Private parts, public bodies : cross-dressing in the work of Deborah Warner and Elizabeth Lecompte

Abstract

In this thesis I ask what cross-dressing can tell us about the formation of identity in performance. I argue that the use of cross-dressing in the work of Deborah Warner and Elizabeth LeCompte can be used to challenge and expand the field of theatre scholarship on cross-dressing. I examine how Warner's 1995 production of Richard II, and LeCompte's 1993 production of The Emperor Jones used cross-dressing in performance. I analyse these productions in five key ways: I investigate how gender was represented through the use of cross-dressing, I look at the relationship between the "real" and the "illusion" in the productions, 1 focus on the range of identities invoked through the use of cross-dressing, I examine the kinds of bodies produced in performance, and 1 discuss how spectators were imagined and invented by these productions. My thesis is divided into three sections. In Section One, Part One, 1 review the scholarship on crossdressing and, in Part Two, I investigate the historical precedents for the use of cross-dressing in my chosen productions. Section Two is divided into three chapters and focuses on the work of Deborah Warner. Section Three is also divided into three chapters and focuses on the work of Elizabeth LeCompte. In my conclusion, I compare how these directors have used cross-dressing in their work.