Gender; Is it More Than A Man Playing a Woman and Vice Versa? Musical Theatre in 21st Century Britain - The Cultural Innovator for Social Change

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University of Amsterdam

Graduate School of Humanities

Master’s Thesis

Gender;

Is it More Than a Man Playing a Woman and Vice Versa?

Musical Theatre in 21

st

_{Century Britain – The Cultural Innovator for}

Social Change

Musicology (Arts and Culture) Summer 2017

Charlotte Lewis (11391197) Supervisor: Professor Dr. J.J.E. Kursell

Second Reader: Dr. F.O Seibt

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Abstract

The terminology surrounding concepts of gender construction, representation and practice is frequently misunderstood and wrongly applied. Equally, gender-fluid casting concepts and performances are often misappropriated for a 21st_century

society. This thesis encompasses a cross-examination of iconic present-day Shakespeare, Pantomime and Musical Theatre productions staged in Britain. From this, the pragmatic and artistic affordances of the case specific gender-reversals are investigated, with an emphasis on their social impact. Incorporating aspects of biology and sociology across the seven chapters, the question as to whether Judith Butler’s somatic idea of gender performativity may be further extended to the voice with regard to pre-scored musical expressions is fundamentally assessed.

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Introduction

In this present age of the 21st_{century, sociological studies draw a fundamental}

distinction between sex and gender. Sex is determined through biological factors that focus on the chromosomes, reproductive organs and other physical ascriptions of an individual and assign them into the dualistic categories of either male or female. Gender on the other hand is a pluralistic distinction, determined through socio-cultural factors, is historically contingent and thus gender is fluid in terms of its temporal construction.1

The approach as to why and how gender is studied across independent fields merged in the last decade of the 20th_{century within the interdisciplinary realm of}

sociology. Observing the representation of gender through practice, Judith Butler produced her gender performativity theory. Borrowing terminology from areas encompassed by theatre studies, the integrative academic language consequently blurred terminology.

Cultural historians tend to recognise performance events “as part of a general consensus of values and ideas which somehow reflect and express larger and presumably more powerful social arrangements and forces.”2_{With approximately}

305,000 individuals across 21st_{century Britain identifying with neither strictly male,}

nor female classifications of gender,3_{it is progressively important to reflect and shape}

opportunities for this gender-fluidity amongst performance events throughout the country.

Theatrical casting concepts and performances may therefore be investigated in line with their socio-historical context in order to analyse the extent to which these are

1 Zevallos, Zuleyka. “Sociology of Gender”. Other Sociologist. n.d. Web. 23 June 2017. Available: https://othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/.

2 McConachie, Bruce A. “Reading Context Into Performance: Theatrical Formations and Social History”. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism 3.2 (1989): 229.

3 “Trans Data Position Paper”. Office for National Statistics. n.d. Richmond: Crown Copyright, 2009, 11. Print.

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a representation of the current social norms. Furthermore, they may be examined to establish how the stage can also be treated as a form of ‘laboratory’4_{whereby social}

norms are fundamentally challenged and the boundaries pushed: “[u]ltimately, theatre has always been a space where gender roles and sexual identity are questioned, mocked or unsettled – the stage offers a safe space to view fluid gender identities.”5

The gender-fluid concepts employed in stage portrayals rely on varying degrees of ‘gender-reversal’; that is “any change, whether ‘total’ or partial, in social behavior [sic]6_{, work, clothing, mannerisms, speech, self-designations, or ideology”}7

that bring a person ‘closer’ to an alternative gender. The visual apparition that these gender-reversal techniques afford may indeed be a convincing theatrical performance, shrouding the actor or actress’ physical sex and assumed gender. However, once vocalisation is introduced to the performance, can gender-reversal techniques be pursued successfully?

Whilst the vocal act of speech is included in the prior quote defining the process of gender-reversal, notice that it does not include the musically vocal act of ‘singing’. This is due to the perceived difference between gendered speech and singing, which is constrained by dualistic bodily sex. If an individual who identifies as female off-stage is cast cross-gender as a male character in an on-stage theatrical production then the gender-reversal aids, including hyper-vocal impersonation, will, for all intensive purposes, contribute to a convincing performance. However, if that role is musical in nature with pre-determined vocals scored for the range of a particular sex, then surely a gender-reversed performance is no longer convincingly viable. Problematising this further, I would argue that 21st_{century gender parity}

cannot be achieved in a music-theatre production that is scored on the basis of vocal

disparity.

4 Ramet, Sabrina Petra. “The Functions of Gender Reversals in Drama”. Gender Reversals and Gender Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 1996, 6. Print.

5 “A brief history of the pantomime – and why it’s about so much more than ‘blokes in dresses’”. The Conversation. 16 Dec. 2016. Web. 16 June 2017. Available: http://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-pantomime-and-why-its-about-so-much-more-than-blokes-in-dresses-69683.

6 The abbreviation of ‘sic erat scriptum’ has been inserted due to the Americanism found in the corresponding quote. Henceforth all Americanisms shall be left in tact, without the edited observation.

7 Ramet, Sabrina Petra. “Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures: An introduction”. Gender Reversals and Gender Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 1996, 1. Print.

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Be that as it may, there are frequent examples in present-day Musical Theatre whereby cross-gender, male to female, casting concepts are employed the artistic directors assure these instances provide appropriate gender-fluid representation and opportunity, removed from inappropriate misogynistic parody. Therefore, I ultimately wish to utilise the platform that this thesis provides to investigate these claims that the case-specific roles engage with their musical vocalisations and thus surpass the visual apparition of a man playing a woman, or vice versa.8

As the American academic, educator, editor and journalist, Sabrina Petra Ramet explains:

The concept of gender culture is crucial to an understanding of the phenomenon of gender reversal, because the latter arises within the parameters set by a gender culture and because it is a society’s culture that informs its members as to the meanings of specific forms of individual and collective behavior. This concept of ‘gender culture’ is derived from the growing literature on the social construction of gender.9

Chapter 1 of this thesis therefore outlines the various perspectives that contributed to the development of gender theory as a field throughout the 20th_century,

consequently arriving in the 1990s with Judith Butler’s performativity theory, which is considered the social body behind the artistic credibility of implementing casting concepts, pertinent to 21st_{century British music-theatre.}

Chapter 2 stands to clarify the non-binary terms of gender identity and disentangle the following gender-fluid casting concepts: traditional cross-gender, progressive cross-gender, gender-blind and gender-neutral. Their pragmatic and artistic affordances are examined and their importance of inclusion in 21st_century

theatrical performances is stressed as a reflection of a modern reality. Furthermore, I

8 Bevis, Stephen. “Millar’s Trunchbull more than a ‘man playing a panto woman’”. 16 Oct. 2016. Web. 20 June 2017. Available: https://thewest.com.au/news/australia/millars-trunchbull-more-than-a-man-playing-a-panto-woman-ng-ya-120863.

