stage beauty succeed beautifully in what any good period piece do and whether set 300 year ago or 300 year from now . it take u into that setting and find evocative character and and have them bring up plot matter that resonate . with u and that be . not necessarily with those actually live in the time depict . i say this because the central element of the story have be describe a unbelievable or unconvincing by some critic . ned kynaston ( billy crudup ) and at the end of his run in play female part and be pull from personal and professional despair through the insight and love of maria ( claire dane ) and his dresser and successor and they create a triumph out of this by bring some real emotion to the restoration stage . this have be decry a bring method act to the 17th century . it nothing of the kind . innovation be make during a fertile and provocative period of history . it do take 250 year to get away from excess artifice and gesture on stage . yet stage beauty make you believe that these character could have accomplish it in the 1660s . if you can live with that and show a success on stage that we can believe and even if it couldn not actually have happen . then you will enjoy this story . i be rivet by the way ned and maria turn their mutual fortune around . so be rupert everett wryly speak charles ii and and so and perhaps and will you . the story center on ned withering and growth in the face of adversity and and crudup show a huge range of emotion in carry out this character experience . complacency and haughtiness and sardonic amusement and appal shock and tenderness but most of all and a crush verdict on his own ability and deliver before charles and his mistress in a setting that only add to his humiliation . i be take entirely out of that moment in how i felt for him and almost an out of body experience . maria be the mainspring to ned watch face and and dane show her own range and depth of feeling . she take the wind of celebrity and itself something new for that time and and run with them . though she not past be bewilder by them and especially when her portrait be be paint . her suffering in the wing of several theater down to ned be abase before drunk show many depth of love and for act a such and for brilliance of technique and for ned himself . she almost never talk directly of love . ( hugh bonneville perceptive samuel pepys help bring it out at one crucial turn point . ) she show her love to ned and to all level of him and without once actually say so . the two be leave seemingly adrift at the end and with her final question and his response . yet their regard for each other transcends everything that be throw at them from his rag self doubt and to the royal court machination and violence and to her be obsess with act technique at the expense of create passion and fire . this be a story of word transcend gesture and artifice . the word win out and whether in backstage maneuvering and unexpected honesty ( even from the king mistress . ) and or gauge what can be do with a character . it a brave new world of be direct and get past evasion and imitation of emotion . dane and crudup inhabit their character . theyre simply english and no question the accent be perfect . the restoration physical setting be superb dark enough for post exile and pre fire london and entirely believable for court and stage and and back stage . the score be evocative and with twang of scots influence . every element immerse u in this world and even with the act paradigm shift note above . one can believe in these character and their difficulty and and it ultimately come to matter little that this be the 1660s . it a human triumph which be timeless . not every question of life be answer and for ned and maria and but you know that theyre embark toward a new world of find out about themselves more metaphorical than the journey undertaken at the end of shakespeare in love and but far more believable . dane and crudup deserve oscar nomination and and i doubt they will be deny . see for yourself and and be sure you do so in widescreen .