Meet Mme.

Macbeth
Cross-dressing,
gender-bending
and gender-swapping
in productions of Macbeth.

Terminology
cross-dress intr.v.
to dress in clothing that is
usually worn by the opposite
sex.
cross-dresser n.
cross-dressing n.
(The American eritage !ictionary of
the "nglish #anguage, $ifth "dition,
oughton Mifflin arcourt %ublishing
Company, &'(()
cross-dressing n.
* transvestism n.
(+xford "nglish !ictionary +nline)
gender bender n.
(a) slang a person who dresses
and behaves in a manner
characteristic of the opposite
sex, or who combines attributes
of both sexes, (also) something
which challenges or defies
traditional notions of gender
gender-bending ad-. and n.
gender-bent ad-.
characteri.ed by or relating to
a change of gender, dressing
and behaving in a manner
characteristic of the opposite
sex
(+xford "nglish !ictionary +nline)

/hort history of cross-dressing in
"li.abethan and 0acobean drama - (

$emale characters were played by teenage

boys (aged ('-(1) in public playhouses.

There was no law forbidding women to act in

public, they did so out of a social convention
that considered women on stage as immodest
in self-exposing themselves.

2oble women nevertheless would perform at

court and in private aristocratic households.

/hort history of cross-dressing in
"li.abethan and 0acobean drama - &

$amous playwrights experimented with gender

roles, especially with the literary topos of the
woman disguising herself as a man in order to
preserve her chastity (as in the saints3 lives)
or, dressed up as page, to accompany her
lover in various chivalric adventures.

Crossed-dressed heroines can be found in five

of /ha4espeare3s plays5 The Two 6entlemen
of 7erona ((89'-9(), The Merchant of 7enice
((89:), As ;ou #i4e <t ((899), Twelfth 2ight
((:'() and Cymbeline ((:'9)

/hort history of cross-dressing in
"li.abethan and 0acobean drama - =

>enaissance plays contain some of the best

written female characters in the history of the
"nglish theatre and this raises some ?uestions on
the way the contemporaries perceived them5

@as the audience so accustomed to cross-dressed boy

actors that they willingly suspended disbelief and -ust
en-oyed the playA

And if so, how did they perceive the direct references

to womanly nature, as in #ady Macbeth3s famous
invocation to the nightly spirits to Bunsex me here3A @as
there always a little amount of irony or they actually
reinforced the illusion of a Breal3 woman acting on
stageA

Cross dressing C gender bending
Macbeth now

the$actionDs Macbeth (&''9)
They have used an all male company
Eto explore the relationship of an
emasculated Macbeth and an
unsexed #ady Macbeth and
perceived notions of masculine and
feminine traitsE. < am not convinced
that an all male cast brings
something new here.FGH
There is an area however where the
concept is more successful. FGH the
weight of the -uxtaposition between
#ady MacbethDs uncompromising
ambition and the maternal
vulnerability of #ady Macduff FGH,
this is made all the more so since
this slightly pared adaptation has
her son as a small child that she
holds to her breast.
(/andra 6iorgetti,
britishtheatreguide.info)

/4in TheatreDs Macbeth (&'(=)
An all-female production of the /cottish %layA
@ell, in /ha4espeareDs day all the roles were acted by men and youths,
itDs not such a stretch to play it the other way around. F...H
Macbeth is all about what it means to be a man I #ady Macbeth accuses
Macbeth of not having the courage to be a man and 4ill the 4ing, Malcolm
fears he is not man enough to ta4e his rightful place as 4ing, Macduff
grieves for his family but is told to Bdispute it li4e a man3. !espite the
inner conflicts of many of the men in this play, it seems the women have
the greatest inner strength I #ady Macbeth empowering Macbeth, the
witches tric4ing Macbeth, #ady Macduff defending her children.
(Jelly arris, stuff.co.n.Kmanawatu-standard)

JingDs %layersD
Mme. Macbeth (&'(=)
L ow do you ma4e a M''N year old play
seem newA @hy, you switch the gender of
all the players, of courseO F...H
<n this gender-bending version of Macbeth,
the woman are 4ings and rulers, they are the
warriors. All the female parts of the
traditional play are, of course, now males
F...H
6adway is fantastic as Macbeth, sturdy and
manly, all the things you would expect of a
great warrior. Put she has a certain
gracefulness that only a woman could bring
to the role.
Jing in his role as #ady Macbeth is another
highlight. e personified and pro-ected the
ladyli4e ?ualities that a highborn woman
such as #ady Macbeth would possess with
his co?uettish smile and coy glances. Q
(Anne Tsang, dcmetrotheaterarts.com)

Annex TheaterDs Macbeth (&'(=)
<n this Annex Theater production,
Macbeth is played by a woman F..H. Put
director "van Morit. wasn3t trying to do a
gender-bending approach to the Pard.
F...H
Morit. admits he was intrigued by the
possibilities of a female Macbeth. /till, he
adds, LAs we wor4ed on the show, we
agreed not to play gender, but to find the
pathway to the character through text,
relationships with other characters, and
scenic ideas.Q
(Paynard @oods, citypaper.com)
A fresh new ta4e on allowing talented
performers of all genders to embar4 on
the -ourney of madness, corruption,
greed and fate F...H
(Amanda 6unther, dcmetrotheaterarts.com)

2ational Theatre of /cotlandDs
Macbeth (&'(&)
FAlan CummingH is playing all the roles in /ha4espeareDs tragedy, an +lympic
feat of both endurance and gender-bending. All three witchesA Cumming.
eDs also Pan?uo and #ady Macduff, for good measure.
<n the play, Cumming appears as a patient in a white-tiled mental hospital for
whom the plot of EMacbethE is sort of a schi.ophrenic nightmare. F...H
Rsing a mental patient as the framing device ma4es intuitive sense for
EMacbethE since the play is filled with visions I E<s this a dagger which < see
before meAE I and references to addled brains. E+, full of scorpions is my
mind,E Macbeth tells his wife at one point. FGH watching a modern man suffer
what Macbeth goes through is a way to ma4e the savagery in the play, which
often feels mythologi.ed and removed, more urgent.
(Mar4 Jennedy, huffingtonpost.com)

Conclusion

@hat most of the examined productions finally

lac4 is the added value of a new reading of events
and character relationships as we otherwise saw
in 0ulie TaymorDs The Tempest.

JingDs %layersD Mme. Macbeth and the$actionDs

Macbeth are the only declared gender-bender
productions, both of them are unfortunately not
fully convincing in conveying such a theme.

The other productions do not mean to explore

gender issues through their shows, but only to let
the actors measure themselves with roles
generally performed by the opposite sex.