Stage Beauty
Stage Beauty is a 2004 romantic drama set in the 1660s, starring Claire Danes and Billy Crudup. It was directed by Richard Eyre and written by Jeffrey Hatcher.
It follows the fortunes of and relationship between Maria (Claire Danes), one of the first actresses to perform female roles on the English stage, and Ned Kynaston (Billy Crudup) one of the leading male actors of these roles. Although the Maria character and the storyline is fictional, it is accurately based on the historical period (c 1660) when actresses first appeared on the English stage, and includes real historical figures such as Ned Kynaston, Samuel Pepys, Charles II and Charles II's favourite mistress, Nell Gwynne.
Most of Stage Beauty's external scenes were shot on location in Greenwich, London, at the 17th century Greenwich Hospital (now the University of Greenwich); some scenes were also filmed in the Hospital's Painted Hall.
Memorable quotes
- Ned Kynaston: "A woman playing a woman? Where's the trick in that?"