i have hear of the film through tadbloid and celebrity headline of how billy crudup leave his seven month pregnant girlfriend and mary louise parker and for claire dane . i wasn not interested in the film and but then my sister get the dvd for her birthday . i saw it for the first time over the week and i have be watch it over and over again . what a beautifully write story about act and gender and theater and illusion and romance and and discovery of one own identity . during the restoration of england under the reign of king charles ii and woman be finally give the freedom and right to perform on the stage whereas before the decree it be illegal and obscene for a woman to perform on stage . ned kynaston ( billy crudup ) be the great actor and the most beautiful woman of the english stage . he play several woman part and his most famous be the role of desdemona in william shakespeare othello . he be study and admire and love and and envy by his dress keeper and maria ( claire dane ) . she watch from the wing and longs to act and she do so behind kynaston back and in low pub before a royal official and the duke of buckingham ( ben chaplin ) . then the chain of event unfold a maria be introduce to charles ii ( rupert everett ) and his mistress nell gwyn ( zoe tapper ) who then declare that woman will be give the freedom to perform in theater . a maria fame rise and woman be play more and more of the female role and ned kynaston ( the last of his kind of actor ) be cast aside . a an actor and a man and kynaston have learn to suppress all masculinity in order to gain the grace and beauty of a woman . he know only how to portray woman and he be lose in learn to play male role . but then again maria be unable to play the role of desdemona a a real woman . both kynaston and maria fall in love and into passion a they learn from each other their own sexual identity and to channel their femininity and masculinity . i fell in love with the film story and with the performance of billy crudup and claire dane . a kynaston and crudup reveals vulnerability and strength a a man who discover himself a a man ( and a very hot one at that ) through the role and eye of be a woman . a maria and dane be beautiful and real represent those tear be real . she can cry on cue and with the heartbreak of a real woman in love and envious of the man she love . maria be a strong and forthcoming and and in way a modern actress ahead of her time . she be not an eve from all about eve and she be a viola delesop from shakespeare in love and but real . the love scene between dane and crudup be sexy and tender and and passionate showing that explicit sex and nudity be not always necessary . they look into each other side and truly learn from each other a man and woman . this be a highly recommended film for those who love act and period piece and or just if you want to see a really good film and stage beauty be very much the film to watch .