- Oct 5, 2017
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Uhh... I'm talking about in the modern era. I know that in Shakespeare's time all roles would be played by men, but our guy visits London in the 21st century, not prior to 1661. The tradition of some male roles being played by women is a 20th/21st century thing (possibly 19th as well, not sure exactly how old the tradition is).It's good to see an intelligent response I was expecting more on this line: Though there is evidence that women acted in street performances, and in other notorious venues, all commercial acting companies of the time were made up entirely of men and it was illegal for women to act on stage professionally until 1661.
The play is usually performed on stage, however there were instances of street theater back in those days. But as I indicated mostly the performers were males. It is only since the confusion of many have the roles been reversed or ignored as a matter of representation. Puck would be a DUKE in the hierarchy of the shadow fairies / elves and that would be third place in the indicated hierarchy. In professional theater when I was attending University, the Puck role was a man, with skill as a harlequin entertainer. In case I am not clear, they were male performers but played the role of women in the case of Titania for official posh audiences. Not like a drag queen...