Gender in 21st Century Shakespeare

Can Othello be a woman? Can Ophelia be a man? Why not? Deep shifts in thinking about sex, gender identity and expression, and sexuality have occurred since the turn of the millennium, and correspondingly in casting, directing, and acting decisions in Shakespearean performance. Both major and regional productions reflect shifts in how gender changes are now less “novelties” or superficial to more experimental but also nuanced and sensitive performances. What does it mean to “act” as a woman or a man, to be “feminine” or “masculine”? How does that matter to an audience? Selected productions show what rethinking gender means for characters such as Othello, Ophelia, Richard II and Olivia. The performances are divided by a) those that “cross-sex” cast, b) those that “resex” a character, and c) those that leave open certain questions of gender, and consider how terms such as “gender-blending,” “gender-bending,” or “gender-blind,” are meaningful in 21^st century Shakespeare.