i have see billy crudup on stage and and he can be very good . i would say that here he brilliant . i seem to have miss this when it play in new york and and i do not know how . one might quibble over some of the . uh . eccentricity and but over all this be quite amazing . there be a recent chinese film about a boy who play woman on stage and and his lover . it cover a lot of the grow up part of how a boy get to play a woman on stage . this neatly skip that part and deal in a truly fascinating way with the aftermath . claire dane be a revelation . she make you completely believe in what youre see . her reaction to her environment and the fact that she be also hide who she really be give her a realistic ability to understand the man that crudup play . billy crudup delivers a truly indelible performance a a man with the wrong kind of up bring . a pretty boy who identify a a potential player of woman role and his entire education be build around learn the art of be a woman . he learn the part well enough to perform the role both on and off the stage and and become very close to a member of the king staff . i be surprise this do not get some academy buzz and but with the gay subplot and that might be understood . richard griffith be a particularly smarmy but amazingly understanding lord of the manor . the cast give a great rendition of life in the 1600 . they even step in what find in the street from time to time for some good verisimilitude . the historical event that provide the focus for this story be england king charles rule that woman would replace men in all woman role on the stage of england . nell gwynn clearly have some influence on this event . give the time in which the event occur and the nature of the participant and hogarths depiction of the world may well have give some impetus to the depiction of event a they be portray here . while part of this be a rollick good time and there be some dramatic moment that be quite overpowering and scary even . portray a the reality of event and the personal behavior be entirely believable . i couldn not find a sour note in the entire story .