Cross-gender casting (i.e. the casting of female performers for male parts and vice versa) of plays by William Shakespeare is not a scarce phenomenon and is getting more and more popular in the recent years. In spite of the frequent claim of the theatre-makers and critics that it is in fact a gender blind casting, where the gender of the performer does not matter, the thesis attempts to prove that, in fact, it is not the case. This is exemplified on three most frequently staged and also most commonly cross-gender cast plays: Hamlet, King Lear and Romeo and Juliet. Via these examples the thesis shows the variability of approaches to cross-gender casting and the differences in realization. In the first chapter, the key terminology is defined, in order to avoid confusion, discussing the differences between cross-dressing, travesty and cross-gender casting. That is followed by subchapters in which the basic frame of thought is suggested, building on Judith Butler's deconstruction of gender and the concept of gender performativity. The last subchapter of this section deals with the history of cross-gender casting, including the Elizabethan all-male staging tradition. The next three chapters are then devoted to each of the plays, analyzing the possible interpretive keys and motivations for a cross-gender cast...

The diploma thesis The Role of Travesty Show in Media Culture is concerned with a question if we can find some similarities between the way how media presents travesty show and the way how people think and talk about this kind of entertainment. As a research method I chose qualitative content analysis and questionnaire. Theoretical part focuses on explanation of technical terms, history of homosexuality, queer culture, queer theory, travesty show and history. In practical part I will create concrete codes from qualitative content analysis and from these codes I will make categories. Part of practical part is also a questionnaire. In the end of this thesis I will compare the codes from qualitative content analysis with the answers from the questionnaire. And based on this comparison I will find out if there exist any similarities between the way how media presents travesty show and the way how people think and talk about this kind of entertainment.