There are things that I can be as a woman, that I cannot be as a man.
Ned Kynaston is a male actor of female parts, and the brightest star in the thespian firmament - beautiful, brilliant and bisexual.
But when King Charles II decrees that real women are allowed to perform on stage for the first time, Ned seems lost. The novelty of actresses grips London's audiences and Ned's own dresser, Maria, usurps him as a star performer. It is only when he is finally ordered to help her with her performance that, in a confusion of sexual chemistry, a tender love affair is born. Stage Beauty is a playful and witty comedy about performing, falling in love and trying to find out who you are.
From Richard Eyre, the director of Notes on a Scandal and Iris.
Starring:
Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Rupert Everett, Tom Wilkinson, Ben Chaplin, Hugh Bonneville, Richard Griffiths, Edward Fox
Director:
Richard Eyre
Producers:
Hardy Justice, Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro
Screenplay:
Jeffrey Hatcher
Executive Producers:
Michael Kuhn, Richard Eyre, James D Stern, Amir Malin, Rachel Cohen
Sales agent:
Distributor:
Credits summary:
Momentum Pictures, BBC Films and Qwerty Films present a Tribeca Production in association with N1 European Film Produktions GmbH & Co KG and Artisan Entertainment A Richard Eyre Film
Certificate:
15
Running time:
115 mins
Released
21 April 2004
Out on DVD
14 December 2004