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question the applicability of gender-blind casting when extended into the realm of music-theatre.

Chapter 3 explores the temporality and socio-historical context upon which the perception of dualistic, sex-determined genders was manufactured and the impact of the exclusion of the female sex from the performing arts. From the Middle Ages to 21st_{century Britain, this chapter presents the ways in which the theatre was utilised as}

a vehicle for patriarchal social ordering, as well as inspiring its re-ordering.

Chapter 4 marks the first section to examine case-specific affordances for 21st

century gender-fluid Shakespearean performances, exploring how Juidith Butler performativity theory is implemented, what elements artistic directors and critiques believe to contribute a convincing fluid performance, as well as asking the question as to the extent of which a text requires alteration in cross-gender performances.

Chapter 5 deals with the development of the British Pantomime form, its traditional gender-fluid stock characters and their reversal and decline of the Principle Boy and Panto Dame in 21st_{century performances. This chapter demonstrates the}

temporality of audience perception of appropriate cross-gender mimetic theatre.

Chapter 6 outlines the interrelatedness of sex, voice, gender identity and stylisation and how studying transgender patients may constitute productive research for a performer whose gender-reversed performance requires them to surpass Judith Butler’s theory and embrace pre-scored gender musical vocalisations.

Chapter 7 encapsulates the 21st_{century approach to regularising the relatively}

new acceptance in the open consideration for gendered roles in music-theatre and its effect on the vocal interpretations witnessed in Matilda, Hairspray and Annie.

This thesis therefore contributes to the “polyvocal discourses”10_surrounding

the interrelated topics of sex, voice, music and theatre, their influence upon gender construction, representation and practice underlined by my own affiliation with regard to the relevance of the aforementioned elements throughout my life. I am female by sex identifying my gender as a woman; am passionate about the role of music and 10 ibid., 4.

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theatre across society and have personal experience in playing the opposite gender within 21st_{century musical theatre productions. The particular productions presented}

throughout my writing caught the attention of myself, as well as the general public, via extensive media coverage.

This methodological approach of cross-examination allows for a collective view on gender in 21st_{century Musical Theatre that has evolved from societal change}

over time. The facets explored cover key points of disciplinary interaction within this art form. The examples and case studies referred to throughout this thesis exemplify the social impact of change and its attitude towards male and female role-play. In so doing it highlights the dichotomy between traditional and progressive approaches to casting and performance.

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Chapter 1 Gender Concepts - A Social Construction

Gender may be understood as the social contractedness of what maleness and femaleness mean in a given culture. In other words, it is an ideological […] concept that is contingent on socio-historical context, rather than the actual biological sense of sex and sexuality.11

The hegemonic ideas and perceptions of gender in any given society or culture are often exhibited through varying degrees of segregation, established structures of social hierarchy and the manner in which roles are assigned. Modern gender theorists therefore articulate the concept of gender as a social construct reinforced by aspects of biology, culture, society, power, ‘performativity’12_{and binaries, depending on the}

perspective assumed.

The term ‘gender’ was initially proposed within anthropological research conducted in the years following World War I. Prior to this academic instigation, the understanding of gender as an independent concept did not exist. Instead the biologically sexed attributes of an individual, either male or female, dictated their position and role within society. The exploration of Western ‘gender-role stereotyping’, exemplified most notably in the American cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead’s 1928 book Coming of Age in Samoa,13_{emphasised the ‘social}

constructedness’ of maleness and femaleness; a concept revealed to be culturally contingent and socio-historically contextual, as opposed to being decreed by biological nature.

The research presented in Mead’s book revealed practices throughout the non-Western civilisations of the Polynesian area in the Pacific Ocean whereby men

11 Beard, David, and Kenneth Gloag. “Gender”. Musicology: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2005, 69. Print.

12 Allain, Paul, and Jen Harvie. “Performative/Performativity”. The Routledge Companion to Theatre and Performance. 1st_{ed. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006, 185-186. Print.}

13 Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. 1st_{ed. New York: Editions for the Armed Services,}

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executed tasks that Westerners might refer to as ‘feminine’ and women also executed tasks that Westerners might consider to be ‘masculine’. This publication laid foundations from which scholars could re-evaluate the superficially fixed historical functions of men and women in Western societies.14

The determination of subsequent 20th_{-century gender theories’ to remove these}

categorical terms from the realm of biology, has enabled a history of the subject to be made possible, as well as making a distinction between the concepts of biological sex and cultural gender.15_{Developed as a field for the inter-disciplinary analysis of gender}

identity and gender representation the theories provide disciplinary specific frameworks from which to approach the ‘constructedness’ of masculinity and femininity as a series of mutually generated characteristics that shape the lives of men and women. The exploration of gender is relevant to a multitude of disciplines and thus the approach to why and how gender is studied may differ from one to another discipline. For example, in the realms of anthropology and sociology gender is examined as a practice, whereas, in that of cultural studies the representation of gender is more pertinent.

Often referred to as ‘performative’, the approaches to why and how gender is studied eventually merged in the later decades of the 20th_{century, thereby viewing the} representation of gender through practice. The following portion of this chapter

therefore aims to formalise a chronological overview of developments amongst the various sociological branches, constructural influences and temporal socio-historical texts upon which the philosopher Judith Butler concluded her fluid, theatrically inspired idea of gender as embodied, as “an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of [performative] acts.”16

In 1949 Simone de Beauvoir, a French feminist-existentialist, produced her treatise entitled The Second Sex which echoed Mead’s indication that the term ‘gender’ should only be used in reference to the social and cultural constructions of

14 Smith, Bonnie G. “Gender Theory”. Encyclopedia of European Social History: From 1350-2000, Volume 1. Peter N. Stearns. 1st_{ed. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 2001, 95. Print.}

15 ibid.

16 Butler, Judith. “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”. Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519. Web. 1 April 2017. DOI: 10.2307/3207893.

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masculinity and femininity and not to refer to the essence or sole nature of a male or female identity. Believing that existence precedes essence, De Beauvoir argues that whilst one is born a female, one becomes a woman.17

According to De Beauvoir the temporal position and role of a woman was deduced subsequent to the construction of a man’s identity encompassing all that ‘he’ is not, through the creation of something that is ‘other’ to ‘him’. In De Beauvoir’s opinion, women adopted a man’s view of themselves and thus the represented femininity was a false identity achieved not through natural assignment but through socio-cultural imposed expectations.18

It is widely documented that gender history theories, such as that produced by De Beauvoir, are often dismissed by some as an evocative history biased toward women. However I believe for many gender theory has affected their style of writing with regard to both men and women. Equally, many sociologists support De Beauvoir’s view of gender construction whilst other contributors to the field offer different models, often with opposing opinions as shall be demonstrated later in this chapter.

