Sorcery Changes Helen Mirren’s Sex

The Tempest was Shakespeare’s swan song. It is about an old man at the end of his life watching his daughter begin hers. It is one of the Bard’s great roles for older men, along with King Lear, Richard III, and practically any other lead he wrote.

Shakespeare is only part of the problem. There are more good actresses than there are roles for women. They can be babes, mothers and grandmas, but that’s about it. Each time they graduate to a new age category there are fewer roles, and the roles are smaller.

Unlike older men, for whom all the world is a stage, older women have no place to display their mature talents. There are no roles for older actresses. So Helen Mirren stole one.

In the new adaption of the play, she will play Prospera. I’m surprised no one has thought of it before. The only necessary change will be to call the sorcerer mother instead of father. Hopefully the director will be wise enough to leave the rest well enough alone.