Stage Beauty (15)

Director: Richard Eyre
Starring: Billy Crudup, Claire Danes,
Rupert Everett, Tom Wilkinson
UK/USA, 2004, 1 hour 50 minutes

Like Shakespeare in Love this is a witty and entertaining romp that casts a knowing eye over the rough-and-tumble of the Restoration theatre and the court of Charles II where Nell Gwyn holds sway. When the King changes the law to allow women to play themselves, Ned Kynaston, the finest female impersonator of the age finds his star is on the wane. To add insult to injury his former dresser becomes the toast of the town. Theatre veteran Eyre, the superb Crudup and a host of the best British thespians bring their insiders’ understanding to this handsomely mounted, fiendishly clever look at backstage intrigues and role reversals. First-class fun!

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