Word: kott
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Dates: during 1967-1967
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Like many of Shakespeare's other comedies, the rickety plot of As You Like It involves a heroine who assumes masculine disguise. According to Polish Critic Jan Kott, much of the ribaldry, irony and ambiguity of this transvestite change is lost on modern audiences, who are accustomed to seeing females in female roles. In the 17th century the roles of women were invariably played by boys...
Inspired by Kott's theories, London's National Theater Company last week staged a version of As You Like It in which all four female parts were played by men. For the production the actor-actresses were garbed in wigs and flowing gowns but there were no falsies and no falsettos. The result was a remark ably chaste performance free of disturbing homoerotic overtones. While Lon don reviewers generally had mixed feelings about the experiment, they praised the angular grace of Ronald Pickup's Rosalind, which evoked memories of the sprightly 1961 performance in the same role...