Actor Sir Ian McKellen, forever immortalized as Gandalf in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, plans to produce Shakespeare’s classic Twelfth Night with an all transgender, non-binary cast.
McKellen will reportedly join in on “the one-night only rehearsed reading by the theatre group Trans What You Will in July,” per Pink News.
“Staged at London’s The Space Theatre, the reading will be broadcast globally via a livestream,” noted the outlet.
All profits from the production will go to the UK-based charity, Not A Phase, which bills itself as a “trans-led, nationwide charity committed to uplifting and improving the lives of trans+ adults, through awareness campaigning, social projects and funding trans+ lead initiatives.” The performance will happen just before London Trans+ Pride and has been billed as “a joyful act of protest and pleasure activism, celebrating gender diversity at a time when trans representation remains under threat.”
While Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night notoriously deals with themes of gender and sexual differences, especially in how the character Viola could navigate more exclusive circles of society disguised as a man, the play has also been interpreted as a criticism of Elizabethan England banning women from the theater and insisting men play women’s roles on stage.
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