A doctrine also first established during the inter-war period of the 20th_century

and likewise of French origin was that of anthropologist and ethnologist Claude Lévi-Strauss. Built upon the theory of structural linguistics otherwise known as structuralism, a theory that establishes meaning through the relation of one ‘thing’ to another, Lévi-Strauss’ domain of Structural Anthropology was finalised in a 1958 book publication of the same name. Similar to De Beauvoir, Lévi-Strauss proposed the idea that situations afford two oppositions and a subsequent resolution:

How does structural analysis proceed? […] Once the various aspects of culture have been reduced to their structural elements, relationships of opposition and correlation and permutation and transformation among these elements can be defined. Homologies between institutions within the same society or among

17 Beauvoir, Simone D. The Second Sex. New ed edition. London: Vintage Classics, 1997, 301. Print.

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various societies can be explained, not in terms of a mechanical causality, but rather dialectical terms. […] To Lévi-Strauss, the building of such models is the basic aim of anthropology.19

In other words, structural anthropology suggests that societies are arranged through frameworks of binary pairings that operate with and against each other as relationships. Therefore, the concepts of masculinity/femininity, sex/gender, biological/cultural, are seen in structuralism to be mutually defined as they share the common borders of binary associated oppositions. Therefore what constitutes as masculine is one culture only determines what is meant by feminine in that culture.20

Although Lévi-Strauss’ theory recognises gender as a cultural construction, it does also, compared to other theories implicate a hegemonic rigidity, namely, that one binary pairing, mutually defining masculinity and femininity in any given culture, explains gender identity in its entirety for every member of that society. The structuralist application to gender was originally designed to be complimentary. However, instead it can be seen to inflict the cultural bias of Western 1940s and 1950s social hegemony during which the theory was developed.

Lévi-Strauss distinguishes ‘sex’ as biological and ‘gender’ as a cultural expression but still with a reflection on a reproductive and therefore biological function. For example, the very notion of the biological/cultural binary forces an either/or method for identification and thus does not account for those individuals or communities whereby a person may be born with the reproductive organs of one sex, but presents the ‘stylised acts’ associated with the opposing gender; which is the case in gender-fluid casting concepts central to this thesis.

By 1980, the fields of anthropology, sociology and increasingly within psychology accepted and promoted the phrase ‘social construction of gender’ as the dominating theoretical position, firmly separating the concepts of ‘sex’ and ‘gender’. Bonnie G. Smith, an American historian, highlights its routine use in her 2001 19 Jacobson, Claire, and Brooke Grundfest. “Translator’s Preface”. Claude Lévi-Strauss. Structural Anthropology. New York: Basic Books, 1963, X. Print.

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encyclopedic entry on gender theory by quoting a textbook entitled Gender: An

Ethnomethodological Approach published in 1978: “Our theoretical position is that

gender is a social construction, that a world of two 'sexes' is a result of the socially shared, taken-for-granted methods which members use to construct reality.”21

American historian Joan W. Scott shaped gender theory in the latter half of the 20th-century through her 1986 journal article ‘Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis’.22_{Arguing that Marxist, anthropological and psychological}

perspectives for comprehending gender had progressed the idea of social construction somewhat, she believed that they still heavily relied on an explanation of male and female through core characteristics. Thus Scott pressed for historians to enhance the social sciences and in turn reduce the rigidities of gender theory that remained present in the mid-1980s.23

Scott’s foundations for a post-structuralist gender theory strengthened with her observation that the binary oppositions in Lévi-Strauss’ structuralism could not explain men’s oppression of women and the historically engrained subordination invoked by the term ‘feminine’; or in the case of De Beauvoir ‘other’. Gender categories rely on distinction and therefore could be applied to signify synonymic patriarchal binaries such as better/worse, strong/weak etc. abusing the concept of gender to (re)affirm heteronormative power control in society – this needed to be addressed.

Approaching the 21st_{century philosopher Judith Butler, also a feminist, sought}

to abolish the historically temporal reliance on binary categories as an explanation of gender. In 1988 Butler produced an essay proposing her post-structuralist theory of gender as performed – “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay Phenomenology and Feminist Theory”.24_{Butler argues that whilst the gendered}

biological difference between ‘men’ and ‘women’ may be natural, the fixation on

21 ibid.

22 Scott, Joan W. “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis”. The American Historical Review 91.5 (1986): 1053-1075. Web. 3 April 2017. DOI: 10.1086/ahr/91.5.1053.

23 ibid.

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categorising humans by this reproductive arena is a cultural phenomenon. She therefore believes both sex and gender to be socially and culturally constructed; a statement defended in her 1993 book, Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits

of ‘sex’.25

At the time of Butler’s assertion that both sex and genders are constructed, the latter was a widely accepted notion, as demonstrated by the previously quoted 1978 textbook definition. However the idea that ‘sex’ is determined by biology was more tangible and therefore still dominated scholarship. It was this discourse against which Butler fought. This elimination of the nature/nurture binary pairing allowed Butler to define gender as a concept that was neither natural nor unnatural, but a process of stylised and repeated performance(s).

Operating through terminology borrowed from theatre studies Butler’s gender performativity theory revisits De Beauvoir’s claim that one is not born a woman; one becomes a woman,26_{explaining how she reinterprets this from the phenomenological}

tradition’s doctrine of constituting acts whereby a social agent constitutes social reality through bodily expression:

In this sense, gender is in no way a stable identity or locus of agency from which various acts proceed; rather, it is an identity tenuously constituted in time - an identity instituted through a stylized repetition of acts. Further, gender is instituted through the stylization of the body and, hence, must be understood as the mundane way in which bodily gestures, movements, and enactments of various kinds constitute the illusion of an abiding gendered self.27

Therefore, put quite simply, Butler defines gender not through what bodies are, but through what bodies do - through the ‘actor’s’ repetition of performative acts that constitute the ‘character’s’ voluntaristic identification within a temporal social reality.

25 Butler, Judith. Bodies that Matter: On the Discursive Limits of ‘sex’. London: Routledge, 1993. Print.

26 Beauvoir, Simone D. The Second Sex. New ed edition. London: Vintage Classics, 1997, 301. Print.

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The defining quote above demonstrates the emphasis that Butler places on gender as a physical expression with no reference to a vocal expression. Both the body and the voice are capable of performative and artistic acts. However, I would argue that perhaps the acoustic revelation of an individual’s voice would interfere with the visual ‘illusion’ of a gendered self and it is for this reason I believe Butler revoked her assertion that both sex and gender are socially constructed, rebutting sex as a platform from which to construct gender.

