"The Ultimate Performance":
Changing Genders in Theater

     The act of performing is central to the world of theater and of many kinds of folklore. This website explores two main “hubs” of theater performance in Greece and Britain, and how performances often saw actors performing multiple roles, with characters of all genders. Through the lenses of gender and folklore, I look closer into the staged productions of gender contrasting early Greece, early Britain, and modern theater. This is followed by an examination of the spectacle of theater itself, with the evolution of theater as a verbal art tradition and the diverse use of masks in performances of different plays as well as performances of gender itself.