STAGE BEAUTY

“Stage Beauty” is a movie adaptation of a theatre play, and this shows in many aspects of the movie – from the wide angle shots that make us swallow the whole set in one glance, to the diffuse low-key lighting that seems to set the atmosphere rather than light the actors’ faces. Yet when more cinematic techniques are used, it is to a good effect, and the sporadic use of tracking shots and fancy camera angles contributes to understanding the characters’ motivations, rather than to distracting the audience.

Consider the tracking point-of-view shot of actor Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) passing a line of actress hopefuls, all auditioning for the role of Desdemona. The entire plot can be summarized through this shot – Ned Kynaston built his career playing female roles in 17^th century England, when women were prohibited from acting. All of a sudden King Charles II (Rupert Everett with a transvestite wig and hilarious make-up) allows women to act, and the hordes of women who adored Ned, turn into bitter rivals overnight. Even though Ned’s creation of Desdemona is still the golden standard, women with no artistic training become stars, whereas he is forced to perform in a sleazy music hall. As Ned makes his way through the cordon of women auditioning for Desdemona, the distorting wide lens makes it obvious that his whole world is falling apart. The end of this tracking shot shifts the point of view and we see Ned, confused about his own identity, and confused about the possibility of women playing women on the stage. “What’s the trick in that?” – he says. It doesn’t help that the person who steals the role of Desdemona from him is his wardrobe assistant with limited acting abilities, Maria (Claire Danes).

Because of the omnipresent candlelight, Stage Beauty is a yellow movie. The autumnal colors and deep shadows serve as the perfect backdrop for the gossip and court intrigues that drive the narrative forward. There is even a “yellow journalist”, in the character of Samuel Pepys (Hugh Bonneville), whose diary was the source of historical facts for the movie. This yellow color scheme makes for a nice contrast with the several scenes shot in white light, because these are the scenes where the characters show their true colors. Consider the misty bath scene, where Ned confronts his male lover, the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Chaplin), after the Duke told him he is getting married. As the Duke says that he never had sex with Ned, but with the Desdemona that Ned played, the mist blurs Ned’s face, and we sense his confusion about his gender and sexuality. Another key scene shot in broad daylight is the love scene between Ned and Maria, and in it finally the barriers between the two come down, as they talk openly about their sexuality and their views on acting.

In scenes like the previous two, the music also plays a crucial role. The director decides to emphasize every punch line with a punch-note, so that when Maria tells Ned that his Desdemona never fights, but simply dies, the music follows her intonation closely, ending with a shrill note that emphasizes Maria’s frustration with the way men play women on the stage. The music is also used as a substitution for a laugh track, as most of the one-liners are emphasized by punch-notes, in case we miss the cleverness of the dialog.

Stage Beauty is crowded with props that invoke 17^th century England, but the dialog is stuffed with one-liners that resemble 20^th century sitcoms, and the actors act like they have seen one episode too many of Rowan Atkinson’s Black Adder TV series. This is not a bad thing, as the cast looks like it is having fun with the screenplay, but when the movie tries to escape its farcical roots and seriously address issues such as gender and sexuality, the characters’ wit (and wigs) become serious distractions.