British Poll Says 48% Disapprove of a Female Hamlet, 15% Approve

Gender-blind casting isn't anything new when it comes to Shakespeare. Since women were forbidden from the stage during Elizabethan times you might say the premieres of all of his plays incorporated gender-blind casting.

Of course, the way it's used in modern times is to help decrease the gap between plays produced with leading roles for men and those produced with leading roles for women.

The title role in HAMLET is one that has been played by some of the stage's great women actors, such as Sarah Siddons, Eva LeGallienne and Sarah Bernhardt (depicted in photo). Bernhardt even preserved a bit of her performance as the silent screen's first Hamlet, appearing in the play's final conflict against Laertes in the 1899 French film "Le Duel d'Hamlet." (see video) More recently, Maxine Peake earned admiration for her turn as Denmark's prince in a 2014 Royal Exchange Theatre production.

But, as reported by The Stage, of the 2,000 British respondents to a recent YouGov poll, 48% opposed the notion of a woman playing the role. 15% favored the idea and 28% designated themselves as neutral.

The gender of the respondent did not make a significant difference, with 47% of women disapproving and 48% of men.

Additionally, nearly a third of the respondents approved of Hamlet being played by a non-white male, compared with 20% who felt negatively about it.

The survey asked about various iconic characters traditionally portrayed as white males, including Doctor Who and James Bond and polled for opinions about different casting choices.

The findings suggested that women were significantly more accepting of race-swapping than men, with a gap in positivity of at least 13% between them for each role suggested.

With regards to Hamlet, 38% of female respondents were in favor of a minority actor playing the role compared to just a quarter of male respondents.

Age was also a factor, with older respondents revealing more negative attitudes towards race and gender-swapping and those between 18-24 being the most positive.

Click her for the full article.