Male Impersonation

Male Impersonation. Since in the early theatre parts were mainly played by men and boys, the question of male impersonation did not arise until actresses had become firmly established. In England this dated from 1660, and it was not long before young actresses, inspired perhaps by their success in the temporary assumption of male attire when playing such parts as Rosalind in As You Like It, Viola in Twelfth Night, or Silvia in Farquhar's The Recruiting Officer, took over some of the male leads in contemporary comedy, which became known as ‘breeches parts’. The most famous of these was Sir Harry Wildair in Farquhar's The Constant Couple, which Peg Woffington played with immense success in 1740. Others successful in breeches parts were Nell Gwynn, Mrs Bracegirdle, and particularly Mrs Mountfort, the last being considered outstanding as Lothario in Rowe's The Fair Penitent and Macheath in Gay's The Beggar's Opera. This fashion for playing en travesti, as it was later called, formed an essential part of Regency spectacle and Victorian extravaganza, the great exponent of the latter being Mme Vestris, and it was one of the formative elements in the development of the principal boy in pantomime. Apart from these appearances in light male roles a number of intrepid actresses essayed such tragic roles as Hamlet, Romeo, and Richard III, among them Charlotte Cushman and Sarah Bernhardt, who in 1900 also appeared in a ‘serious’ breeches part, the young Duc de Reichstadt in Rostand's L'Aiglon. In a more realistic age such courageous feats are seldom attempted.

In the 19th century and afterwards the term ‘male impersonator’ was used mainly of women on the music-halls who sang comic songs in a variety of male costumes, from the man-about-town to the Cockney urchin, with particular emphasis on the more glamorous uniforms of the armed forces. Outstanding among them were Vesta Tilley, Ella Shields, and Hetty King. The woman dressed as a man is still an effective feature of satirical European cabaret, though the other aspects of male impersonation do not seem to have flourished outside Britain, the USA, and France.