Generally speaking, the anatomy of the biological sex with which one is born determines the pitch range, resonance and timbre of an individual’s voice (discussed further in chapter 6).28_{Thus vocal expressions are regulated by nature, not society:}

As a baby takes its first breath and releases its first vocal expression, there is very little context. No social conditioning, cultural demands, or psychological repression have yet been pressed upon this child […] The voice is our primary means of self-expression from the moment of birth […] the voice is more than just a tool or an instrument for artistic or quotidian use: the voice is the self.29

Whilst bodily expressions constitute the socio-cultural construction of gender, it would appear that vocal expressions must therefore constitute the biological platform of sex.

I am therefore curious as to how Judith Butler’s late 20th_-century

performativity theory has informed the 21st_{-century fluid stylisations of the gendered}

self in the casting concepts and performances employed by British theatrical institutions. Furthermore, I question how these concepts can be credibly encompassed by those theatrical productions in which the role includes pre-scored vocal stylisations without the need to adapt the gendered self of the character or the musical score to suit the vocal self of the actor or actress.

28 Kerry JK. “Changing Your Voice Part 6 – Cross-Gender Vocal Techniques”. KJKmusic. 13 Mar 2016. Web. 15 July 2017. Available: http://www.kjkmusic.co.uk/blog/2016/03/13/changing-your-voice-part-6-cross-gender-vocal-techniques/.

29 Navaille, Grace. “The Role of the Human Voice”. Finding a Voice: An Approach to the Human Voice from the Perspective of Singing, Speaking Shakespeare, and Gender Studies. MA Thesis, University of California, 2015, 5-10. PDF.

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British Modernity – Pluralistic Gender Casting Practices

Judith Butler’s performativity theory progresses the concept of gender beyond the biological constraints of the sex-determined male/female binary classifications. For individuals who do not comfortably relate to an either/or identification system it affords the individual agency to self-identify within the pluralistic social reality of 21st

century gender constructions; a phenomenon that Claude Lévi-Strauss’ theory for example, cannot account for. With an emphasis of the physicality of an individual the question is, how does Butler’s theory translate into gender-fluid casting concepts, particularly when there is the necessity to encompass gendered vocalisations?

As stated in the introduction, it is estimated that 305,000 individuals across Britain identify with non-binary classifications of gender.30_{In 2009, the UK Office}

for National Statistics issued their ‘Trans Data Position’ report in which 10 non-binary distinctions of gender expression were classified: ‘Gender Variance’, ‘Trans’, ‘Transsexualism’, ‘Transvestite’, ‘Drag’, ‘Androgynous’, ‘Ze, Hir and Hirs’, ‘Acquired Gender’, ‘Gender reassignment’ and ‘Gender recognition’.31_{According to}

performance studies academic Elizabeth Klett, the 21st_{century audiences expect a}

performance to “reflect a recognizable reality”.32_{If this is the case then where are the}

representations of these genders across British theatre productions, either in the casting or performances?

Increasingly, artistic directors are implementing gender-fluid casting concepts; generating artistic and pragmatic affordances in an attempt to reflect and shape society. However, the conceptual fluidity surrounding pluralised gender identities appears to be somewhat confusingly reflected in the blurred terminology used, or rather misused, when describing the concepts’ representation in theatrical performance practices:

30 “Trans Data Position Paper”. Office for National Statistics. Richmond: Crown Copyright, 2009, 11.

31 ibid., 4-5.

32 Klett, Elizabeth. “Introduction: Wearing the Codpiece”. Cross-Gender Shakespeare and English National Identity: Wearing the Codpiece. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 6. Print.

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To begin with, there is no common language used to talk about the practice […] The performances have been variously described as ‘androgynous,’ ‘butch,’ ‘cross-cast,’ ‘cross-dressed,’ ‘cross-gendered,’ ‘effeminate,’ ‘gender-bending,’ ‘in drag,’ ‘sexless,’ ‘transgendered,’ ‘transsexual,’ ‘transvestite,’ and ‘unisex,’ among others. Such terms are often used interchangeably by reviewers and scholars with little or no attention to the differences between them…33

Much like Klett’s 2009 quote seen above, this chapter does not aim to judge the validity of the often interchangeable appropriation of gender performance terms; nor does it seek to provide a static definition of each, as their applicability is context specific and socio-historically contingent. This chapter does on the other hand strive to form an interpretation of how gender is represented in the 21st_{century through the}

practice of cross-gender (traditional and progressive), gender-blind and gender-neutral castings. I will attempt to classify each of the concepts to my understanding, whilst acknowledging their problematic interchangeability, outline their impact and importance within modern British society and question whether they can be accommodated credibly into music-theatre productions.

Cross-gender casting entails purposefully employing an actor or actress whose gender external to the work does not correspond with that of the character internal to the work, as dictated by a binary-gendered society. Unless scripted as such by the playwright, there appears to be two main justifications behind the implementation of cross-gender casting in theatre productions of 21st_{century Britain: (1) as an}

established tradition, in order to achieve historically informed authenticity34_{and (2) as}

a progressive concept; a thought-provoking tool to subvert traditional gender roles, often as an undertaking of feminist activism.35

The initial function of cross-gender performances in British theatre was one of convention due to the 16th_{century ban of women on stage, further demonstrated in}

33 ibid., 3-4.

34 Hunter, Mary. “Historically Informed Performance”. Oxford Handbooks Online, 2014. Web. 3 June 2017. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195335538.013.027.

35 Miller, Gemma. “Cross-Gender Casting as Feminist Interventions in the Staging of Early Modern Plays”. Journal of International Women’s Studies 16.1 (2014): 4-17. Print.

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chapter 3. The function of cross-gender performances in the 21st_{century could all be}

argued to be artistically motivated. However regardless of the artistic or pragmatic justifications and affordances expressed by casting-agencies and directors, cross-gender performances are always faced with a degree of negative reception, often on the grounds of inaccurate historic representation, or due to gender inequality in employment opportunities. In 2014, Financial Times journalist Sarah Hemming summarised the irony seamlessly: “All theatre depends on suspension of disbelief and yet cross-gender casting still tends to create a stir”.36

In the name of tradition the first justification for the implementation of cross-gender performances, male to female cross-gender-reversal, in 21st_{century theatre}

productions is the effort known as ‘original-practices’; another contribution to the plethora of ‘experimental’ theatrical movements since the late 19th_{century. In 2014,}

Don Weingust, a Shakespearean academic, explained the term to mean “the series of techniques for performance, or preparation for performance, or plays from the early modern period which later-modern practitioners believe may be similar to those of Shakespeare and his theatrical contemporaries.”37_{During the time at which}

Shakespeare (1564-1616) and his contemporaries were writing, it was a societal necessity that female roles were portrayed by male actors in spoken drama, as shall be discussed in chapter 3. Thus, in order to produce a historically informed performance and achieve artistic authenticity by only using the resources available to playwrights at the time of their works’ conception, cross-gender casting or rather single-gendered, all-male casts are comprehensibly employed.38

Strictly speaking, a production adhering to ‘original practices’ would also include an all-male directing team, as historically this would have been the case when the work was premiered. However, when a woman succeeds the long-established all-male profession of theatre, or when the director is a passionate feminist activist in the 21st_{century “[c]ross-gendering in the production [is further] extended to its}

36 Hemming, Sarah. “The cross-gender casting of great Shakespearean characters”. Financial Times, 5 Sep. 2014. Web. 4 June 2017. Available:

www.ft.com/content/266629ae-31e3-11e4-a19b-00144feabdc0.

