| Stage Beauty | |
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 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Richard Eyre |
| Screenplay by | Jeffrey Hatcher |
| Based on | "Compleat Female Stage Beauty" by Jeffrey Hatcher |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Andrew Dunn |
| Edited by | Tariq Anwar |
| Music by | George Fenton |
Production companies |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 109 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Box office | $2.2 million |
Stage Beauty is a 2004romanticperiod drama directed byRichard Eyre. The screenplay byJeffrey Hatcher is based on his playCompleat Female Stage Beauty, which was inspired by references to 17th-century actorEdward Kynaston made in the detailed private diary kept bySamuel Pepys.
Ned Kynaston is one of the leading actors of his day, particularly famous for his portrayal of female characters, predominantlyDesdemona inOthello. 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 indrag in 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.
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 acting isanachronistic, as naturalism was not developed until the 19th century.
Interiors were filmed at theOld Royal Naval College inGreenwich andShepperton Studios in Surrey. According to commentary byproduction designer Jim Clay on the DVD release of the film, because so littleEnglish Restoration architecture 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 Festival in 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.
On review aggregator websiteRotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 64% based on 128 reviews, with aweighted average of 6.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Uneven but enjoyable,Stage Beauty uses 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. Scott said, "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 Hollywoodanorexia more than Restoration curviness ...Stage Beauty is 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 Thompson doll 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 ofVariety called 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 rousingCeltic flavor."[7]
InRolling Stone,Peter Travers rated 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 Chronicle said, "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 Beauty captures the tensions and electricity of backstage dramas."[9]
InThe New Yorker,David Denby observed, "Second-rate bawdiness—that is, bawdiness without the wit ofBoccaccio orShakespeare or 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 Beauty might be called the spawn ofShakespeare in Love, and, unfortunately, this is aShakespeare that lacks the graceful spirit and breathless narrative drive of itsprogenitor."[10]
Owen Gleiberman ofEntertainment Weekly rated the film C+ and described it as "an odd amalgam of high spirits, lively ambition, and botched execution."[11]
The film won theCambridge Film Festival Audience Award for Best Film, was cited by theNational Board of Review for Excellence in Filmmaking, and was named the Overlooked Film of the Year by the Phoenix Film Critics Society.