Tag Archives: original practices

No women, wigs or lipstick: All-male Portland cast takes on Shakespeare

Peter Brown, playing the king's daughter, Goneril, rehearses a scene from Shakespeare’s "King Lear" in Portland on Sunday. All female characters in the production are being played by males, a concept knows as “original practices,” because in Shakespeare’s day, women did not act in the theatre. Female roles were played by adolescent boys. Troy R. Bennett | BDN

Shakespeare’s “King Lear” is not a comedy. It’s the story of a monarch who decides to divide his kingdom between his daughters. Two are awful and one is sweet. Loyalties are questioned, deceit is employed by the bucketful, betrayals abound, eyes get gouged out and the innocent are hanged. It’s a real bummer. Kidding aside, it’s […]