What is a travesty? Definition of the term and examples

Many people ask themselves "What is a travesty?" Due to lack of awareness in this area. Also, there is often confusion associated with the similar sound of the words "travesty" and "transvestism." The first is associated with theatrical activities, and the latter is often observed in people with gender dysphoria (i.e., when a person can not accept his sexual status). An example of this can serve as a recent film, the nominee for "Oscar" - "Girl from Denmark."

Definition of term

So, let's look at the travesty in more detail. The definition of the term says that this is a kind of theatrical role. It consists in the fact that the actor plays the role of the opposite sex, changing into appropriate clothing. However, this concept is primarily associated with the case when an adult artist plays the role of a child (a boy or a girl).

This role was born mainly because it is difficult to demand from the child-actor the exact execution of all the instructions of the director. In addition, children quickly grow up, and performances, as we know, can go on stage for years and even decades. In the name of avoiding the constant introduction of new actors, children came up with a way to play. After all, an actress or an actor can perform in one role for quite a long time.

We hope now it's clear what a travesty is.

From the history

Since the appearance of the theater and until the sixteenth century, women were forbidden to go out on the stage. However, women's roles have not been canceled, so they had to play disguised men. More often it was young people (young men) or castrati (because of their thin voice).

These traditions in the European sense have long been wild. However, in some national theaters they were held for a very long time.

So, in the traditional theater of Japan , women still do not play. Actors-men there are deprived of any age restrictions. Some Japanese have transferred their images and screens to the cinema. For example, Yukinjo was playing the role of son and his mother in one film.

To understand what is a travesty in Japan, it is enough to watch their screen versions of such works as "Romeo and Juliet", "Lady Macbeth", where all women's parties are performed by men.

Types of roles

In different years the travesty changed its appearance somewhat. In the dramatic theater, this term could imply the roles of female actresses, who in the course of the action had to change into men's clothes (for example, for the sake of punning). Examples are:

• Viola in the play "Twelfth Night". A comedy based on Shakespeare's plays tells of Viola and Sebastian, twins. During the shipwreck, they lose each other. The girl, disguised in menswear, remains in the palace of the Duke of Orsino under the name of Caesario. All would be nothing, but only Viola falls in love with him, and the Countess Olivia begins to dream of Caesario.
• Beatrice in the play "The Servant of Two Masters". The girl changes into the costume of her late brother to find her lover, who is accused of murder.

It may also seem interesting, what is a travesty in opera. There, of course, no one is playing dress-up. This term is used relative to the sex of parties. So, for example, if an opera singer performs a musical part of a young man, she is called a travesty.

For example, the party of the shepherd Lelya in the Snow Maiden was performed by the opera singer Anna Bichurina (1882), the role of Siebel in Faust was performed by Elena Gribova, Margreta Elkins, Michelle Coman.

Russian artists

In Russian cinema, we often see an actor in the role of a travesty, but he does not even think about it. Who does not remember the fabulous Babu Yaga? Her role throughout his life was played by the genius George Miller. And Alexander Kalyagin in the movie "Hello, I'm your aunt"? All these are examples of travesty.

The Soviet theater and cinema horizon had its own travesty-divas. For example, Janina Jeimo, who all her life played teenage girls because of her fragile physique. Her most famous work was the role of Cinderella. At the time of filming, the actress was almost forty years old.

Here are some examples of actors who have tried themselves in this role:

• Olga Bgan, who played the role of the Little Prince;
• Larissa Golubkina. In her film debut in the film "The Hussar Ballad" she played the role of Shurochka Azarova, disguised as a cornet;
• Liya Akhedzhakova. She began her career in the theater with this role.

Travesty is widely represented on the stage. It is worth remembering only Verka Serduchka, New Russian women.

Foreign artists

Abroad, the actress-travesty is a great rarity. In general, this role is in the possession of male actors. But you can take as an example the work of Sarah Bernhard in the film "The Duel of Hamlet", where she played the main character.

In Hollywood, the most significant roles in this role went to Michael Jay Fox, who in the trilogy "Back to the Future" played his character (Marty McFly) at different ages, as well as his son and daughter.

And incomparable Dustin Hoffman embodied on the television screen the image of Michael Dorsey, forced to change clothes by a woman named Dorothy Michaels, to stay with his children, with whom he separated after a divorce from his wife.

Of the recent films, you can highlight the work of Eddie Redmein in "The Girl from Denmark." For his reincarnation, the actor was nominated for an Oscar.