37 Weingust, Don. “Authentic performances or performances of authenticity? Original practices and the repertory schedule”. Shakespeare 10.4 (2014): 402. Print.

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direction”.39 _{Cross-gender casting as experimental may be alternatively justified}

therefore in challenging tradition by means of employing a single-gendered, all-female cast; treating the British theatre as a laboratory and an “arena for fundamental challenges to the sex/gender system”.40

The practice of selective cross-gender casting in a progressively experimental way, as opposed to tradition, constitutes a feminist activism that, according to the Shakespearean academic Gemma Miller in 2014, attacks from three angles: “it questions the ‘authority’ of the originating (male) author, it challenges the hegemony of male-dominated theatrical institutions; and it disrupts the culturally embedded idea of gender hierarchies.”41_{Female to male gender-reversal within theatre therefore}

enables artistic and pragmatic affordances, introducing equal employment opportunities in a historically masculine industry, as well as denying the cultural responsibility to endorse a patriarchal society; thus it is progressive!

Judith Butler’s performativity theory states:

All theater and all gender performance is iteration, to some extent. When performed, […] ‘masculinity’ and ‘femininity’ are produced, and continually reproduced, as stable gender identities performed by appropriately sexed bodies. Such performances of gender aim to conceal the extent to which maleness and femaleness are constructions rather than realities.42

In cross-gender performances the ‘appropriately sexed body’ is absent and thus the reliance of a actor or actress to exaggerate the binary associations of ‘feminine’ and ‘masculine’ characteristics respectively in order for their character’s gender to be defined convincingly appears to be paramount. Therefore, even the intended employment of cross-gender casting as a progressive and/or feminist tool in

39 Hornby, Richard. “Cross-Gender Casting”. The Hudson Review 48.4 (1996): 643. Web. 3 June 2017. DOI: 10.2307/3852010.

40 Ramet, Sabrina Petra. “Gender Reversals and Gender Cultures: An introduction”. Gender Reversals and Gender Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 1996, 6. Print.

41 Miller, Gemma. “Cross-Gender Casting as Feminist Interventions in the Staging of Early Modern Plays”. Journal of International Women’s Studies 16.1 (2014): 4. Print.

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traditional mimetic theatre may in fact be reinforcing the cultural and social gender-role stereotypes as discussed by Margaret Mead,43_{albeit inadvertently.}

In music-theatre the absence of an ‘appropriately sexed body’ encounters artistic problems beyond the physicality of a character, due to the need for an appropriately sexed voice with which to fulfill the pre-scored vocal expressions. With training, an individual can construct a range of ‘gendered’ voices.44_{However, the}

extent to which this may be achieved convincingly remains constrained by the binary sex with which that individual is born, either male or female. This observation calls into question the position of music-theatre, compared to straight-talking theatre, as to whether it has the ability to challenge gender construction, shape society, or merely reflect biology!

This tension between the capabilities of theatre and music-theatre to either enforce dominant social paradigms or reform them. Whether this be intentional or co-incidental, it may explain the uncertainty and synonymous use of gender-bending performance terms and arguably the polarised reception of cross-gender casting and performances with negative reviews often expressing confusion as to why gender-reversal was justifiably employed, with little reference to the artistic credibility or pragmatic opportunities themselves.

However, when the effects of a cross-gender performance induce internal and external revelations regarding gender identity, both in society, as well as within the text and/or music, it is not superficially iterable. Thus this possesses a greater justification as a laboratory from which to transform, not simply emulate cultural norms. This is certainly reflected in positive performance reviews, as shall be demonstrated in chapters 4, 5 and 8.

Whatever the justification behind 21st_{century cross-gender casting and}

performance, the fact remains that this is no modern phenomenon as theatre critic

43 Mead, Margaret. Coming of Age in Samoa. 1st_{ed. New York: Editions for the Armed Services,}

1945. Print.

44 Kerry JK. “Changing Your Voice Part 6 – Cross-Gender Vocal Techniques”. KJKmusic. 13 Mar 2016. Web. 15 July 2017. Available: http://www.kjkmusic.co.uk/blog/2016/03/13/changing-your-voice-part-6-cross-gender-vocal-techniques/.

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Richard Hornby pointedly reminded us in 1996. In capitals, he opened the article entitled ‘Cross-Gender Casting’ with the sentence: “PLAYING THE OPPOSITE SEX IS AS OLD AS THEATRE.”45_{Whilst this may be true, the concept of gender as}

distinct from binary sex only came to fruition at the turn of the 20th_{century, as}

outlined in the previous chapter. Thus the 21st_{century understanding of gender as a}

pluralistic concept allows for exceedingly dynamic and fluid casting practices that not only challenge gender boundaries but also in effect aim to eradicate them. Now, what follows is rather modern.

Gender-blind casting focuses on the “character traits an actor shares with a role, free from [binary sexed] restrictions of gender.”46_{This therefore implies that the}

sole criteria to be suitably eligible for a role are the parallels between the ‘individual’ and the character, without reference to the gender of either.

In 2016, LBGT writer Wendy Caster acknowledged the artistic and the pragmatic as two relevant but separate categories of discussion in gender-blind casting, with the former allowing works to be seen from a new angle and the latter potentially enabling more employment opportunities for women in a male-dominated industry.47_{For Britain, which has been described as a “country in which equality}

between men and women, though not yet achieved, is widely accepted as the standard we should be striving for”,48_{gender-blind casting would be considered societally}

progressive. However, others such as Holly Williams, a journalist for national British newspaper The Independent, have branded gender-blind casting as a “sellable gimmick rather than a genuine paradigm shift.”49

45 Hornby, Richard. “Cross-Gender Casting”. The Hudson Review 48.4 (1996): 641. Web. 3 June 2017. DOI: 10.2307/3852010.

46 Ellis, Scott. “Guest Blog: Artistic Director Scott Ellis Talks Gender-Blind Casting in Shakespeare.” Broadway World. 6 Mar. 2017. Web. 5 June 2017. Available:

www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Guest-Blog-Artistic-Director-Scott-Ellis-Talks-Gender-Blind-Casting-in-Shakespeare-20170306.

