Shakespeare in Transition: Pedagogies of Transgender Justice and Performance

As the rhetoric of gender and trans theory has made its way into Shakespeare studies, critics and practitioners increasingly reach for “trans” as a lens through which to read and produce Shakespeare. This chapter points out that although both Shakespearean performance and criticism rely on the rhetoric of trans people and their bodies, actual trans people and bodies are predominantly absent from discourse and performance. This essay looks to readings of the “transgender” in Shakespeare as a way of grappling with both historicist and presentist methodologies, asking us to look beyond “the pants” of cross-dressed heroines to more subtle signifiers of gender nonconformity. The essay then tracks some ways in which education and outreach departments can engage trans and gender-nonconforming communities at the level of production.