In theater, a breeches role or breeches part (also pants role, pants part, trouser role, trouser part, and Hosenrolle) is a role in which a female actor performs in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were a standard male garment when these roles were introduced.

A breeches role is a part in an opera in which a woman plays the role of a man. It is also called a trouser role (British) or pants role (U.S.) or travesti role (the Italian word). It is called a breeches role because breeches are tight-fitting, knee-length trousers .

Jan 11, 2016 · Instead I am referring to roles where the audience should suspend its disbelief and believe that the actress on stage is, in fact, male. These roles are also often known as “trouser roles” or a “breeches part”. For clarity’s sake, I will simply refer to them as pants roles.

breeches role (plural breeches roles) A role in a theatrical production in which an actress appears in male clothing.

Jun 1, 2022 · Pants Roles: Gender Fluidity and Queer Undertones in Opera 18th century British actress Charlotte Goodall in a "breeches role." ( Public Domain )

A breeches role (also pants role or trouser role, or Hosenrolle) is one in which an actress appears in male clothing. Breeches, tight-fitting knee-length pants, were the standard male garment at the time these roles were introduced.

2 days ago · A commercially successful device in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the breeches role began with the arrival of women on stage in the Restoration. New plays frequently included a female character who adopts male disguise in plots that ultimately turn on the discovery of her true sexual identity.

This catalogue is a digital project aiming to curate records of individual Shakespearean breeches performances by actresses from 1660 to 1900. We define breeches roles as roles written as male characters but played by a woman actress, and disguise roles as women characters,…

May 13, 2014 · The term “breeches role,” referring to a role in which an actress appears in male clothing, originated during this period – breeches being the standard male garments worn at the time.

Breeches roles — women disguised as men — were meant to show off their womanly figures, especially their chests and legs (Howe 56). A plot device related to the breeches part was the reveal of the true female character.