Fiona, Phyllida and the ‘F’-Word: the theatrical practice(s) of women playing the male roles in Shakespeare

Stephanie Tillotson; Stephanie A. Tillotson

doi:10.31273/eirj.v1i2.92

Authors

Stephanie Tillotson The University of Warwick
Stephanie A. Tillotson Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, University of Warwick

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31273/eirj.v1i2.92

Keywords:

Shakespeare, Theatre, Women, Cross-gender, Feminism, Reception

Abstract

This article discusses the theatrical practice of women performing traditionally male roles in Shakespeare. Whilst historically the phenomenon is nothing new, since the 1970s the practice has been particularly associated with the politics of feminism. This article proposes to examine this connection in order to explore how far the convention of casting women in the male roles of Shakespeare has been influenced by changing social, political, and cultural discourses. It will do so by considering two specific manifestations of the theatrical practice: firstly, the National Theatre’s 1995/6 Richard II directed by Deborah Warner, in which Fiona Shaw played the eponymous male character and secondly the 2012/13 all-female Julius Caesar, directed by Phyllida Lloyd for the Donmar Warehouse. Moreover, it will locate these two productions, separated by seventeen years and the turn of a century, within their specific historical, theatrical, and theoretical contexts. Through an analysis of the material conditions that gave rise to the contemporary receptions of these two productions, the objective of this article is to draw conclusions concerning the differing ways in which, through casting women in the male roles of Shakespeare, theatre practitioners have created particular theatrical conversations with their audiences.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biography

Stephanie Tillotson, The University of Warwick

Stephanie Tillotson is a part-time doctoral student in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. She is also the co-organizer of Sidelights on Shakespeare. Since October 2013 she has been working under the supervision of Professor Carol Rutter, researching the late twentieth and early twenty-first century theatre practice of women performing male roles in Shakespeare. Before that, Stephanie spent several years employed in television and radio, both for the BBC and in the independent sector. Always a confirmed theatre addict, however, she eventually specialized in drama for young people, working as a producer, director, writer, editor and teacher, most recently in the Theatre Studies Department at the University of Aberystwyth. A published playwright, poet and short-story writer, she continues to live and work in mid Wales.

References

Armistead, C. (1995) ‘Kingdom Under Siege’, The Guardian, 31 May 1995, Guardian Features Section

Balme, C. B. (2008) The Cambridge Introduction to Theatre Studies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Bennett, S. (1997) Theatre Audiences: A Theory of Production and Reception, 2nd ed.,London and New York: Routledge

Billington, M. (1997) ‘The Fuel in the Crown’, Guardian, 5 June 1995

Billington, M. (2012) ‘Review of Julius Caesar at Donmar Warehouse: Female Prisoners’ liberating vision,’ The Guardian, 5 December 2012

Bulman, J. C. (2008) ‘Introduction’ in Bulman, J. C. (ed), Shakespeare Re-dressed: Cross-gender Casting in Contemporary Performance, Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, pp. 11-20

Clapp, S. (2013), ‘Friends, Romans, Countrywomen … An all-female Julius Caesar twists the knife with urgency and conviction: Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse’, The Observer, 9 December 2012

Cousin, G. (1996), ‘Exploring Space at Play: the Making of the Theatrical Event’, NewTheatre Quarterly, (12), pp. 229–236

Freestone, E. (2011),‘The Legacy of Shakespeare’s Ratio: Changing the 2:1,’ unpublished research document, The National Theatre of Great Britain

Gardner, L. (2014), ‘Review – Theatre: Pop and Prostitutes as the F-Word storms the stage: Blurred Lines, The Shed’, The Guardian, 23 January 2014

Gompetz, W. (2012), Interview with Phyllida Lloyd, The Today Programme, BBC Radio Four, 6 December, 2012

Higgins, C. (2012) ‘Cry Havoc: Can an all-women Julius Caesar work?’, The Guardian, 19 November 2012, G2 Section

Higgins, C. (2012) ’Exit the women stage left: Women in theatre: why do so few make it to the top?’ The Guardian,10 December 2012, G2 Section

Hitchings, H. (2012), ‘All Hail to all-female Caesar with a twist of Cell Block H’, Evening Standard, 5 December 2012

Howard, A. (2007) Women as Hamlet: Performance and Interpretation in Theatre, Film and Fiction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

Iyengar, S. (2006) ‘Colorblind Casting in Single-Sex Shakespeare’, Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance, Thompson A. (ed), New York and London: Routledge, p. 47–68

Klett, E. (2009), Cross-Gender Shakespeare and English National Identity: Wearing the Codpiece, New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Koenig, R. (1995) ‘Review of Richard II’ The Independent, 5 June 1995, p.10

Monks, A. (2007) ‘Predicting the Past: Histories and Futures in the Work of Women Directors’, Aston E. and G Harris (eds), Feminist Futures?, 2nd edn, Basingstoke Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan,: pp. 88–104

Purves, L. (2012) ‘Review: Julius Caesar at the Donmar’, The Times, 5 December 2012

Russell, A. (1996) ‘Tragedy, Gender, Performance: Women as Tragic Heroes on the Nineteenth Century Stage’, Comparative Drama 30, pp.135–157

Rutter, C. (1997) ‘Fiona Shaw’s Richard II: The Girl as Player-King as Comic’, Shakespeare Quarterly 48, pp. 314–324

Rutter, C. (2010) ‘Deborah Warner’ Russell Brown J. (ed), The Routledge Companion to Director’s Shakespeare, 2nd edn, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 474–492

Spencer, C. (2012), ‘Cast of women put Caesar to the sword’, Daily Telegraph, 5 December 2012

Sutcliffe, T. (2012) ‘Saturday Review’, Radio 4, 8 December 2012

Taylor, P. (1995) ‘Second Opinion’, The Independent, 14 June 1995, Theatre Section

Temple, A. (1995) ‘To Play the King (and be a Women)’, The Independent on Sunday, 21 May 1995, Review Section

The Independent, 'The Directors. No 5: Deborah Warner: a weekly guide to British theatre’s big players’, 19 July 1995, Theatre Section

Tinker, J. (1995) ‘Fiona’s King is a Drag’, Daily Mail, 16 June 1995

Thompson, A. (2006) ‘Practising a Theory/Theorizing a Practice’, in Colorblind Shakespeare: New Perspectives on Race and Performance, Thompson A. (ed), New York and London: Routledge

Truman, M. (2012) ‘Shakespeare’s sisters force their way into the Bard’s boys’ club’, The Independent, 17 November 2012, Arts and Books Review Section

Woddis, C. (1995) ‘Review of Richard II’, Glasgow Herald, 6 June 1995

Websites:

http://www.Propeller.org.uk accessed 15 February 2014.

http://www.royalexchange.co.uk/ accessed 22 February 2014.

http://www.shakespearesgobe.com accessed 15 February 2014.

http://www.theshed.nationaltheatre.org.uk accessed 14 February 2014