Beauty" are ably led by stars Billy Crudup and Claire
Danes. Crudup, who was notable in "Almost Famous" and
exceptional in "Jesus's Son," commands the role of Ned
Kynaston. He envelops himself in the character giving
Ned feminine, though not female, movement, a subtle
but important difference as an actor playing women.
The handsome thespian's performance reverberates on
the screen in all of his various guises – from female
impersonator to impresario. Crudup convincingly
conveys the sometimes-justifiable arrogance about
Ned's acting skills and other times the despair
because of those same skills. Beneath that
good-looking, likable exterior beats the heart of a
commanding actor. And, his English accent ain't bad,
either.
Claire Danes, too, holds her own with the mainly
British cast and plays well opposite Crudup. As
Maria/Mrs. Margaret Hughes, she's a woman leading an
intriguing life as she watches and becomes enamored
with the stage as Ned's dresser while breaking the
taboo against women in theater. Sir Charles
(Griffiths), remembering the humiliation he suffered
at the hand of Ned earlier on, uses Mrs. Hughes as the
means of getting revenge. With the ear of the king and
the support of his mistress, Nell, Sir Charles sets
out to ruin Kynaston for good.
The supporting cast is a true embarrassment of British
acting riches with the likes of Everett putting a
marvelously droll spin on his King Charlie. Newcomer
Zoe Tapper, as the king's bawdy, bouncy mistress
injects playfulness into her Nell Gwynn. Tom
Wilkinson, as theater company owner Betterton, Ben
Chaplin as Ned's lover and benefactor, George
Villiars, the Duke of Buckingham, Edward Fox as the
king's exasperated chief advisor, Sir Charles Hyde,
and Hugh Bonneville as philosopher/writer Samuel Pepys
all give fully rounded performances and substance to
their characters.
Richard Eyre belies his television roots with a skill
that makes watching movies like "Stage Beauty" a real
pleasure for a film buff. Working with a script by
Jeffrey Hatcher, from his play, Eyre recreates the
theatrical world where the end of Cromwell's Puritan
rule and the start of the royal Restoration parallel
the end of the only-men-playing-woman era to its
opposite, only-women-play-women. The story has a nice
symmetry about it that makes it feel authentic in
heart and soul.
Technically, "Stage Beauty" is as good a
from-stage-to-screen conversion that I have seen in
quite some time. Much of the action does take place in
the confines of dressing rooms and tiny theaters, but
cinematographer Andrew Dunn never lets it get
claustrophobic or stagey. The active camera work and
soft lighting also give the film warmth. Production
designer Jim Clay and art directors Keith Slote and
Jan Spoczynski don't try to recreated Shakespearian
theater but, instead, create a period theater
environment that plays Shakespeare. Tim Hatley's
costume design, too, exemplifies the overall
excellence of the film.
Well-crafted, expertly written, impeccably acted and
deftly directed, "Stage Beauty" is the kind of film
that deserves popular attention and attendance. It's
intelligence is palpable and acting some of the year's
best in a story that shows the end of unique period in
theater history. I give it an A-.
========== X-RAMR-ID: 38794 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1326883 X-RT-TitleID: 1136955 X-RT-SourceID: 386 X-RT-AuthorID: 1488 X-RT-RatingText: A-
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