47 Caster, Wendy. “Theatre: The Tricky Limits of Color-Blind and Gender-Blind Casting”. Art Times, Apr. 2016. Web. 5 June 2017. Available:

http://www.arttimesjournal.com/theater/april_16_wendy_caster/color_gender_blind_casting.html.

48 Ellis, Scott. “Guest Blog: Artistic Director Scott Ellis Talks Gender-Blind Casting in Shakespeare.” Broadway World. 6 Mar. 2017. Web. 5 June 2017. Available:

www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Guest-Blog-Artistic-Director-Scott-Ellis-Talks-Gender-Blind-Casting-in-Shakespeare-20170306.

49 Williams, Holly. “Gender-blind Shakespeare: classic roles to be taken by women”. The Independent, 21 Apr. 2016. Web. 12 May 2017. Available:

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entertainment/theatre-dance/features/gender-blind-shakespeare-classic-roles-to-be-taken-by-women-I ask, is it possible to cast a role without any consideration of the auditioning actor or actress’ gender; as entirely gender-blind? To recap, Judith Butler theorises that “gender is instituted through the stylization of the body”. 50_{Through the use of}

gender-reversal devices such as movement, clothing and mannerism, an actor or actress’ own sexed-gender may be masqueraded and is therefore blind to the casting and performance of that character. Even a hyper-iterable stylisation of the voice has been accepted in certain theatrical genres, as demonstrated through the example of pantomime in chapter 5. In that case, perhaps gender-blind casting can be genuinely pursued in spoken drama productions.

I argue however that it is unlikely for gender-blind casting to be credibly pursued in a sung drama production whereby the auditioned role requires a particular stylisation of the voice that is largely dictated by an individual’s biological sex, regardless of their gender identification. If indeed the voice is the self,51_{then the} visual illusion of an abiding gendered self52_{would collapse due to the actor or actress’}

inability to perform the pre-scored musical vocalisations. Thus the sexed-gender would become apparent to the casting team and a gender-blind casting would not be plausible.

In 2015, online writer Sofya Grebenkina addressed the appropriate theatrical context in which to employ gender-blind casting without the modification of the text or score of the work being performed:

New plays which acknowledge that gender is a social construct and choose to incorporate the fact that gender identity constitutes a spectrum may necessitate a production which explores this avenue. In the end, any production’s choice to commit to a gender blind cast necessitates that this artistic decision is

a6994176.html.

51 Navaille, Grace. “The Role of the Human Voice”. Finding a Voice: An Approach to the Human Voice from the Perspective of Singing, Speaking Shakespeare, and Gender Studies. MA Thesis, University of California, 2015, 5-10. PDF.

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integral to the audience’s enjoyment and understanding of a particular creative vision, rather than it simply being a case of attempting to cast roles gender blind so that both genders have equal opportunities.53

Grebenkina argues that her position within the debate is not due to unconscious sexism, but rather the opinion that the potential result of gender-blind casting, if the work does not already question gender identity and the discrepancy between men and women, may detract from more important issues and serve little to no artistic purpose. Additionally it may insert an undermining level of comedy where not intended, as well as destroy an audiences’ experience.

In a production that facilitates gender-blind casting but in which gender identity is not explored within the plot, additional casting concepts are often exploited to ensure the audience enjoyment and distract from controversial artistic decisions. Star casting is the employment of well-known personalities, to portray title roles within a theatre or music-theatre production. The motivation behind this practice is largely economic; ‘celebrity-insurance’ guarantees the sale of tickets. However, the reception is often fraught because in many cases the quality of a performance is being compromised for financial gain. In 2012, Guardian journalist Mark Lawson explained, “the best actors may not always be the most famous.”54_{Typecasting is the}

repeated successful assignment of an actor or actress in the same type of role due to their appropriateness in character traits, much like the idea behind gender-blind casting, as well as their appropriateness in appearance. This often influences the selection of which ‘star’ to be cast.55

Gender-neutral casting is often synonymous with that of gender-blind. I understand the concept of gender-neutral casting as Maury Elizabeth Brown does in 2015; as a practice “in which all characters are written as gender-neutral, leaving the

53 Grebenkina, Sofya. “Why gender blind casting still isn’t possible with all theatre”. Palatinate. 8 Jul. 2015. Web. 12 Mat 2017. Available: www.palatinate.org.uk/why-gender-blind-casting-still-isnt-possible-with-all-theatre/.

54 Lawson, Mark. “Why star casting in theatre isn’t the answer”. The Guardian. 3 Oct. 2012. Web. 5 June 2017. Available: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/oct/03/star-casting-theatre.

55 “Typecast”. Merriam-Webster. n.d. Web. 5 June 2017. Available: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typecast.

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assignment of gender […] up to the player.”56_{When this concept is defined and}

accompanied by the idea of gender-neutral writing or scoring, it can be seen as equally artistic and pragmatic. I believe it to be applicable to both theatre and music-theatre as it offers greater agency to the performer’s fluid stylization and expression of both their body and voice. It also enables the representation and opportunities for recognisable individuals who identify as non-binary in reality, whereby their sexed voice may not correspond to the stereotype of ‘masculinity’ or ‘femininity’.

Although not an example from the UK or from a theatrical domain, the following quotation is taken from an interview with American actress Asia Kate Dillon regarding her role of Taylor Mason in US drama Billions. The importance behind this inclusion is due to the parallels between her self-identification with non-binary gender and that of her character’s. The artistic and pragmatic affordances are encompassed in the following interview response:

I’d like to give a lot of credit to the writers in that, while they were writing the character of Taylor before I was cast, they auditioned people from the entire LGBTQ [Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer] spectrum. They spoke with nonbinary people. They really wanted to make sure that they had an understanding about something that — as Brian and David [co-creators] like to say, they self-identify as white, cisgender [sex corresponding to gender] straight men, so this was unfamiliar territory for them. And so I really credit them and respect them for reaching outside of their comfort zones to investigate non-binary-gender issues and gender-identity stuff in general.

Then, once I was cast, as the season progressed, occasionally a script would come my way when a pronoun would be wrong, and I would just sort of send off an email to Brian and David with the catch. It would come back and it would have been changed right away, which made me feel really respected. It was a really collaborative experience.57

56 Brown, Maury Elizabeth. “The Trouble With Gender in Larp”. Analog Game Studies. 13 Sep. 2015. Web. 5 June 2017. Available: http://analoggamestudies.org/tag/gender-neutral-casting/.

57 Newman, Jeff. “Meet TV’s First Non-Binary-Gender Character: Asia Kate Dillon of Showtime’s ‘Billions’”. The Hollywood Reporter. 24 Feb. 2017. Web. 5 June 2017. Available:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/meet-tvs-first-binary-gender-character-asia-kate-dillon-showtimes-billions-979523.

