Wikipedia

Stage Beauty

Stage Beautyis a 2004romanticperiod dramadirected byRichard Eyre.The screenplay byJeffrey Hatcheris based on his playCompleat Female Stage Beauty,which was inspired by references to 17th-century actorEdward Kynastonmade in the detailed private diary kept bySamuel Pepys.

Stage Beauty
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRichard Eyre
Screenplay byJeffrey Hatcher
Based on"Compleat Female Stage Beauty"
by Jeffrey Hatcher
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyAndrew Dunn
Edited byTariq Anwar
Music byGeorge Fenton
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 8 May 2004(2004-05-08)(Tribeca Film Festival)
  • 3 September 2004(2004-09-03)(UK)
  • 8 October 2004(2004-10-08)(US)
Running time
109 minutes
Countries
  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$2.2 million

Plot

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Ned Kynastonis one of the leading actors of his day, particularly famous for his portrayal of female characters, predominantlyDesdemonainOthello.Hisdresser,Maria, aspires to perform in the legitimate theatre but is forbidden because of a law, at that time in effect, forbidding theatres to employ actresses. Instead, she appears in productions at a local tavern under the pseudonymMargaret Hughes.Her popularity is aided by the novelty of a woman acting in public, which attracts the attention of SirCharles Sedley,who offers his patronage. Eventually, she is presented toCharles II.

Nell Gwynn,an aspiring actress and Charles II's mistress, comes upon Kynaston ranting about women on stage and seduces Charles II into banning men from playing female roles.[2]Kynaston, having gone through a long and strenuous training to play female roles, finds himself without a guise by which to keep the attention of his lover,George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham,as the latter never had intentions to lead a homosexual life and Kynaston has lost the acceptance of London society which had started to circulate rumors about their association. He is reduced to performing bawdy songs indragin music halls, while Maria's career thrives, although her ability to emulate Kynaston falls short because, as she says, Kynaston never fights as a woman would do.

Called upon for a royal performance, Maria panics and her friends implore Kynaston for coaching, during which she coaches him to develop his ability to regain a theatrical career in male roles. He agrees, with the proviso that he replace the company head Thomas Betterton in the role ofOthello.Maria becomes a theatrical star.

Cast

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Production

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While the film is rooted in historical fact – the first English theatre actress, although her name is unknown, is believed to have performed the role of Desdemona[3]– some liberties with the truth were taken. Nell Gwynne is represented as a mistress of the King who subsequently becomes an actress, but in reality she already was a noted theatre personality when Charles II met her. The sequence in which Maria and Kynaston discovernaturalistic actingisanachronistic,as naturalism was not developed until the 19th century.

Interiors were filmed at theOld Royal Naval CollegeinGreenwichandShepperton Studiosin Surrey. According to commentary byproduction designerJim Clay on the DVD release of the film, because so littleEnglish Restorationarchitecture remains in London, and documentation of the period is minimal, he was required to use his imagination in creating buildings and back alleys onsound stages.

In theDVD commentary,several cast members recall the film was shot during the hottest UK summer on record (2003), and the temperature under the lights usually hovered at 46 °C (115 °F), making performing in the heavy, layered costumes a grueling experience.

The Costumes were designed byTim Hatley.Twelve costume houses were involved in the production, includingThe Royal Shakespeare Company,The National Theater, and Angels & Bermans, as well as the Italian houses Sartoria Farani,Tirelli,Costumi d'Arte,E. Rancati, G.P. 11, andPompei.

The film premiered at theTribeca Film Festivalin May 2004 prior to its general release in the UK. It was shown at theDeauville Film Festival,theToronto International Film Festival,and the Dinard Festival of British Cinema in France before opening in New York City.

Release

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Critical reception

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On review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes,the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 128 reviews, with aweighted averageof 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Uneven but enjoyable,Stage Beautyuses historical events as the springboard for a well-acted romance with a charming Shakespearean spin. "[4]OnMetacritic,the film has a weighted average score of 64 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5]

In his review inThe New York Times,A. O. Scottsaid, "At times, the movie feels like a fancy-dress version ofA Star Is Born... Mr. Crudup's fine features, which flicker between masculine and feminine as the lighting changes and the mood shifts, are well suited for the role, though his sinewy, birdlike frame suggests Hollywoodanorexiamore than Restoration curviness...Stage Beautyis both timorous and ungainly, words that might also describe Ms. Danes's performance. Trapped in an English accent and in a character who must appear conniving and warmhearted in turn, she veers from teariness to brisk indignation like anEmma Thompsondoll with a jammed switch. The British actors in smaller roles handle the material better... George Fenton's Sunday-brunch score, on the other hand, is an indigestible dose of good taste ladled heavily over even the film's witty and delicate moments. "[6]

