Synopsis:
In 17th century London, NED KYNASTON is revered for his portrayal of the great heroines of the English stage. He’s currently bringing down the house as Desdemona in the Betterton Theatre production...
In 17th century London, NED KYNASTON is revered for his portrayal of the great heroines of the English stage. He’s currently bringing down the house as Desdemona in the Betterton Theatre production of Othello. Ned’s adoring dresser, MARIA, watches faithfully from the wings mouthing his every word, but his fellow actors are infuriated by Ned’s death scene - the thunderous applause from his fans drowns out their final lines.
In the post-performance bustle of Ned’s dressing room, theater owner THOMAS BETTERTON, who plays Othello, complains to the diarist SAMUEL PEPYS about Ned’s tendency to devour the spotlight. Business is good thanks to Ned, but Betterton is troubled by a remark from the King. CHARLES II has lately been hoping for something new and unexpected on the stage – he wants surprises and more comedy. Betterton doubts that Othello can be played for laughs...
Ned, meanwhile, receives visitors in his dressing room as Maria attends to his every need. He accepts an invitation to ride through Hyde Park with two GENTLE LADIES, who are titillated by his celebrity and his cross-dressing. In a darkened carriage, they coax Ned into letting them see what’s hidden beneath his petticoats. The ladies’ curiosity satisfied, the party spills out of the coach outside the theater where they are accosted by SIR CHARLES SEDLEY, who drunkenly mistakes the giggling trio for prostitutes. When Ned fails to defend their honour, the outraged ladies leave him alone with Sedley. The amorous aristocrat is surprised when his groping reveals that Ned is no woman – surprised but not deterred. Ned rebuffs Sedley’s advances and returns to theater.
At Betterton’s, Ned meets his patron and lover, VILLIARS, DUKE OF BUCKINGHAM, for a late night tryst. Maria, meanwhile, has taken one of Ned’s costumes and raced to Killigrew’s Cockpit Tavern, where she is secretly starring as Desdemona in an underground production of Othello. It’s underground because this is 1660; and women are not allowed to appear on the stage. Despite her mediocre performance, Maria’s gender makes her an overnight sensation, and the omnipresent Pepys is there to record it all in his diary.
After enjoying a risqué musical performance starring his stage-struck young mistress, NELL GWYN, King Charles welcomes a variety of dinner guests to the palace: Villiars and Ned, as well as Sedley and the toast of the town, Killigrew’s female actress ‘Mrs. Margaret Hughes’. When Ned realizes that Margaret Hughes is none other than Maria, he is shocked and angered by her deceit. King Charles is delighted: here at last is the something new and different he’d been looking for.
Charles II issues a royal decree, and instantly the stage doors open to women. Maria is taken under Charles Sedley’s wing and is encouraged to audition for the role of Emilia in Betterton’s production of Othello. Her initial reluctance is quickly replaced by spiteful determination: Ned is behaving outrageously and needs knocking down a peg or two. Maria’s audition is a disaster; she can’t act, and Ned’s sneering presence makes her desperately uncomfortable. Ned announces that he will never share the stage with a woman. Maria returns to playing Desdemona at the Cockpit. Having witnessed Maria’s humiliation and angered by Ned’s insult to women, Nell persuades King Charles to issue another royal decree – this time forbidding a male from playing the role of a female. Ned is instantly out of a job and bereft of an identity. That night, he is attacked by thugs hired by Sedley, who seeks revenge for Ned’s rejection of him. Ned is left for dead in the park.
Ned emerges into a changed world where there is no part for him. Villiars has withdrawn his “patronage” and plans to marry a woman. Maria has a permanent gig with Killigrew. Ned appeals to the King to withdraw his decree and offers to apologize to Nell, but Charles will have none of it. Instead, he encourages Ned to act like a man in a man’s part - Othello. Before an audience including King Charles, Nell, Maria and others at the palace, Ned attempts to deliver one of the Moor’s speeches, but his voice breaks, his wrists go limp and all the frustrations of his predicament leave him unable to continue. Watching Ned struggle, Maria’s heart goes out to him. She is battling her own crisis of confidence: star she may be, but Maria suspects she’s a lousy actress. Even Pepys, her first and greatest fan, has shifted his attention elsewhere.
Ned’s downward spiral lands him in a burlesque in a tawdry bar. Maria finds him there one evening, drunkenly and half-heartedly performing a parody of his former, glorious self. Before Ned can pull his skirt over his head, Maria yanks him off stage, handing the mistress of ceremonies a tidy sum to buy out his “contract”. Maria takes Ned to a country inn where she tenderly cares for him. Lying in bed together, they discuss the differences between the sexes and playfully switch gender roles back and forth, asking, “Who are you now?” depending who is on top. Their lovemaking comes to an abrupt halt when Ned can’t stifle an insult to Maria’s skills as an actress and she tearfully storms out.
Betterton is in need of a new Desdemona; but Maria’s confidence is shattered and she refuses his last minute offer. Nell appeals to Ned to help Maria learn the role and Ned agrees in exchange for a share in Betterton’s theater. Ned brilliantly teaches Maria how to play Desdemona, and in doing so, finds himself empowered as Othello.
During the performance of the death scene that evening, Ned/Othello smothers Maria/Desdemona as is called for in the play. For a long moment, it looks to everyone as though he might have truly killed her. At last, the apparently lifeless Maria dazzles the hushed house with her final lines. The audience – including King Charles and Nell – goes wild. Backstage, the dressing room is buzzing with well-wishers; but the sensational Othello and Desdemona are nowhere to be found. In the wings, Maria glows from their triumph, drawing back from a passionate kiss to ask, “Who are you now?” and laughing when Ned truthfully replies, “I don’t know.”
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