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There are an increasing number of theatre productions that embrace cross-gender and cross-gender-blind casting, often combined with star casting and/or typecasting. Chapters 4, 5 and 8 explore a selection of these across the genres of Shakespeare, Pantomime and Musical Theatre, respectively, demonstrating the influence that Judith Butler’s performativity theory and other stylised contributions have had on the casting and performances in 21st_{century Britain.}

Chapter 3

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The overriding perspective on the concept of gender from the 20th_century

onwards theorises that it is a culturally and socio-historically constructed phenomenon. Therefore as cultural products, theatre and music-theatre may be examined for the way in which its societal context is reflected and also transformed with regard to the temporality of gender throughout history. One may conclude that the contextual representation of gender(s) directly affects its theatrical practices.

It is widely known that theatre is rooted in Greek and Roman times. However, these pagan origins may explain why Christian England prohibited theatre for hundreds of years through a series of church rulings. This changed when the Church ironically adopted theatre, although only in a religious context and as a device for communicating religious messages. Miracle plays (or simply ‘miracles’), otherwise known as mysteries or moralities were sacred dramas. Occasionally containing song, miracles were written in the vernacular, preached stories from the Bible and were performed in a church setting. Records suggest that in England, they were highly prominent between the 11th_{and 16}th_centuries.58

The York Corpus Christi Plays are arguably the most well known collection of English cycles. The manuscript dates to approximately 1463-1477, although it was annually performed until the late 1560s until it was abolished in the Protestant Reformation. The compilation of 48 mystery plays dramatises the Old Testament; for the glorification of God and its didactic purpose to educate the historical source of the faith.59

The text of the York Mystery Plays demands over 300 actors for speaking roles, including many vocally styled for sexed females; demonstrating another irony for the theatrical work of the period. European Christianity deemed the appearance of women performing on stage and in churches to pose a threat to public order: “it was thought that seeing women on stage would incite men to lewd remarks, rowdy

58 Kennedy, Michael, and Joyce Kennedy. “Miracle plays, mysteries, and moralities”. Oxford Dictionary of Music. 5th_{ed. Tim Rutherford-Johnson ed. Oxford: University of Oxford Press, 2013,}

559. Print.

59 Beadle, Richard, and Pamela M. King. “General Introduction”. York Mystery Plays: A Selection in Modern Spelling. New York: Oxford University Press, 1984, ix. Print.

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behaviour, fornication and rape.”60_{This reaction is accounted due to what British}

feminist Laura Mulvey’s 20th_{-century perspective defines as the ‘male gaze’; the}

‘to-be-looked-at-ness’ of the female body and its connotations, invoking the sexual politics that historically have rigidified binary gender categories, empowering men and objectifying women.

In a world ordered by sexual imbalance pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its phantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly. In their traditionally exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.61

These binaries rely on the social manufacture of otherness in order to differentiate. Therefore they have throughout British antiquity been (un)favourably exploited and heightened in performance in order to implement hegemony, societal segregation, and (dis)empowerment, highlighting the temporal existence of gender. Definitions of women in the Middle Ages were fundamentally sexual and that the valuation of sex as fundamentally sinful could be exploited to regulate the behaviour of all women in society.62

At this time, masculinity and femininity were separated by the association of men with productive activity and women with reproductive activity.63_Australian

sociologist R.W. Connell articulates a similar distinction through genders’ affect on everyday life; “in relation to a reproductive arena, defined by the bodily structures and processes of human reproduction. This arena includes sexual arousal and intercourse, childbirth and infant care”.64_{Connell therefore focuses on the idea of the somatic; the}

60 Fairchilds, Cissie C. “Artists, Musicians, Actresses, Writers, Scholars, Scientists: New Employment Opportunities for Women”. Women in Early Modern Europe 1500-1700. London: Pearson Education, 2007, 177. Print.

61 Mulvey, Laura. “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”. Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings. 5th_{ed. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999, 837.}

Print.

62 Farmer, Sharon. “Introduction”. Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages, volume 32 of Medieval Cultures. 1st_{ed. Sharon A. Farmer and Carol Braun. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2003,}

xxi. Print.

63 ibid., xxii.

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expressive relation of gender to sex. Thus, the perception of women as sexual beings defined by the reproductive activity connected to their bodies, one appreciates that in this context the idea of women (working-class women to be specific) publically and commercially exhibiting an embodied art form possessed similar connotations to that of prostitution. To quote historian Ruth Mazo Karras: “Middle-class regulators, for example, attempting to control the lower classes, focused on the sexual behavior of working-class women […] deployed the label of ‘prostitute’”.65_{This led authorities to}

believe that the presence of women on commercial stages sexually contaminated public spheres.

Women who participated in the theatre and music-theatre at this time, knowingly compromised their reputations, further worsening their social standing in a patriarchal society. However their presence on the public stage was tolerated in plays produced by touring companies, which entailed risqué comedy. In the early 16th

century the content of Christian European theatre shifted towards history plays and tragedies and in 1588, Pope Sixtus (1521-1590) banned women from the stage for concern over respectability and public morality.66

The ban of women from the European stage resulted in substantial ramifications for the representation of gender in theatrical practices. With the absence of females to fill their sexed gender roles, young men were required to be cast cross-gender within a production. For music-theatre, the ban of women initiated the mutilation and subsequent creation of ambiguously gendered individuals known as

castrati. In order to fulfill the roles of soprano, mezzo-soprano and contralto, whilst

“protect[ing] the public order”;67_{young boys would be castrated prior to puberty, thus}

preserving their feminised vocal expressions. The necessity to physically manipulate the reproductive arena to overcome the vocal disparity between males and females to ensure the credible representation of female voice stylisations, which accentuates my research inquiry as to how pre-scored musical vocalisations are engaged without the 65 Karras, Ruth Mazo. “Because the Other Is a Poor Woman She Shall be Called His Wench”. Gender and Difference in the Middle Ages. 1st_{ed. Sharon A. Farmer and Carol Braun. Minneapolis:}

University of Minnesota Press, 2003, 212. Print.

66 Fairchilds, Cissie C. “Artists, Musicians, Actresses, Writers, Scholars, Scientists: New Employment Opportunities for Women”. Women in Early Modern Europe 1500-1700. London: Pearson Education, 2007, 177-178. Print.

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immoral existence of castrati in 21st_{century cross-gender performances in}

music-theatre productions.

Attempts had been made to end the musically driven castration of young males since the mid-18th_{century. However it did not enter full fruition until the early 20}th

century. In 1903, Pope Pius X declared: “women, being incapable of exercising office, cannot be admitted to form part of the choir. Whenever desired to employ the high voices of sopranos and contraltos, these parts must be taken by boys, according to the most ancient usage of the Church.”68_{To compensate for the social disparity}

between men and women whilst wishing to perform the vocal disparity, cross-gender portrayals aimed to employ pre-pubescent males to utilise the same vocal qualities exhibited by the castrati. I am astonished by the reaffirmation of gender as rooted in biological sex resonating the patriarchal culture of the Middle Ages centuries later and around the same decade in which gender was established as a socio-historical construction!

