Shakespeare’s plays challenge the gender binary so often that it almost ceases to exist. That’s one reason May is such a natural fit in the world of & Juliet, a new story about what happens if Juliet survives her famous tragedy.

Ironically, though, Shakespeare doesn’t bring May into the show. It’s Anne, Shakespeare’s wife, who introduces them as Juliet’s best friend. At first, Shakespeare isn’t even that supportive. He says he’s confused by May’s gender expression. 

But Anne’s not having it. “Really?” she asks. “This from the man who’s built a career on men dressing as women, often playing women dressing as men? The man whose name is basically synonymous with gender bending? Do you really think it’s up to you to question May’s gender or sexuality, or do you think maybe May is whoever May is, and it’s really none of your business?”

And here’s the crucial thing: Shakespeare immediately understands Anne’s point. For the rest of the show, everyone embraces May as May. Playwright David West Read makes sure May’s story is about the quest for love and not the fight for acceptance. 

There’s something similar in Shakespeare’s plays. In The Merchant of Venice, nobody gets too worked up over Portia disguising herself as a man so that she can appear as a lawyer in court, and in Twelfth Night, everyone’s impressed when they realize Viola has successfully lived as a man in the Duke’s court. All these characters – May included – have bigger stories to tell, and we’re able to hear them because nobody gets hung up on their gender identity.

aIn & Juliet, the characters even get their own Max Martin songs to help us understand them. Take “I Kissed a Girl.” François, a young French nobleman, sings the title line about kissing May, and May describes themself with a few she/her pronouns from the lyrics. Then they add, “You know I’m not a girl, right?” François says, “I don’t care. I just like kissing you.”

Finally, May rewrites the song to sing, “I kissed a boy, and I liked it.”

The point is that it’s fluid. May’s identity and François’ sexuality are what they are. They don’t change the fact that these two people want to kiss each other. 

Something similar happens with Juliet and May’s friendship. In a crucial moment, May sings, “I’m Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman,” which they turn into an anthem of existing outside the binary. At one point, Juliet adds that she doesn’t think of May as a girl or a boy, just her friend. 

Like “I Kissed a Girl,” & Juliet expands the meaning of this song, so that it’s about making space for everyone. There’s room in this show for people as spectacular as May, just like there’s room in Shakespeare’s plays and in the rest of the world. 

EMBRACING MAY

1. If you’re not sure which pronouns someone uses, then don’t be afraid to ask. It’s polite! Once they tell you, use those pronouns going forward.
2. It’s important to remember that nonbinary and gender expansive people have always existed, well before Shakespeare’s time. In our current moment, we just have more ways to recognize and celebrate these identities and experiences. 
3. But that said, Shakespeare himself was comfortable with non-gendered pronouns. In The Comedy of Errors, for instance, one of the lead characters declares, “There’s not a man I meet but doth salute me if I were their well-acquainted friend.” Notice that he casually uses “their” instead of “his” to describe this imaginary man.
4. Speaking of Shakespeare’s time, let’s dig further into his depictions of gender. Along with The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night, he uses gender bending as a plot point in Two Gentlemen of Verona, Cymbeline, As You Like, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and The Taming of the Shrew.
5. In one of his most famous sonnets – Sonnet 20 – Shakespeare’s language seems to tease the idea of gender roles by addressing a young man whose face has been painted like a woman’s. It’s another reminder the Bard takes an expansive view of humanity.