Sir Ian McKellen to open historic all-trans and non-binary production of Shakespeare classic
Sir Ian McKellen (Getty)
Sir Ian McKellen (Getty)
Sir Ian McKellen will open a brand new production of the Shakespeare classic Twelfth Night featuring all trans and non-binary performers.
The Lord of the Rings star, 86, will join in on the one-night only rehearsed reading by the theatre group Trans What You Will in July.
Staged at London’s The Space Theatre, the reading will be broadcast globally via a livestream. All profits are going to the UK-based trans charity, Not A Phase.
The performance will take one of Shakespeare’s most well known and gender-fluid works and reimagine it through a trans lens.
“With mistaken identities, cross-dressing, and declarations of love across shifting gender roles, Twelfth Night has long explored the complexity of identity,” a press release reads.
“This production makes that queerness explicit, reclaiming the story through the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary artists.”
Phoebe Kemp, who is directing, has said: “Twelfth Night already toys with gender and performance, it feels like Shakespeare wrote it for us. This reading is about joy, solidarity and showing what’s possible when trans and nonbinary artists are at the centre of the story.”
The performance, which will take place ahead of London Trans+ Pride, has also been billed as “a joyful act of protest and pleasure activism, celebrating gender diversity at a time when trans representation remains under threat.:
Twelfth Night – A Rehearsed Reading by Trans What You Will is set to take place on 25 July 2025 at The Space Theatre. Tickets to attend in person are available here. Tickets for the livestream are available here. Pay-what-you-can tickets are available.
