Meet Mme. Macbeth

8/11/2019 Meet Mme. Macbeth

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Meet Mme. Macbeth

Cross-dressing,gender-bending

and gender-swapping

in productions of Macbeth.



Terminology

cross-dress intr.v.

to dress in clothing that isusually worn by the oppositesex.

cross-dresser n.

cross-dressing n.(The American eritage !ictionary ofthe "nglish #anguage, $ifth "dition,

oughton Mifflin arcourt %ublishingCompany, &')

cross-dressing n.

* transvestism n.

(+xford "nglish !ictionary +nline)

gender bender n.

(a) slang a person who dressesand behaves in a mannercharacteristic of the oppositesex, or who combines attributesof both sexes (also) somethingwhich challenges or defiestraditional notions of gender

gender-bending ad. and n.

gender-bent ad.

characteried by or relating toa change of gender dressingand behaving in a mannercharacteristic of the oppositesex

(+xford "nglish !ictionary +nline)



/hort history of cross-dressing in

"liabethan and 0acobean drama - ➔$emale characters were played by t nag

boys (aged '-1) in public playhouses.

➔There was no law forbidding women to act inpublic they did so out of a social conv ntion that considered women on stage as immodest

in self-exposing themselves.

➔2oble women nevertheless would p rform at

court and in privat aristocratic hous holds.



/hort history of cross-dressing in"liabethan and 0acobean drama - &

➔ $amous playwrights experimented with genderroles, especially with the literary topos of thewoman disguising h rs lf as a man in order topreserve her chastity (as in the saints3 lives)or, dressed up as page, to accompany herlover in various chivalric adventures.

➔ Crossed-dressed heroines can be found in fiv

of /ha4 sp ar 3s plays5 The Two 6entlemenof 7erona (89'-9), The Merchant of 7enice (89:), As ;ou #i4e <t (899), Twelfth 2ight (:') and Cymbeline (:'9)



/hort history of cross-dressing in"liabethan and 0acobean drama - =

➔ >enaissance plays contain some of the b st

writt n f mal charact rs in the history of the"nglish theatre and this raises some ?uestions onthe way the contemporaries perceived them5

@as the audience so accustomed to cross-dressed boyactors that they willingly suspended disbelief and ustenoyed the play

And if so, how did they perceive the dir ct r f r nc s

to womanly natur , as in #ady Macbeth3s famousinvocation to the nightly spirits to Bunsex me here 3 @asthere always a little amount of irony or they actuallyreinforced the illusion of a Breal3 woman acting onstage



Cross dressing gender bendingMacbeth now



the$actionDs Macbeth (&''9)They have used an all male company

Eto explore the relationship of anemasculated Macbeth and anunsexed #ady Macbeth andp rc iv d notions of masculin and

f minin traitsE. < am not convincedthat an all male cast brings

something new here.FGHThere is an area however where theconcept is more successful. FGH theweight of the uxtaposition between#ady MacbethDs uncompromisingambition and the maternal

vulnerability of #ady Macduff FGHthis is made all the more so sincethis slightly pared adaptation hasher son as a small child that sheholds to her breast.

(/andra 6iorgetti,britishtheatreguide.info)



/4in TheatreDs Macbeth (&'=)An all-female production of the /cottish %lay@ell, in /ha4espeareDs day all the roles were acted by men and youths

itDs not such a stretch to play it the other way around. F...HMacbeth is all about what it m ans to b a man I #ady Macbeth accusesMacbeth of not having the courage to be a man and 4ill the 4ing Malcolm fears he is not man enough to ta4e his rightful place as 4ing Macduffgrieves for his family but is told to Bdispute it li4e a man3. !espite theinner conflicts of many of the men in this play, it seems th wom n hav

th gr at st inn r str ngth I #ady Macbeth empowering Macbeth thewitches tric4ing Macbeth #ady Macduff defending her children.

(Jelly arris, stuff.co.nKmanawatu-standard)



JingDs %layersDMme. Macbeth (&'=)

L ow do you ma4e a ''N year old play

seem new @hy, you switch the gender ofall the players, of courseO F...H<n this gender-bending version of Macbeth,the woman are 4ings and rulers, they are thewarriors. All the female parts of thetraditional play are, of course, now males

F...H6adway is fantastic as Macbeth, sturdy andmanly, all the things you would expect of agreat warrior. Put she has a certaingracefulness that only a woman could bringto the role.

Jing in his role as #ady Macbeth is anotherhighlight. e personified and proected theladyli4e ?ualities that a highborn womansuch as #ady Macbeth would possess withhis co?uettish smile and coy glances. Q

(Anne Tsang, dcmetrotheaterarts.com)



Annex TheaterDs Macbeth (&'=)

<n this Annex Theater production,Macbeth is played by a woman F..H. Putdirector "van Morit wasn3t trying to do a

g nd r-b nding approach to th Pard.F...HMorit admits he was intrigued by the

possibilities of a female Macbeth. /till, headds, LAs we wor4ed on the show, weagreed not to play gender, but to find thepathway to the character through text,relationships with other characters, andscenic ideas.Q

(Paynard @oods, citypaper.com)

A fresh new ta4e on allowing tal nt d

p rform rs of all g nd rs to embar4 onthe ourney of madness, corruption,greed and fate F...H

(Amanda 6unther, dcmetrotheaterarts.com)



2ational Theatre of /cotlandDsMacbeth (&'&)

FAlan CummingH is playing all the roles in /ha4espeareDs tragedy, an +lympic feat of both endurance and gender-bending. All three witches Cumming.eDs also Pan?uo and #ady Macduff, for good measure.<n the play, Cumming appears as a patient in a white-tiled mental hospital for

whom the plot of EMacbethE is sort of a schiophrenic nightmare. F...HRsing a mental patient as the framing device ma4es intuitive sense forEMacbethE since the play is filled with visions I E<s this a dagger which < seebefore meE I and references to addled brains. E+, full of scorpions is mymind,E Macbeth tells his wife at one point. FGH watching a modern man sufferwhat Macbeth goes through is a way to ma4e the savagery in the play, which

often feels mythologied and removed, more urgent.(Mar4 Jennedy, huffingtonpost.com)



Conclusion

➔ @hat most of the examined productions finallylac4 is th add d valu of a n w r ading of eventsand character relationships as we otherwise sawin 0ulie TaymorDs The Tempest .

➔ JingDs %layersD Mme. Macbeth and the$actionDsMacbeth are the only declared gender-benderproductions both of them are unfortunately not

fully convincing in conveying such a theme.

➔ The other productions do not m an to xplor

g nd r issu s through their shows, but only to letthe actors measure themselves with rolesgenerally performed by the opposite sex.

Meet Mme. Macbeth

Documents

Transcript of Meet Mme. Macbeth