Female Impersonation

Female Impersonation. In the Greek and Elizabethan theatres female parts were invariably played by boys and men, as they were for centuries in China and Japan, where the actress is a comparatively late importation. Some actors, including Ned Kynaston in London and Mei Lanfang in China, became renowned for their skilled portrayal of women. In England the playing of the dame in pantomime by a man is more a form of burlesque or caricature than an expression of the art of impersonation, though some famous Dames, notably Dan Leno, raised their characterization of elderly women to great heights of artistry. Today the term ‘female impersonator’ is reserved for those actors, often solo performers, whose appearance in women's dress, or ‘in drag’, is so perfect as almost to convince the spectators that they are in fact women. Among the first modern exponents of ‘drag’ were the Americans Tony Hart [ Anthony Cannon] (1855–91) and Julian Eltinge. In England Arthur Lucan (1887–1954) toured for many years as Old Mother Riley, and an acknowledged master of the art is Danny La Rue [ Daniel Patrick Carroll] (1928– ). Outstanding also are the mock-prim singing duo Hinge and Bracket (Dr Evadne Hinge and Dame Hilda Bracket, really George Logan and Patrick Fyffe) and the Australian Barry Humphries (1934– ), whose alter ego, a ‘housewife superstar’, is known as Dame Edna Everage.