Female Hamlets, East and West

Another repost. I just like this bit that I wrote.

The keys to the kingdom have finally been given to the women. At the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Seana McKenna prepares for her turn as the titular role in the Festival's upcoming production of Richard III. At the Royal Shakespeare Company, Kathryn Hunter plays Cleopatra, having just finished King Lear, not as the King this time but as the Fool. Meanwhile, Helen Mirren has wrapped up filming The Tempest, her Prospera hot on the heels of Christopher Plummer's Prospero.

Hardly a new phenomenon (the first two Hamlets on film, Sarah Bernhardt and Asta Nielsen, were both female), Shakespeare's greatest tragic roles have become fame for women as well as men. There's yet to be a mainstream female Romeo outside of opera (Bellini's Il Montecchi e Capuletti comes to mind), but the convention of the 'trousers role' has finally transcended its reputation as a novelty act and has gained prestige. An inversion of the Shakespearean practice of male players, gender-neutral casting does not seem so unnatural to the actresses who benefit from it.

So, About That Richard III Review...

It is not forthcoming.

When I say that, of course, I do not mean that I have run out of things to say halfway through writing, or that the review is all there, in my head, and not liable to come out any time soon due to its Pallish stubbornness. I mean simply that I started to write three days ago, and have filled a notebook with the references, production notes, articles, films, historical miscellaniae, concepts, actors, and actresses that have contributed to one of the most lavishly created worlds of Shakespeare.

Richard III has consumed me totally, and is not liable to let me go.

As such, I think it completely unfair to start writing a review of the final performance of the 2011 Stratford production of R3 starring the amazing Seana McKenna and directed by the thoughtful and subtle Miles Potter. What would result would be an article about Richard III, not about the production I saw four weeks ago.

So, I will do what I've already been doing; I will continue to write about Richard III. Hopefully you, my non-existent readers who do not click on ads, will be able to get some concept of what it was like for me to see it at Stratford as a result.

Yes, this will be a big project that hopefully bears more fruit than the Lord of the Rings reading challenge or the four-parter about sci-fi in the performing arts. I'm enthusiastic.

As an endorsement of the work that was done at Stratford regarding this play, however, I would like to say that I was completely inspired, and that I hope thought-provoking theatre of that caliber comes to the Festival more often.