Panto’s first gender-fluid dame? Oh yes, he (or she) is
PANTOMIME makers have announced their traditional dame character will be portrayed as “gender fluid” for the first time in an attempt to reflect modern conversations about identity.
Organisers of the Dick Whittington production at the Stag Theatre in Sevenoaks, Kent, said the entertainer Danny Beard would identify neither as a man nor woman in his role.
Beard, whose real name is Daniel Curtis, said his character’s gender fluidity would feature as a light-hearted theme during the performances with co-stars referring to him as both “he” and “she”.
Producers said the role, known as the “Spirit of London”, was created specially for Beard to explore the “topical issue” of gender identities.
Beard, who reached the semi-final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2016 with his drag act, said: “It’s different to a dame role which is a man playing a woman, who we all know is a man.
“The character I’m playing in the panto is quite fluid – sometimes I’d be in a big gown, other times in a sailor outfit.
“Panto hasn’t seen these kind of jokes or discussions about gender before. By mentioning it and bringing it forward we’re giving those people a face but without going on about it.
“It’s not making any political statement, it’s just reflecting the time.
“If 10 people out of the thousands who see it, go home and Google ‘gender fluid’ and it educates them, that’d mean a lot to me as an LGBT person.”
Jamie Wilson, who has produced the panto since the Stag reopened in 2009, said: “The dame is usually the mother of hero who is a man dressed as an older woman. Instead of asking Danny to change his look and become a pantomime dame, we made this role for him.
“Traditionally you’d have a dame in Dick Whittington and you’d have a fairy in Dick Whittington but by booking Danny we’ve managed to do both things in one performer.”