Review of Anonymous (2011) by Liz B — 18 Feb 2014

Meandering story that is hard to follow unless you are a historian or decide to take a Wikipedia break to look up some of the key characters/events.

The play-within-a-play framing device feels a bit clumsy, even if Derek Jacobi is a pleasure to hear. The portrayal of the queen was disappointing, not in terms of the acting, but in terms of the caricature: jealous, whimsical, somewhat scatterbrained, tool of her councillors, more in thrall to her sexual interests than her senses. All the other females were quite one-dimensional. Meanwhile, there were also some strange allusions to some of the men's possible homosexuality, but this was not explored (in which case, why play with the idea?).

All in all, disappointing.