David Rooney ofVarietycalled the film "an intelligent and entertaining adaptation... skillfully acted, handsomely crafted" and added, "Eyre's spry direction of the refreshingly literate, witty drama shows a pleasingly light touch and a genuine feel for the bustle, backbiting and rivalry of the theater milieu... In a delicately measured performance that favors graceful subtlety over campy mannerism, Crudup conveys a nuanced sense of a man struggling to know himself... Put in the unenviable position of playing second fiddle to her male co-star in terms of feminine allure, Danes is lovely nonetheless... George Fenton's rich orchestral score enlivens the action with an occasional rousingCelticflavor. "[7]

InRolling Stone,Peter Traversrated the film three out of a possible four stars and called it "bawdy fun... the gender role-playing puts spine in this period piece that is vital to the here and now."[8]

Carla Meyer of theSan Francisco Chroniclesaid, "The film rarely matches Crudup's performance, appearing confused itself about whether it's farce or drama. But its palette of burnished browns and reds pleases the eye, and at its best,Stage Beautycaptures the tensions and electricity of backstage dramas. "[9]

InThe New Yorker,David Denbyobserved, "Second-rate bawdiness—that is, bawdiness without the wit ofBoccaccioorShakespeareor evenTom Stoppard—is more infantile than funny, and I'm not sure that the American playwright Jeffrey Hatcher, who concocted this piece for the stage and then adapted it into a movie, is even second-rate.Stage Beautymight be called the spawn ofShakespeare in Love,and, unfortunately, this is aShakespearethat lacks the graceful spirit and breathless narrative drive of itsprogenitor."[10]

Owen GleibermanofEntertainment Weeklyrated the film C+ and described it as "an odd amalgam of high spirits, lively ambition, and botched execution."[11]

Awards and nominations

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The film won theCambridge Film FestivalAudience Award for Best Film, was cited by theNational Board of Reviewfor Excellence in Filmmaking, and was named the Overlooked Film of the Year by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.

References

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  1. ^"Film #22074: Stage Beauty".Lumiere.Archivedfrom the original on 4 May 2021.Retrieved4 May2021.
  2. ^In actuality, it was not that men were banned but that women were allowed on stage. "Women as actresses" (PDF). Notes and Queries.The New York Times.18 October 1885. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-14. "There seems no doubt that actresses did not perform on the stage till the Restoration, in the earliest years of which Pepys says for the first time he saw an actress upon the stage. Charles II must have brought the usage from the Continent, where women had long been employed instead of boys or youths in the representation of female characters."
  3. ^"English Renaissance and Restoration Theatre" by Peter Thomson,The Oxford Illustrated Guide to Theatre,edited by John Rusell Brown, Oxford University Press, 1995, pp. 206–207.
  4. ^"Stage Beauty (2019)".Rotten Tomatoes.8 October 2004.Archivedfrom the original on 2 May 2019.Retrieved8 August2021.
  5. ^"Stage Beauty Reviews".Metacritic.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2024.Retrieved19 December2019.
  6. ^Scott, A. O. (8 October 2004)."Upstaged by the King, an Actor in Drag Straightens Out".The New York Times.Archivedfrom the original on 22 September 2024.Retrieved6 August2009.
  7. ^Rooney, David (9 May 2004)."Stage Beauty".Variety.Retrieved6 August2009.
  8. ^Travers, Peter (6 October 2004)."Stage Beauty".Rolling Stone.Archived fromthe originalon 9 July 2007.Retrieved6 August2009.
  9. ^Meyer, Carla (15 October 2004)."Crudup outshines 'Beauty'".San Francisco Chronicle.Archivedfrom the original on 25 May 2011.Retrieved6 August2009.
  10. ^Denby, David (11 October 2004)."Playing Parts".The New Yorker.Archivedfrom the original on 28 September 2012.Retrieved6 August2009.
  11. ^Gleiberman, Owen (6 October 2004)."Stage Beauty (2004)".Entertainment Weekly.Archived fromthe originalon 23 January 2007.Retrieved6 August2009.
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