In the Live Globe performance of the Twelfth Night, the issues of gender identity and alternative sexuality registers different from the reading mainly with a sense of humor. For example, when Viola says to Olivia, referring to Maria, “ Most Radiant, Exquisite, and unmatchable beauty-/ I pray you tell me if this be the lady of the house, for I/ never saw her” (1.5. 161-163). In the written play, this line would be read and most likely not get much of a response other than an acknowledgment. Though, in the Globe performance, after Viola says this. The camera focuses on Maria; who then smirks at the camera and receives loud laughter. If it were not for the male actor playing Maria, the response in the play would have been similar to that of
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Despite the fact that the men talked in slightly higher pitches, wore bright make-up, and used lady-like gestures things were still seen very different from the traditional version. He talks about the Elizabethan approach for the production and how certain scenes can be seen as homoerotic. Though, Bulman seems to believe that the all male cast brought a much more dramatized and comical taste rather than that of the traditional screening. “…Ironically, the use of cross-dressing in contemporary productions of Shakespeare may speak more forcefully to us than it ever did to Elizabethan audiences” (Bulman, 81). Many years in to the past, if such a play was produced, the audience would most likely not sexualize the position of all-male cast. With the many different views on this topic now, everything is much more questionable. With a constantly changing and growing world, things like homosexuality are and will continue to grow. I believe that it is important to open our minds to the art of the play and not limit our minds to focus on the gender identity controversy part of it. Most ideas are not our own, but what we were told was right or wrong, by religion, caretakers, or society. I would agree with Bulman in a sense that the all-male cast brought more flavor to the foreground because the imagination was allowed to go even further. I would also agree that the productions all-male, cross-dressing, brought much more attention to the Globes audience that it would have of an audience of the 16th
Despite the fact that the men talked in slightly higher pitches, wore bright make-up, and used lady-like gestures things were still seen very different from the traditional version. He talks about the Elizabethan approach for the production and how certain scenes can be seen as homoerotic. Though, Bulman seems to believe that the all male cast brought a much more dramatized and comical taste rather than that of the traditional screening. “…Ironically, the use of cross-dressing in contemporary productions of Shakespeare may speak more forcefully to us than it ever did to Elizabethan audiences” (Bulman, 81). Many years in to the past, if such a play was produced, the audience would most likely not sexualize the position of all-male cast. With the many different views on this topic now, everything is much more questionable. With a constantly changing and growing world, things like homosexuality are and will continue to grow. I believe that it is important to open our minds to the art of the play and not limit our minds to focus on the gender identity controversy part of it. Most ideas are not our own, but what we were told was right or wrong, by religion, caretakers, or society. I would agree with Bulman in a sense that the all-male cast brought more flavor to the foreground because the imagination was allowed to go even further. I would also agree that the productions all-male, cross-dressing, brought much more attention to the Globes audience that it would have of an audience of the 16th