Gender bending in theatre

Mathew Bourne's version of Swan Lake Petallus ? I read somewhere that he thought swans were far more suited to being played by men and I think he was right. All those rippling muscles and white feather breeches were much better to watch than a line of tutus [leering emoticon]

It's a plan

I go with the U3A which gets good rates for the Exchange and the coach to get there. Otherwise it would be great to have a Gransnet outing to the theatre. Let's look for something else for the future.

Iam - yes, what a shame but perhaps we could bear this in mind for the future

I'm another one who is off to see Maxine Peake at the RE - pity we didn't coordinate Vegas and Anno, could have enjoyed a Manchester Granset outing.

Given that all the actors at the Globe were men and boys at the time the plays were written, why not a leading lady Hamlet? I have often wondered about the skill of the boys who played roles such as Rosalind, Portia and Viola, who had to act as young women pretending to be young men.

Being an all girls grammar all the male parts in our school plays were played by girls. Some of them were exceptionally good and one in particular was stunning. I believe she was going on to study law but I've always thought she was a great loss to the stage.

I believe Fiona Shaw played Richard II very successfully and I think she may have done other male parts.

I'm off to see this production next week - I admire Maxine Peake enormously and thought she was terrific in Miss Julie. I think she'll make a great Hamlet. I've seen some Propellor Theatre Shakespeare where all the protagonists are male - so why not a bit of role reversal?

I once saw a production of Swan Lake where all the swans were men.

Not to mention Sarah Bernhardt's Hamlet in 1899.

I'll let you know after I've seen it. It's not a new idea as Sarah Siddons played Hamlet in the 18th Century. Now the RSC is to put on a gender reversal production of The Taming of the Shrew. I think I can see how that would work.

When I first saw this I thought from the title this was about gender realignment surgery.

I will wander off back into my own little world.

I think it will be a very interesting experience and if I were near enough geographically I might be tempted to see that version of Hamlet. I used to be a purist re Shakespeare wanting it played I the original form and the time and context in which it was set but have seen so many adaptions now and enjoyed them all. I think it should be a good night - Maxine peak is a very watchable actress - have a lovely time .

DD was involved in the RSC production of King John 2 years ago where both the Bastsrd and zhe Papal Nuncio were played by (admittedly androgenous) women. I think the directoe did it just to show that you can rather thsnto prove a feminist point. A bit like a black Hamlet or Romeo - why not? There is so much cross dressing in Shakespeare anyway!