Sir Ian McKellen will open a special reading of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night directed entirely by and starring trans and non-binary performers.
The 86-year-old acting legend, who is a longtime LGBTQ+ advocate, will introduce a one-night-only rehearsed performance from the new company, Trans What You Will.
The production will be staged at The Space Theatre in London on July 25 - on the eve of London Trans Pride - and will be available to watch globally via livestream.
"Twelfth Night is perhaps the funniest and most moving of Shakespeare's plays. This is achieved through the complexity of gender and sexuality from first to last,” the X-Men actor said.
“I'm really looking forward to the impact of this latest version of the play at The Space. I hope to see you there!"
Twelfth Night centres on Viola, who disguises herself as a man named Cesario to work for Duke Orsino and falls in love with him - although the Duke is in love with the Countess Olivia.
Olivia, however, falls for Cesario, unaware he's a woman in disguise.
“Twelfth Night already toys with gender and performance - it feels like Shakespeare wrote it for us,” director Phoebe Kemp, who uses they/them pronouns, said of the milestone in queer theatre.
“This reading is about joy, solidarity, and showing what’s possible when trans and nonbinary artists are at the centre of the story.”
“With mistaken identities, cross-dressing, and declarations of love across shifting gender roles, Twelfth Night has long explored the complexity of identity,” a Trans What You Will spokesperson added.
“This production makes that queerness explicit, reclaiming the story through the lived experiences of trans and nonbinary artists.”
All the proceeds from the evening will be donated to Not a Phase, a UK-based charity that supports trans and gender-diverse people.
Theatre veteran McKellen - who recently made a surprise appearance at a Scissor Sisters gig - has appeared in many Shakespeare plays, including Richard II, Macbeth, Coriolanus, Iago, Richard III, and King Lear.
The Lord of the Rings star came out as gay in 1988 and often discusses his sexuality in interviews, telling Jonathan Ross that the world is a “different place” to be queer than when he was growing up.
McKellen split from his actor boyfriend Oscar Conlon-Morrey, 30, in February 2024 after a year of dating.
He had long term relationships with Brian Taylor from 1964 to 1972 and with Sean Mathias from 1978 to 1988.