To convincingly incorporate the inevitable cross-gender or gender-reversed casting after the 1588 ban of women on the stage, playwrights tended to shroud the leading female characters in sexual ambiguity. Many of Shakespeare’s heroines disguise themselves as men within the theatrical plot with men playing women, playing men.69_{The inability to credibly provide the illusion of a stylised female voice}

was therefore forgiven as within the context of the plot their masculine expression could be explained as part of the character’s male impersonation.

Whilst it was considered commonplace for men to reverse their gender on stage women were increasingly cross-dressing as men off the stage. The visually guised female enabled independence through temporary access into the public world of the male. This controversially threatened the gender-class system of patriarchal England resulting in an official order from King James I in 1620 that clergy men were

68 Ravens, Simon. “The Early Twentieth Century”. The Supernatural Voice: A History of High Singing. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2014, 186. Print.

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to dedicate themselves to condemn the act of women wearing men’s clothes for social elevation in public arenas.70

The Puritans, a group of reformed English Protestants, opposed male cross-gender performances on the stage for fear that like many women they may publically commit the “heinous” act of cross-dressing. Puritans even accused the theatrical device of causing further upheaval by promoting homosexuality in a society superficially perceived as heteronormative. This was not the first time the condemnation was cast: “Plato condemned the practice of men playing the role of women, lest they become feminized.”71

In late 1642, Puritan Oliver Cromwell assumed the position of Lord Protector in England, Scotland and Wales and passed a rule banning the staging of plays in London entirely due to cross-dressing as well as other immoral insults that the theatre made against Puritan religious values. This injunction remained in place for 18 years until the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 when Charles II became King. Not only was the monarchy restored but so was the acceptance of women on stage, although with no more respectability than in the Middle Ages.

Margaret Hughes is renowned as the first woman to legally perform on the English stage, in 1603.72_{Further into the 17}th_{-century women were not only playing}

their sex assigned roles of female characters, but were also cast cross-gender as male characters. The effort injected into the writing of female characters that were knowingly required to be played by men and thus a similar approach was promoted in the progressive construction of male characters designed to be played women. These parts are known as ‘breeches’ roles.

It is estimated that in the years between 1660 and 1700, 375 works were produced for the public stages of London that involved a breeches role. Three plays produced in June 1672, The Parson’s Wedding (Thomas Killigrew), Secret Love 70 Ramet, Sabrina Petra. “The Functions of Gender Reversals in Drama”. Gender Reversals and Gender Culture: Anthropological and Historical Perspectives. London: Routledge, 1996, 6. Print.

71 ibid.

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(John Dryden) and Philaster (Francis Beaumont & John Fletcher), were ‘apparently’ performed with an entirely female cast.73_{To incorporate the female to male}

cross-gender or cross-gender-reversed performances, the pre-restoration plays did require an element of re-writing.

The public appearance of women in short trousers and tights was risqué for the period but fed into the theatrical form of Pantomime, which evolved throughout the 19th_{century. A woman has traditionally played the Principal Boy since the 1880s and}

the tradition of a man playing the Panto Dame originated from an 1820 performance of the clown Joseph Grimaldi portraying the Baron’s wife in Cinderella; dames “have a bawdy sense of humour, outrageous costumes and extrovert characters”,74_{a typecast}

parallel between this character and a clown, regardless of the sexed gender of either.

This juxtaposition of gender culture within the world of the theatre against that of the wider society lay foundations for such a space in Britain to be used as a sociological ‘laboratory’: “If women were ‘supposed’ to be meek and subservient to men but were allowed to play the roles of men on stage, then the stage could become the arena for fundamental challenges to the sex/gender system.”75_{In the early 21}st

century, artistic director Mark Rylance challenged the sex/gender system, afforded a representation in gender-parity performance opportunities through the formation an all-female theatre company to complement the pre-existing male company at the Globe Theatre, London. Equally, in 2003 director Phyllida Lloyd defended her female to male cross-gender Shakespeare casts emphasising “that the use of ‘vice-verse’ casting would help to ‘redress the balance’ by giving women the chance to wear the codpiece”.76_{This will be further discussed in chapter 4.}

As evidenced, British theatre had previously been exploited as a vehicle to implement a hegemonic masculine gender order theory but may now be perceived as 73 Howe, Elizabeth. “Sex and Violence”. The First English Actresses: Women and Drama, 1660-1700. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1992, 58. Print.

74 “Pantomime Acts”. Victoria and Albert Museum. n.d. Web. 16 June 2017. Available: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/p/pantomime-acts/.

76Klett, Elizabeth. “Vice-Versa: All-Female Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre (2003-04)”. Cross-Gender Shakespeare and English National Identity: Wearing the Codpiece. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009, 139. Print.

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a vehicle for gender equality. Pioneered by Lloyd, the redressing of balance between male and female actors or actresses in spoken drama and reinterpreting the concept of gender has brought the theatre industry a revolutionary watershed for ‘gender-blind’ casting. Gender-blind casting aims to spread beyond the leads and throughout an entire cast, offering the gender-blind selection of multiple parts thereby simply concluding that this person is the best person for this role.77_{Coinciding with the}

development of Judith Butler’s performativity theory, is it not the stylised repetition of acts on stage that represent a character’s gender, regardless of that of the actor or actress? However, can this successfully be achieved in music-theatre? The manufacture of the castrati prove that generally the stylisation of the voice is bound to an individuals sex as determined by their reproductive arena. So how is this explained in a society that claims to welcome gender-fluidity?

Chapter 4 Shakespeare – “All the world’s a stage”

One of Shakespeare’s most renowned quotes, which immediately emphasises Judith Butler’s theory regarding the performativity of gender, is taken from his 1623 77 Lister, David. “The opening of two Shakespeare productions signal a considerable leap for gender-blind casting”. The Independent. 29 Jun. 2016. Web. 18 May 2017. Available:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/theatre-dance/the-opening-of-two-shakespeare-productions-signal-a-considerable-leap-forward-for-gender-blind-a7109181.html.

Gender; Is it More Than A Man Playing a Woman and Vice Versa? Musical Theatre in 21st Century Britain - The Cultural Innovator for Social Change

University of Amsterdam

Gender;

Is it More Than a Man Playing a Woman and Vice Versa?

Musical Theatre in 21

Century Britain – The Cultural Innovator for

Social Change

Abstract

Contents

Introduction

Chapter 1

Gender Concepts - A Social Construction

British Modernity – Pluralistic Gender Casting Practices

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Shakespeare – “All the world’s a stage”

_{Century Britain – The Cultural Innovator for}