Appalling. Cultural vandalism, no less. In Shakespeare’s play, Cymbeline was a King of Britain, Imogen his daughter.
Emma Rice is the new artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe theatre. An interview with her was published in today’s Guardian – here. An extract:
The fact that just 16% of Shakespeare’s characters are women – and that most of the memorable lines are spoken by men – will not stop Emma Rice’s mission to get a gender-balanced stage at Shakespeare’s Globe.
“There is no reason why Gloucester can’t be a woman,” said Rice, who succeeds Dominic Dromgoole as the venue’s artistic director in April. “If anybody bended gender it was Shakespeare, so I think it just takes a change of mindset.”
On Tuesday, Rice announced her inaugural season, which will open with a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and end with a version of Cymbeline “renamed and reclaimed” as Imogen.
