Women in theatre are at no disadvantage, and gender stereotyping is reinforced by "reducing the complex question of equality to a matter of statistics and quotas", says Rupert Christiansen.
Gender-bending is one of the theatre’s oldest games – as old as dressing up in costume and putting on plays, perhaps – but the recent coincidence of Maxine Peake playing Hamlet at the Royal Exchange, directed by Sarah Frankcom, and the all-female Henry IV at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, has caused a renewed flurry of interest in the issue, as well as allowing feminists to repeat the canard that women in this profession still lack opportunities and equality.
The case is passionately argued, but I can only say I have never encountered any male who would dream of blocking a talented woman’s advancement in any branch of the performing arts on the grounds of sex. Keep reading on The Telegraph
Gender-bending is one of the theatre’s oldest games – as old as dressing up in costume and putting on plays, perhaps – but the recent coincidence of Maxine Peake playing Hamlet at the Royal Exchange, directed by Sarah Frankcom, and the all-female Henry IV at the Donmar Warehouse, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, has caused a renewed flurry of interest in the issue, as well as allowing feminists to repeat the canard that women in this profession still lack opportunities and equality.
The case is passionately argued, but I can only say I have never encountered any male who would dream of blocking a talented woman’s advancement in any branch of the performing arts on the grounds of sex. Keep reading on The Telegraph